A popular biography of Galton, lacking any references at all, most unfortunately (and even an index). A decent treatment of Galton's wide-ranging career; it wasn't all eugenics. Exploration, experimentation, and eccentricity all figure prominently too. As a quick intro, just fine, but serious readers will likely want more. ( )

Three stars only. The first & last chapters add nothing and would not be out of place in a Sunday supplement. There are NO INDEX and NO REFERENCES!!!!! If I met the editor in the street in Galton's time I would no doubt (like Admiral Fitz Roy) throw a whip at his feet and say "Consider yourself horsewhipped, Sir!". Also the author pokes fun at Galton's letter "Cutting a cake on scientific principles", which was a reasonable note on cutting slices from a cake so that no cut surfaces should be exposed to dry out.
Still a readable introduction to the Victorian age's more eccentric scientists. After reading, you can read the original Galton material on www.galton.org. ( )

Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, was one of the Victorian eras great polymaths. He explored unknown areas in Africa, wrote a best selling travel book, pioneered psychiatric and statistics techniques, discovered weather patterns and found how to make the best cup of tea. However his most (in)famous theory was eugenics, the study of selective breeding in humans. A theory mired in atrocity and very much feared today (designer babies anyone?).

Galton had a fascinating life and Brookes account eminently shows this. Easy to read, shot through with wry humour and nicely balanced you come away with a good understanding of a man who could easily of been demonised. His legacy to science is laid bare for all to see and it is astonishingly wide ranging. In fact my only criticism is I would have liked to see more of his experiments (one I believe was recently used by Derren Brown to 'predict' the UK lottery). Unexpectedly I also found it highly relevant, eugenics has not disappeared just renamed and it is extremely interesting to see where it came from. ( )