Reply #43: Excessive optimism in science

[Paschall]

Yes, eugenics was widespread at that period. Even one of Charles Darwin's sons was an advocate of eugenism. But then Plato also argued for selective breeding of humans in "The Republic."

My Encyclopaedia Britannica tells me English scientist Francis Galton's book "Hereditary Genius" (1869) was the first major publication on the subject. He coined the term "eugenics" in 1883.

The American Eugenics Society was created in 1926. It "supported the proposition that the wealth and social position of the upper classes was justified by a superior genetic endowment." Sound familiar?

Thanks to US eugenists, immigration restrictions were slapped on nations with reputedly "inferior stock": Italy, Greece, and other countries from Eastern Europe. They helped pass involuntary sterilization laws in half of the US that targeted the retarded, the insane, and the epileptic. Such sterilizations continued into the 1970s.

Some Americans apparently still accept the principles of eugenics: Witness the special sperm banks for high IQers.