Biographical Origins of Francis Galton's Psychology

Fancher, R. E. (1983). Biographical Origins of Francis Galton’s Psychology. Isis, 74(2), 227–233.

Francis Galton believed in a positive relationship between intelligence and head size. Many claim that this belief came out of vanity; however, Galton's head was actually quite small. In terms of his intelligence, Galton is believed to have had a childhood IQ of over 200. But where did Galton come from, and what was his childhood like?

One of Galton's first teachers was his invalid older sister, Adele, who was 12 years older than Galton. She moved his cradle into her room and began teaching him French, German, Latin, and Greek. At two and a half years of age, it is documented that Galton was able to read the children's book, Cobwebs to Catch. He learned quickly, being able to print his name shortly before turning three, and by the time he was four, he was able to read any book in English, had a vast knowledge of the Latin language, and could compute mathematical problems well beyond what the average four-year-old could.

Galton's family kept an extensive record of Galton's childhood letters, to the extent that each of them were kept, "witnessed," and annotated. He rarely appears in any of his family's social events, unless they were related to his education. Despite Galton's family's respect for education, their Quaker religion prevented them from registering at any British university, however at the age of four years old, Galton began saving for his future university education. Pushed by his family, Galton excelled academically, however he was not necessarily suited for the British educational system, as British universities emphasised "discipline" in thinking, which was achieved through studying the Classics." Students were publicly ranked based on exam results, a system for which Galton's childhood education did not prepare him. His learning style was less disciplined, fueled by his natural curiosity.

Because of the structure of the British education system, Galton was up for a rude awakening. He was not used to the discipline required for success at a British university, and slowly got further behind in his studies in Classics. He later took his first medical examinations in 1840 and succeeded in his medical studies. He interrupted his medical studies to study mathematics and won several prizes, but ultimately achieved a second class ranking in a "Little go" exam. This was not acceptable to him, and he soon began having fainting fits every time he studied mathematics. Later, he dropped out of the honours degree program and settled for an ordinary degree.

At his father's encouragement, Galton returned to his medical studies , but after his father's death in 1844, which left Galton with a large inheritance, Galton quit his medical studies before getting his license to practice medicine. With his newly inherited money, Galton went travelling to Egypt and the Middle East. He participated in many activities, such as hunting and ballooning, but ultimately felt dissatisfied with his purposeless life and began to invest his energy in more useful endeavours.

In the 1860's Galton read Darwin's theories and his ideas on eugenics began to solidify. Throughout his childhood, he had been taught that intelligence was important, that he was a "genius," and that he was far more intelligent than the norm. His studies, however, had disproven that, and when C. Donovan, a phrenologist, noted irregularities in the conformation of his brain, Galton got the confirmation that he had failed because he lacked the innate gifts necessary for success.

Having his personal experience in mind, Galton wrote Hereditary genius in 1869, where he writes about his belief in natural inequality of people and the extent of the effect of education and environment on intelligence.