Francis Galton

Francis Galton (1822 - 1911)

    Galton was Charles Darwin's half-cousin, and was a "polymath" interested in statistics (he first described correlation and regression analysis), weather, and many other subjects. He is known as the father of Eugenics, a term he invented in 1883, and outlined in his book "Hereditary Genius". He suggested that the human species could be improved by the same principles applied to livestock breeding, i.e., preservation of 'superior stock.' All of this was before re-discovery of Mendelian genetics.

Homework: Did Francis and Charles have much to do with each other? Investigate.



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