The Life, Letters and Labours of Francis Galton

A controversial figure, Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911), biostatistician, human geneticist, eugenicist, and first cousin of Charles Darwin, is famed as the father of eugenics. Believing that selective breeding was the only hope for the human race, Galton undertook many investigations of human abilities and devoted the last few years of his life to promoting eugenics. Although he intended his studies to work positively, for eradicating hereditary diseases, his research had a hugely negative i...