The Mismeasure of Man

The definitive refutation to the argument of The Bell Curve. When published in 1981 The Mismeasure of Man was immediately hailed as a masterwork the ringing answer to those who would classify people rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts and limits. Yet the idea of biology as destiny dies hard as witness the attention devoted to The Bell Curve whose arguments are here so effectively anticipated and thoroughly undermined. In this edition Stephen Jay Gould has written a substantial new introduction telling how and why he wrote the book and tracing the subsequent history of the controversy on innateness right through The Bell Curve. Further he has added five essays on questions of The Bell Curve in particular and on race racism and biological determinism in general. These additions strengthen the books claim to be as Leo J. Kamin of Princeton University has said "a major contribution toward deflating pseudo-biological explanations of our present social woes."