Galton, Sir Francis

From Encyclopediak

GaFton, Sir Francis 1822-1911, an English scientist and traveler, born at Birmingham, England. He was a cousin of Charles Darwin and, like his distinguished cousin, was noted for his studies in regard to heredity. He believed that genius, and the lack of it, is largely a matter of ancestry, and in exposition of these views he published Hereditary Genius An Inquiry into its Laws and Consequences English Men of Science Their Nature and Nurture and Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development. As a result of his studies, he suggested the improvement of the human species by scientific study of the laws of heredity. The science of race improvement he named eugenics, a name now widely used. Through his efforts a chair of eugenics was established in the University of London and an association founded for the further study of the subject. Besides his work in eugenics, Galton did great service in other lines of anthropological work. He became interested in the subject of finger prints and showed how they might be used in the identification of individuals. Among Galton's publications are Studies in National Eugenics, Tropical South Africa, Natural Inheritance, Finder Prints and Memories of My Life. See EUGENICS.