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The Mismeasure of Man
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
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The Mismeasure of Man
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Publisher's Summary
When published in 1981, The Mismeasure of Man was immediately hailed as a masterwork, the ringing answer to those who would classify people, rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts and limits. Yet the idea of of biology as destiny dies hard, as witness the attention devoted to The Bell Curve, whose arguments are here so effectively anticipated and thoroughly undermined. In this edition, Stephen Jay Gould has written a substantial new introduction telling how and why he wrote the book and tracing the subsequent history of the controversy on innateness right through The Bell Curve. Further, he has added five essays on questions of The Bell Curve in particular and on race, racism, and biological determinism in general. These additions strengthen the book's claim to be, as Leo J. Kamin of Princeton University has said, "a major contribution toward deflating pseudo-biological 'explanations' of our present social woes."
What the critics say
What listeners say about The Mismeasure of Man
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2024-07-26
Brilliant, Illuminating, & Moving
The Mismeasure of Man is a shining refutation of so many repugnant ideas made before and since its publication, delving into the complex history of IQ as a concept. One might call IQ “the modern phrenology,” but as Steven Jay Gould points out, the ideological and pseudoscientific root of IQ testing are arguably even dumber than phrenology.
Since the misuse of numerical data is the hereditarian’s chief weapon, The Mismeasure of Man can be a tad heavy on the maths, but only because it has to be. The voice performance of the audiobook unfortunately tends towards a monotone, which can make it difficult to tell when you’re listening to a quotation or to the main text. I often found myself having to jump back a minute or two just to figure out whom I was listening to: Gould or the current subject.
Nonetheless, I think The Mismeasure of Man is an important must-read book for anyone who might need to fight against hereditarianism and racism in any form such ideas might take.
The essays that comprise the latter part of the book are, if anything, even more fascinating than the preceding chapters. Gould painstakingly refutes the contradictory central arguments of Murray and Hernstein’s “The Bell Curve” in two additional essays.
Particularly captivating is Gould’s essay on how geometry influenced the racist classification of people.
The final essay, however, deals with the issue of judging historical individuals in their proper context, stressing the importance of putting the blame for ubiquitous and passive base assumptions on the society that holds them, rather than on any one individual—especially if that individual was in most ways on the moral side of the conflicts in their day. Not all forms of bigotry are created equal, after all.
In taking the time to absorb this book, you’ll learn not just that the hereditarian position is morally and scientifically wrong, but also WHY the hereditarians are wrong.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- anon
- 2020-02-25
More of a history of racial science than anything
It was interesting to hear the history of race science and IQ testing, but it was hardly a debunking of modern science. The author points out the initial purpose of the IQ test to identify children who need assistance as if it then can't or shouldn't be used for other purposes, like studying intelligence in adults.
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