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A Life of Sir Francis Gallon From African Exploration to the Birth of Eugenics by Nicholas Wright Gillham Oxford University Press, New York, 2001. 428 pp. $35, 22.50. ISBN 0-19-- S14365-S.
Like his cousin Charles Darwin, Francis Galton (1822-1911) was a striking example of the amateur scientist in Victorian Britain. Each had the good fortune to be born into a prosperous family, had a passion for exploring the natural world, and was deeply conventional in his social tastes and attitudes, but equally unconventional in his religious beliefs. In different ways, each man helped shape the modern world. Despite their sharing these cultural similarities, their personal circumstances differed and their historical fortunes have diverged. In A Life of Sir Francis Galton, Nicholas Gillham offers a fascinating portrait of the comparatively neglected cousin and his contributions to a wide range of fields.
Both Darwin and Galton married late, but Darwin sired ten children (not seven, as Gillham states), whereas the father of eugenics was childless. Darwin fretted that his children would bear the marks of his anxieties and ill health: indeed, had Galton coined the term before Darwin's death, Darwin would probably have thought himself eugenically unsound. In actuality, he continued an intellectual dynasty, with three sons who became Fellows of the Royal Society and a still-vigorous pedigree. Darwin deeply loved his wife, Emma; the record is not especially revealing about the private life of Francis and Louisa Galton. Although never touched by scandal, their marriage...