Lot #245

Francis Galton Autograph Letter Signed

Description

Galton on his sweet pea experiments, and "the puzzle that had to be solved by growing the sorted peas, generation after generation"

English Victorian statistician, progressive, polymath, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, and psychometrician (1822-1911) who devised a method for classifying fingerprints that proved useful in forensic science. ALS, one page both sides, 4.5 x 7, November 3, 1881. Handwritten letter concerning a scientific paper, in part: "Enclosed is the pamphlet of which I spoke. The sizes of the peas described in it were however not obtained by the sifter you mentioned but by more exact measurement. The sifter was used to rougher calculations. I fear you will find the pamphlet unalterably dull; the interest of the subject being considerable enough from a mathematical point of view, but from that only. The lines sentenced in p. 1 will perhaps give some idea of the puzzle that had to be solved by growing the sorted peas, generation after generation." In fine condition. Galton developed the law of regression to the mean, or reversion, based on insights from the quincunx ('bean machine' or 'Galton board') and his studies of sweet peas.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts, Ft. Science & Tech
• Dates: #622 - Ended December 08, 2021

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