The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould

The Mismeasure of Man is a 1981 book written by the Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002). The book is a history and critique of the methods and motivations underlying biological determinism, the belief that "the social and economic differences between human groups—primarily races, classes, and sexes—arise from inherited, inborn distinctions and that society, in this sense, is an accurate reflection of biology." The book also critiques the principal theme of biological determinism, that "worth can be assigned to individuals and groups by measuring intelligence as a single quantity." Gould discusses two prominent techniques used to measure such a quantity, craniometry and psychological testing. According to Gould these methods suffer from "two deep fallacies." The first fallacy is of reification, that is, "our tendency to convert abstract concepts into entities." These entities include IQ (the intelligence quotient) and g (the general intelligence factor), which have been the cornerstone of much intelligence research. The second fallacy is one of ranking, or our "propensity for ordering complex variation as a gradual ascending scale." The Mismeasure of Man skeptically investigates "the abstraction of intelligence as a single entity, its location within the brain, its quantification as one number for each individual, and the use of these numbers to rank people in a single series of worthiness, invariably to find that oppressed and disadvantaged groups—races, classes, or sexes—are innately inferior and deserve their status." The book's second edition (1996) was revised to challenge the arguments of Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's The Bell Curve, which generated much controversy.

The 170th greatest nonfiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 24th on The Modern Library | 100 Best Nonfiction (The Modern Library)
  2. - 50 Memorable Books from 50 Years of Books to Remember (The New York Public Library)
  3. - National Book Critics Circle Award - Nonfiction (National Book Critics Circle)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
The Mismeasure of Man Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Paperback 3628980 $14.72 $3.87
The Mismeasure of Man (Revised & Expanded) Hardcover 1452466 $74.74 $24.85 1996
The Mismeasure of Man: The Definite Refutation to the Argument of the Bell Curve Paperback 1845900 $3.38 1996
The Mismeasure of Man Audio CD 1738769 $24.51 $24.52 2011
The Mismeasure of Man Audible Audio Edition 32360 $26.95 2011
The Mismeasure of Man and The Panda's Thumb Paperback 9498587 $5.95 1981
The Mismeasure of Man (text only) by S. J. Gould Paperback 9193773 $10.67 $3.70
The Mismeasure of Man (Revised & Expanded) Kindle Edition 169485 $10.49 2006
The Mismeasure of Man (Revised & Expanded) by Gould, Stephen Jay REV EXP Edition [Paperback(1996)] Paperback 3777072 $9.87 $1.54
The Mismeasure of Man MP3 CD 2695291 $23.67 $17.95 2011
The Mismeasure of Man Paperback 129707 $9.99 $1.33 1996