Ponder: Francis Galton was not only Charles Darwin's cousin but in many ways his heir in applying evolutionary theory to the study of the heritability of human traits. He was the founder of differential psychology and pioneered the study of individual differences. He came to be a strong advocate of positive eugenics. He died before the eugenics movement moved in a more negative direction, aiming to rid society of undesirable traits, moving from discouraging unwise pairings to sterilization to extermination. As we read in "The Troubling History of Francis Galton", Galton's legacy has come under renewed scrutiny, most recently and markedly at the University College of London (UCL), his academic and research home during his life, and where his archives are now stored and on exhibit.

"Eugenics @UCL" is described as "a video summary of the revelatory exploration of Francis Galton'sEugenics Record Office" at UCL 110 years to the day when Galton wrote to Sir Arthur Rucker (Principal of the University of London) with an offer to fund academic research into National Eugenics. In this first of three conversations in #UCLfacesrace, speakers and the audience were invited to consider how we evaluate historical memory, and, indeed, silence in order to address the challenges the research constructing and just racial hierarchies, and its legacy, in a lecture theatre named after Francis Galton himself." Note that this discussion also occurred during Black History Month in the UK.

Galton's Contributions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Piekkola's Perspective

What does Piekola lift up as Galton's major contributions to contemporary psychology and the controversies surrounding them??

What motivations drove the Eugenics Movement from the "Positive" to the "Negative" side, and what policy initiatives did it support

Galton's Legacy: The Good, or the Bad, or the Ugly: Your Perspective

Reflecting on the various conversation threads in Eugenics @UCL, which one grabbed you enough to want to see that conversation occur here?

Do you think the Galton and Pearson names should be removed where they appear? Why or why not?