Intelligence Men: Makers of the I.Q. Controversy

by Raymond E. Fancher

Is intelligence determined by nature's genetic blueprints or by environment's nurturing? Few debates have so polarized the scientific and lay communities over the past century as the IQ controversy. In this brilliant and highly readable volume, psychologist Raymond E. Fancher, author of books on Sigmund Freud and on the lives and ideas of the great psychologists, turns a historical eye toward the scientists who have played, leading roles in the intelligence debate. It is a rich and exciting narrative of the lives and ideas of such intellects as John Stuart Mill, Francis Galton, Alfred Binet, and Arthur Jensen, among others, who have shaped the concept of intelligence over the past two hundred years. This book illuminates a controversy that will not go away, one whose impact continues to be felt in many public educational systems throughout the Western world.

Genres: Psychology, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 1985

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the rare textbook that's actually engaging to read and full of fascinating and likely useless information. Unless of course, you need to make small talk at a party. Then it's simply faboo to know the history behind the development of the IQ test and the ongoing controversies between nature and nurture schools of thought. Though it should be obvious by now that IT'S BOTH!

[Batseba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading so much books about self-development and mental agility, I never truly understood that nature was to account for IQ. Even as a Christian.

In this truly fascinating and biographical account of the nature versus nurture debate, even those who propagated nurture assented that some aspects of IQ was based on nature.

I found this fact repellantly true. Repellant because it puts limits on the individual and to some extent, because it has been politicized to the point of eugenics. True because even psychologists who were for nurture gave some credential to nature. I will continue to be inspired by those who did the unexpected.

Another aspect of this book that angered me is the evil use of science, even fraudulently used to advance a desired conclusion and malicious social program. There is literally such an example in the book.

Being a biographical book, I am also less trusting of experiments as this book shows how the biography of people taints even scientific experiments.

A good read nonetheless.

[Emil O. W. Kirkegaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not too bad, some interesting stuff too.

[Liz Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a graduate class called "Foundations in Gifted Education." While the reading was dense and dry, the history of how we measure intelligence in this modern era of education intrigued me. If you're looking for the origins of the "nature vs. nurture" debate, this will fill you in.

[Quỳnh Anh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a book I hunted for a long time about the controversy topic