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The Mismeasure of Man
Stephen Jay Gould's history and critique of efforts to rank people by a single measure of intelligence, including skull measurement and mental testing.
- Author and origin
- Stephen Jay Gould (United States)Original language: English. First edition: New York: W. W. Norton, 1981, 352 pages (Open Library catalog record). Revised and Expanded edition: W. W. Norton, dated 5 June 1996 on the Norton UK page, with a new introduction by Gould and five essays on The Bell Curve, race, racism and biological determinism; catalog records also list a 2008 printing with a new introduction. This profile does not say which edition any reader holds.
- Genre and form
- Nonfiction (History and critique)Memoirs, clinical case collections, popular psychology, self-help, and histories or critiques of psychological science.
- Pairing and evidence
- Contested claimsA work whose claims are disputed in the research literature. Each profile identifies the part of that dispute discussed here.
- Sources inspected
- 1 text/abstract inspected, 3 metadata checked (of 4)1 with the primary text or archive/edition record checked, 0 with an indexed abstract read, 3 with bibliographic metadata checked, 0 not verified.
Published critique or methodological auditPaired academic work
Source independence: Independent of the book’s author.
How it connects: A published reanalysis of one historical case Gould discusses (Morton's skull data). It bears on Gould's historical account, not on his argument about reification or on current intelligence research.
Exact claim scope: Selected opening and concluding passages, not a formal abstract; no independent reanalysis of data or correction.
The work and edition history
A 1981 book by the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, published by Norton and expanded in 1996. A reference summary describes it as a history and critique of the statistical methods and cultural motivations behind biological determinism, the belief that differences among human groups arise from inborn distinctions. This profile uses a publisher page, a catalog and that summary. The book itself was not read.
Psychological reading
The summary names two fallacies Gould finds in craniometry and psychological testing: reification, turning an abstract concept such as IQ into a thing, and ranking, ordering complex variation on one ascending scale. Questions to bring: do these fallacies apply to modern intelligence research or only to the historical cases he examines? Which of his claims concern the motives of long-dead scientists and which concern statistics, and how would each be checked?
Why it earns inclusion
A historical lens on intelligence testing and on how assumptions shape what researchers say they measure (sections 7.4 and 7.5 are candidate links, not confirmed). It also models how a published critique can itself be audited.
Academic pairing and claim scope
Paired with Lewis and colleagues' 2011 PLOS Biology reanalysis of Samuel George Morton's skull measurements, which Gould had criticized. The authors re-measured skulls and conclude that most of Gould's criticisms of Morton are poorly supported or falsified and that Morton's data are generally reliable. This is one side of a continuing debate; other contributions were not inspected.
Limits and controversies
The publisher description and selected passages of the 2011 critique were checked; the book and the critique’s data were not reanalyzed. A dispute about Morton’s measurements does not settle present-day intelligence research or validate biological hierarchies.
Evidence behind the claims
The first edition was published by W. W. Norton, New York, in 1981 (352 pages); a Revised and Expanded edition followed from Norton.
Norton lists the Revised and Expanded edition at 5 June 1996 with a new introduction by Gould and five essays on The Bell Curve, race, racism and biological determinism.
A reference summary describes the book as a history and critique of the statistical methods and cultural motivations underlying biological determinism, arguing that craniometry and psychological testing commit the fallacies of reification and ranking.
Lewis and colleagues (2011) conclude from remeasuring skulls that most of Gould's criticisms of Samuel George Morton's data are poorly supported or falsified.
Authors and researchers
- Stephen Jay Gould. Paleontologist and author of the book.
In the Psy101 course
- OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 7.5: Measures of IntelligenceChapter 7, Thinking and Intelligence. Historical context. Suggested conceptual background; a mention of this work in the section has not been verified.Candidate link: the history of measuring intelligence.
- OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 7.4: What Are Intelligence and Creativity?Chapter 7, Thinking and Intelligence. Concept. Suggested conceptual background; a mention of this work in the section has not been verified.Candidate link: debates about what intelligence is.
Educational reading guide only, not clinical diagnosis or treatment guidance. This course map indicates introductory curriculum relevance rather than clinical proof.See the full course map.
Sources and inspection
Of 4 cited sources, 1 had primary text or archive/edition records checked, 0 had an indexed abstract read, and 3 had bibliographic metadata checked (0 unverified). Literary works and memoirs are distinguished from empirical research studies.
- [4]Lewis, J. E., DeGusta, D., Meyer, M. R., Monge, J. M., Mann, A. E., & Holloway, R. L. (2011). The mismeasure of science: Stephen jay gould versus samuel george morton on skulls and bias. PLoS Biology, 9(6), Article e1001071. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001071Journal article. Critique, meta-analysis, or replication.Primary text or passage readCodex independently read the PLOS article’s opening argument and selected conclusion on October 23, 2026. This article has no labeled abstract. Supplementary data and the correction were not audited.
- [1]Norton, W. W. (n.d.). The mismeasure of man, revised and expanded (w. W. norton UK product page). W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. https://wwnorton.co.uk/books/9780393314250-the-mismeasure-of-manPublisher or bibliographic record. Work, edition, or catalog record.Bibliographic metadata or reference record checkedNorton UK page inspected on 2026-10-23 through a model-written page extraction: edition statement, 1996 date, new introduction and five essays. The 1981 publisher is not on the page. Book not read.
- [2]Open Library (Internet Archive). (1981). The mismeasure of man (open library work and edition records). Open Library. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL473565WArchive or library record. Work, edition, or catalog record.Bibliographic metadata or reference record checkedOpen Library edition list inspected on 2026-10-23: Norton 1981 first edition, Norton 1996 revised and expanded records, Penguin 1984 and 1992. catalog metadata only; records disagree on the page counts and on a 2008 date.
- [3]The Mismeasure of Man. (2026). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Mismeasure_of_Man&oldid=1375737039Consulted sourceReference work. Historical or biographical context.Bibliographic metadata or reference record checkedWikipedia lead extract (research/wiki-extracts-38.json) read in full on 2026-10-23; secondary summary only. Its statement that the second edition added two chapters conflicts with Norton's five essays and was not used.