Eugenics Society (UK)
Encyclopedia
The Galton Institute is a learned society
based in the United Kingdom
. Its aims are "to promote the public understanding of human heredity and to facilitate informed debate about the ethical issues raised by advances in reproductive technology".
It was founded in 1908 as the Eugenics Education Society, becoming the Eugenics Society in 1926 (often known as the British Eugenics Society to distinguish it from others), with the aim of promoting eugenics
. It was based near Brockwell Park
, Lambeth
in London
. It changed its name to the Galton Institute in 1989.
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Its aims are "to promote the public understanding of human heredity and to facilitate informed debate about the ethical issues raised by advances in reproductive technology".
It was founded in 1908 as the Eugenics Education Society, becoming the Eugenics Society in 1926 (often known as the British Eugenics Society to distinguish it from others), with the aim of promoting eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
. It was based near Brockwell Park
Brockwell Park
Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare park located between Brixton, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, bordered by Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill , and Dulwich Road in South London....
, Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It changed its name to the Galton Institute in 1989.
Prominent members
- John Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
, Director 1937-1944 V.P. 1937 - Arthur Neville Chamberlain, British prime minister between 1937 and 1940
- Richard TitmussRichard TitmussRichard Morris Titmuss was a pioneering British social researcher and teacher. He founded the academic discipline of Social Administration and held the founding chair in the subject at the London School of Economics.His books and articles of the 1950s helped to define the characteristics of...
- William BeveridgeWilliam BeveridgeWilliam Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge KCB was a British economist and social reformer. He is best known for his 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services which served as the basis for the post-World War II welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.Lord...
- David ColemanDavid Coleman (academic)Professor David Coleman has been the Professor in Demography at Oxford University since October 2002, and a lecturer since 1980.Between 1985 and 1987 he worked for the British Government, as the Special Adviser to the Home Secretary, and then to the Ministers of Housing and of the Environment...
- Leonard ArthurLeonard ArthurDr Leonard John Henry Arthur MB, BChir, MRCP, D Obst RCOG was a British doctor tried in 1981 for the attempted murder of John Pearson, a newborn child with Down's Syndrome. He was acquitted....
, tried for murder in 1981 but acquitted - Arthur BalfourArthur BalfourArthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
- Alfred PloetzAlfred PloetzAlfred Ploetz was a German physician, biologist, eugenicist known for coining the term racial hygiene and promoting the concept in Germany. Rassenhygiene is a form of eugenics.-Biography:...
, Vice-president (1916) - Julian HuxleyJulian HuxleySir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
, Vice-president (1937–44), President (1959–62) - Paul BlanshardPaul BlanshardPaul Beecher Blanshard was a controversial American author, assistant editor of The Nation magazine, lawyer, socialist, secular humanist, and from 1949 an outspoken critic of Catholicism....
- Walter BodmerWalter BodmerSir Walter Bodmer is a German-born British human geneticist. His father being Jewish, the family left Germany in 1938 and settled in Manchester. Bodmer has developed models for population genetics and done work on the human leukocyte antigen system and the use of somatic cell hybrids for human...
- Russell Brain, 1st Baron BrainRussell Brain, 1st Baron BrainWalter Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain was a British neurologist. He was principal author of the standard work of neurology, Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System, and longtime editor of the eponymous neurological medical journal titled Brain...
- Chris BrandChris BrandChristopher Richard Brand is an English psychological and psychometric researcher who gained media attention for his controversial statements on race and intelligence and pedophilia. He went to Queen Elizabeth's, Barnet, and is a graduate of The Queen's College, Oxford, and a fellow of Nuffield...
- Cyril BurtCyril BurtSir Cyril Lodowic Burt was an English educational psychologist who made contributions to educational psychology and statistics....
- John CockburnJohn Cockburn (Australian politician)Sir John Alexander Cockburn, KCMG was Premier of South Australia from 27 June 1889 until 18 August 1890.Cockburn was born in Corsbie, Berwickshire, Scotland in 1850. His father was Thomas Cockburn. He was educated at Highgate School, and King's College London, he obtained the degree of M.D....
- Charles D'ArcyCharles D'ArcyCharles Frederick D'Arcy was a Church of Ireland clergyman, from 1903 Bishop of Clogher, in 1907 translated to become Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin and then Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, briefly Archbishop of Dublin, and finally from 1920 until his death Archbishop of Armagh...
- Charles Galton DarwinCharles Galton DarwinSir Charles Galton Darwin, KBE, MC, FRS was an English physicist, the grandson of Charles Darwin. He served as director of the National Physical Laboratory during the Second World War.-Early life:...
and Leonard DarwinLeonard DarwinMajor Leonard Darwin , a son of the English naturalist Charles Darwin, was variously a soldier, politician, economist, eugenicist and mentor of the statistician and evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher.- Biography :... - Charles DavenportCharles DavenportCharles Benedict Davenport was a prominent American eugenicist and biologist. He was one of the leaders of the American eugenics movement, which was directly involved in the sterilization of around 60,000 "unfit" Americans and strongly influenced the Holocaust in Europe.- Biography :Davenport was...
, Vice President (1931) - Robert Geoffrey Edwards
- Havelock EllisHavelock EllisHenry Havelock Ellis, known as Havelock Ellis , was a British physician and psychologist, writer, and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He was co-author of the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and...
- Hans EysenckHans EysenckHans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-British psychologist who spent most of his career in Britain, best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, though he worked in a wide range of areas...
- Ronald FisherRonald FisherSir Ronald Aylmer Fisher FRS was an English statistician, evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and geneticist. Among other things, Fisher is well known for his contributions to statistics by creating Fisher's exact test and Fisher's equation...
- Charles GoetheCharles GoetheCharles M. Goethe was an American eugenicist, entrepreneur, land developer, philanthropist, conservationist, founder of the Eugenics Society of Northern California, and a native and lifelong resident of Sacramento, California....
- Ezra Gosney
- Madison GrantMadison GrantMadison Grant was an American lawyer, historian and physical anthropologist, known primarily for his work as a eugenicist and conservationist...
- David Starr JordanDavid Starr JordanDavid Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
, Vice President (1916, 1931) - Franz Josef KallmannFranz Josef KallmannFranz Josef Kallmann MD , a German-born American psychiatrist, was one of the pioneers in the study of the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders...
- John Harvey KelloggJohn Harvey KelloggJohn Harvey Kellogg was an American medical doctor in Battle Creek, Michigan, who ran a sanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular focus on nutrition, enemas and exercise. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism and is best known for the invention of the corn flakes breakfast cereal...
- Richard LynnRichard LynnRichard Lynn is a British Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Ulster who is known for his views on racial and ethnic differences. Lynn argues that there are hereditary differences in intelligence based on race and sex....
- James MeadeJames MeadeJames Edward Meade CB, FBA was a British economist and winner of the 1977 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with the Swedish economist Bertil Ohlin for their "Pathbreaking contribution to the theory of international trade and international capital movements."Meade was born in...
- Peter MedawarPeter MedawarSir Peter Brian Medawar OM CBE FRS was a British biologist, whose work on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance was fundamental to the practice of tissue and organ transplants...
- Naomi MitchisonNaomi MitchisonNaomi May Margaret Mitchison, CBE was a Scottish novelist and poet. She was appointed CBE in 1981; she was also entitled to call herself Lady Mitchison, CBE since 5 October 1964 .- Childhood and family background :Naomi Margaret Haldane was...
- Henry Fairfield OsbornHenry Fairfield OsbornHenry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. ForMemRS was an American geologist, paleontologist, and eugenicist.-Early life and career:...
and Frederick OsbornFrederick OsbornMajor General Frederick Henry Osborn was an American philanthropist, military leader, and eugenicist. He was a founder of several organizations, and played a central part in reorienting eugenics in the years following World War II away from the race- and class-consciousness from earlier periods... - Karl PearsonKarl PearsonKarl Pearson FRS was an influential English mathematician who has been credited for establishing the disciplineof mathematical statistics....
- Roger PearsonRoger PearsonRoger Pearson is a British anthropologist, conservationist, eugenics advocate, founder of the Neo Nazi organization Northern League, and publisher of several journals.-Life and work:...
- Margaret PykeMargaret PykeMargaret Amy Pyke was a British birth control activist and family planning pioneer. A founding member of the British National Birth Control Committee , later known as the Family Planning Association , she succeeded Lady Gertrude Denman as chairman of that organization in 1954. She was also a...
- Margaret SangerMargaret SangerMargaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...
- Eliot SlaterEliot SlaterEliot Trevor Oakeshott Slater MD , was a British psychiatrist who was a pioneer in the field of the genetics of mental disorders. He held senior posts at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London, and the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital...
- Marie StopesMarie StopesMarie Carmichael Stopes was a British author, palaeobotanist, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of birth control...
- James Mourilyan Tanner
- Frank YatesFrank YatesFrank Yates FRS was one of the pioneers of 20th century statistics.He was born in Manchester. Yates was the eldest of five children, and the only boy, born to Edith and Percy Yates. His father was a seed merchant. He attended Wadham House, a private school, before gaining a scholarship to Clifton...
See also
- American Eugenics SocietyAmerican Eugenics SocietyThe American Eugenics Society was a society established in 1922 to promote eugenics in the United States.It was the result of the Second International Conference on Eugenics . The founders included Madison Grant, Harry H. Laughlin, Irving Fisher, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Henry Crampton...
- Human Betterment FoundationHuman Betterment FoundationThe Human Betterment Foundation was an American eugenics organization established in Pasadena, California in 1928 by E.S. Gosney with the aim "to foster and aid constructive and educational forces for the protection and betterment of the human family in body, mind, character, and citizenship"...
- Arthur JensenArthur JensenArthur Robert Jensen is a Professor Emeritus of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen is known for his work in psychometrics and differential psychology, which is concerned with how and why individuals differ behaviorally from one another.He is a major proponent...
- Glayde WhitneyGlayde WhitneyGlayde D. Whitney was a behavioral geneticist and psychology professor at Florida State University. Beyond his work into the genetics of sensory system function in mice, in his later life he supported race and intelligence research and eugenics.-Biography:Whitney was born in Montana and grew up in...
- Walter KistlerWalter KistlerWalter P. Kistler is a physicist, inventor, and philanthropist, born in 1918 in Biel, Switzerland. Kistler is a life member of the Swiss Physical Society and a member of AIAA and ISA, which presented him the Life Achievement Award in 2000. He is listed in American Men of Science, Who’s Who in...