born Feb. 16, 1822, near Sparkbrook, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Eng.
died Jan. 17, 1911, Grayshott House, Haslemere, Surrey
British explorer, anthropologist, and eugenicist.
Galton, a cousin of {{link=eugenics">eugenics to denote the science of planned human betterment through selective mating. His aim was the creation not of an aristocratic elite but of a population consisting entirely of superior men and women. He also wrote important works on human intelligence, fingerprinting, applied statistics, twins, blood transfusions, criminality, meteorology, and measurement.
Sir Francis Galton, detail of an oil painting by G. Graef, 1882; in the National Portrait Gallery, ...
Courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery, London