Extreme Measures: The Dark Visions And Bright Ideas Of Francis Galton - Hardcover

Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dw. Particularly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and strong. Literally as new.; 298 pages; Stated 1st U.S. edition. Summary: Explorer, inventor, meteorologist, psychologist, anthropologist and statistician, Galton was one of the great Victorian polymaths. But it was in the fledgling field of genetics where he made his most indelible impression. Galton kick-started the enduring nature/nurture debate, and took hereditary determinism to its darkest extreme. Consumed by his eugenic vision, he dreamed of a future society built on a race of pure-breeding supermen. Plagued by illness and poor mental health, Galton often let his obsessions run away with him. He turned tea-making into a theoretical science, counted the brush strokes on his portrait, and created a beauty map of the British Isles, ranking its cities on the basis of their feminine allure.Through the story of Galton's colourful life Martin Brookes examines his scientific legacy and takes us on a fascinating journey to the origins of modern human genetics. Physical description: xviii, 298 p. : ill., 1 facsim., ports. ; 23 cm. Subjects: Galton, Francis, 1822-1911 -- Naturalists -- Anthropologists -- Great Britain -- Biography. Eugenics -- Genetics -- Great Britain -- History.