Galton, Sir Francis (gôl`tən), 1822–1911, English scientist, founder of eugenics; cousin of Charles Darwin Darwin, Charles Robert, 1809–82, English naturalist, b. Shrewsbury; grandson of Erasmus Darwin and of Josiah Wedgwood . He firmly established the theory of organic evolution known as Darwinism .
..... Click the link for more information. . He turned from exploration and meteorology (where he introduced the theory of the anticyclone anticyclone, region of high atmospheric pressure; anticyclones are commonly referred to as "highs." The pressure gradient, or change between the core of the anticyclone and its surroundings, combined with the Coriolis effect , causes air to circulate about the core
..... Click the link for more information. ) to the study of heredity and eugenics eugenics (y
..... Click the link for more information. (a term that he coined). Galton devised the correlation coefficient and brought other statistical methods into this work, which was carried on by his pupil Karl Pearson Pearson, Drew, 1897–1969, American journalist and radio commentator, b. Evanston, Ill. He traveled around the world as a correspondent before joining the Baltimore Sun in 1926.
..... Click the link for more information. as the science of biometrics. In his Hereditary Genius (1869) he presented strong evidence that talent is an inherited characteristic. Galton established a system of classifying fingerprints that is still used today. He was knighted in 1909. The best known of his books is Inquiries into Human Faculty (1883).

Bibliography

See his Memories of My Life (1908, repr. 1974); biographies by K. Pearson (3 vol. in 4, 1914–30), N. W. Gillham (2002), and M. Brookes (2004); study by H. F. Crovitz (1970).

Galton, Sir Francis

Sir Francis Galton, detail of an oil painting by G. Graef, 1882; in the National Portrait Gallery, …

(credit: Courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery, London)

(born Feb. 16, 1822, near Sparkbrook, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Eng.—died Jan. 17, 1911, Grayshott House, Haslemere, Surrey) British explorer, anthropologist, and eugenicist. Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, studied medicine at Cambridge University but never took a degree. As a young man he traveled widely in Europe and Africa, making useful contributions in zoology and geography. He was among the first to recognize the implications of Darwin's theory of evolution, eventually coining the word eugenics to denote the science of planned human betterment through selective mating. His aim was the creation not of an aristocratic elite but of a population consisting entirely of superior men and women. He also wrote important works on human intelligence, fingerprinting, applied statistics, twins, blood transfusions, criminality, meteorology, and measurement.