Francis Galton: biography of this prolific researcher

If we talk about characters extremely relevant to the development of psychology, it is likely that a large number of possible names will emerge from multiple disciplines, including Wilhelm Wundt, Brentano, Freud, William James or Beck. Generally, famous figures are usually thought of for the elaboration of theoretical contents about the mind or different aspects of the psyche.

However, equally important are those that led to the development of methods and elements, or that directly started, the possibility of operationalizing and being able to measure something as abstract as the capacities mental. One of the best known and most important in this regard was Francis Galton, of whom we will see a biography below.

• Related article: "History of Psychology: main authors and theories"

Brief biography of Francis Galton

Francis Galton was born in the English city of Birmingham, on February 16, 1822, as the seventh and youngest of the children of the banker Samuel Tertius Galton and Frances Anne Violetta Darwin (aunt of Charles Darwin, with which Francis Galton and this one were cousins).

From a wealthy family and socially recognized by both branches (his grandfather was also a renowned physicist, Erasmus Darwin), young Galton would grow up in an intellectual environment and able to provide him with a formal education in quality. From childhood he manifested himself to be intellectually precocious, being able to read from two years in English and having relatively advanced knowledge in mathematics at five. The latter would become a matter of great interest to young Galton.

The formative years

His education during the first years of his life was spent in Birmingham schools until 1836, when he would enter King Edward's School. However, he would leave said school at sixteen. Shortly after, he would enter to study medicine (largely at the insistence of his parents) at the Hospital General of Birmingham, after which he studied mathematics at King’s College of the University of London.

Likewise, and after making a trip to different European cities and capitals, in 1840 he would resume his medical studies at Trinity College, Cambridge University. Unfortunately, in 1844 Galton's father passed away, an event would cause him great pain. ANDin the same year he would finish his medical studies, graduating.

Travel and evolution as a researcher

After finishing his medical degree and not having to depend on his health profession due to the inheritance he received, Galton decided to various exploration trips through Africa, including Egypt and Sudan, joining the Royal Geographical Society.

Also during these trips he would be documenting himself to carry out books based on his experiences that would be published after 1850 and that would be considered best sellers (making contributions and discoveries in the process). He would also be trained in geography and meteorology, eventually publishing (in 1863) the pioneering book in which he would coin the term anticyclone and which would in fact start scientific meteorology, Metereographica.

In 1853 he would meet and later marry Louisa Jane Butler, a relationship that would last a lifetime. However, the couple would not be able to have children, something that caused a great life crisis that the author attributed to possible sterility. This last event, together with the existence of conflicts with the Royal Geographical Society and the appearance of the book by his cousin Charles Darwin, the well-known The origin of species, would eventually trigger Galton's desire to study biology.

Scientific contributions

One of Galton's best-known contributions to the world of biology, derived both from previous experiences and from reading his cousin's book, was the attempt to study how natural selection could improve humanity.

He would begin to think that intelligence and cognitive abilities, as well as possible disorders and diseases, could affect elements of inheritance, as well as the possibility of seeking an application of the principles of natural selection to favor the evolution of species.

It would therefore give rise to the beginnings of eugenics, considering how, as with animals, the human being could interbreed to promote what are considered the best characteristics. The term eugenics itself would be coined in 1883, in your post Human Faculty.

In 1884 he would create the first anthropometric laboratory in which the first physical and mental measurements would be carried out (technically also being the first psychometric laboratory).

Studies of heritability and individual differences

He would also explore the differences between inherited and learned, linking them in such a way that He considered that he considered that the union of both was linked both to the physical faculties and psychic.

Galton was also the first to quantify the idea of ​​standard variations, the regression line, and the normal distribution. He would even be a pioneer in elaborating the concept of correlation, although it would be his disciple Pearson who would end up generating the one so used today. Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Likewise, he would be one of the first to investigate intelligence and measure its heritability. Studying the distribution of intelligence and other traits in the population, he would come to the conclusion that these tend to have a normal distribution in the population, with the majority having capacities similar and close to the mean and a few having values extremes. He is also the father of biostatistics, as well as one of the forerunners of differential psychology.

In 1901 he founded with Pearson and Weldon the journal Biometrika. In 1904 he presented his theories on eugenics to the Sociological Society, his speech being subsequently published in the American Journal of Sociology and founding the Galton Laboratory. Three years later he founded the Eugenics Education Society.

Also studied the heritability of the traits considered most relevant through research with twins, in order to assess whether intelligence and other psychic traits were inherited or the product of education (studying, for example, whether the The fact that the most powerful stood out was rather because of the possibility of receiving a formal education or the transmission of these capabilities.

In this sense, he would use studies with monozygotic twins, concluding that what is innate seems to have a greater effect on intelligence than what is learned.

• You may be interested: "Francis Galton's Theory of Intelligence"

Death and legacy

Francis Galton's contributions are enormous in the field of science, even receiving for them the title of Sir in 1909. However, with the passage of time he would end up contracting tuberculosis, a disease that would end his life on January 17, 1911, in Surrey.

The legacy of this controversial and prolific author is extensive. Being the father of psychometrics, his studies have allowed over time the development of mechanisms for operationalize and measure mental operations, something that in turn is linked to the development of psychology and psychiatry.

Also the study of lheredity of psychic abilities and individual differences they are partly possible thanks to his contributions.

Unfortunately, not all of his studies have been employed in a positive way, his original purpose being self-interested misrepresented: some Eugenics studies have unfortunately been used negatively for years to defend racist ideologies like those of the Nazis.

Bibliographic references:

• Forrest, D.W. (1974). Francis Galton: The Life and Work of a Victorian Genius. Miami: Taplinger.
• Wright Gilham, N. (2002). A Life of Sir Francis Galton: From African Exploration to the Birth of Eugenics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.