Race, intelligence, and the brain: The errors and omissions of the ‘revised’ edition of S. J. Gouldʹs the mismeasure of man (1996)

The first edition of The Mismeasure of Man appeared in 1981 and was quickly praised in the popular press as a definitive refutation of 100 years of scientific work on race, brain-size and intelligence. It sold 125,000 copies, was translated into 10 languages, and became required reading for undergraduate and even graduate classes in anthropology, psychology, and sociology. The second edition is not truly revised, but rather only expanded, as the author claims the book needed no updating as any new research would only be plagued with the same ‘philosophical errors’ revealed in the first edition. Thus it continues a political polemic, whose author engages in character assassination of long deceased scientists whose work he misrepresents despite published refutations, while studiously withholding from his readers 15 years of new research that contradicts every major scientific argument he puts forth. Specific attention in this review are given to the following topics: (1) the relationship between brain size and IQ; (2) the importance of the scientific contributions of Sir Francis Galton, S. G. Morton, H. H. Goddard, and Sir Cyril Burt; (3) the role of early IQ testers in determining U.S. immigration policy; (4) The Bell Curve controversy and the reality of g (5) race/sex/social class differences in brain size and IQ; (6) Cesare Lombroso and the genetic basis of criminal behavior; (7) between-group heritabilities, inter-racial adoption studies and IQ; (8) why evolutionary theory predicts group differences; and (9) the extent to which Gouldʹs political ideology has affected his scientific work.