British Evolutionary psychologist Sir Francis Galton was a cousin of Charles Darwin and was one of the first scientists to apply evolutionary principles to human genetics. He was the major force behind the development of eugenics. Eugenics presupposes that there are genetic differences in intelligence between races, and that the "lower" races, which have lower intelligence, should have restricted immigration quotas and be discouraged from breeding. Although there are genetic influences upon intelligence, modern geneticists have concluded that these influences do not correspond in any way to races or to cultures. Eugenics has become almost synonymous with racism and is not taken seriously by modern scientists. Galton's championing of eugenics has eclipsed his reputation, causing many modern scholars to overlook his many legitimate and important contributions to science.

Born January 16, 1822, Galton began his studies, as did many other 19th-century British scientists, as a medical student. His lack of interest and his undistinguished performance prevented him from starting a practice. Instead, he traveled in the Middle East and Africa. He gathered many data about the land, people, and climate as he traveled. His data were characterized, perhaps more than anyone else's (even Darwin's) by careful measurements and by statistical sampling methods and relatively large data sets.

Upon his return to England, he used the things he had learned while traveling, and the statistical methods that he had refined, to undertake research in different fields. He created some of the first weather maps and made significant contributions to meteorology. During his studies of human measurements, he noticed that each individual has a unique fingerprint, and he convinced Scotland Yard to adopt a fingerprinting system--the first in the world and now used universally. In order to analyze his eugenics measurements, Galton developed some important statistical techniques, which led to the development of regression. These methods, which analyze the probability that an association between two variables is not simply due to chance, are essential to modern scientific research even though the eugenics to which Galton applied them has now been discredited. Galton also developed the use of percentile scores and the survey method of psychological research. He was the first to use identical (monozygotic) and fraternal (dizygotic) twins in the study of human inheritance patterns even though the eugenic conclusions he reached are no longer believed. Therefore Galton's techniques, although not his scientific theories, pervade modern genetic and psychological research. . .

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