Francis Galton Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Francis Galton
OCCUPATION: Anthropologist, Explorer, Inventor, Scientist, Academic Author
BIRTH DATE: February 16, 1822
DEATH DATE: January 17, 1911
EDUCATION: King Edward's School, Birmingham, King's College, London Medical School, Trinity College, University of Cambridge
PLACE OF BIRTH: Birmingham, England
PLACE OF DEATH: Haslemere, Surrey, England
Full Name: Sir Francis Galton
AKA: Francis Galton

Best Known For

Francis Galton was an English explorer and anthropologist best known for his research in eugenics and human intelligence. He was the first to study the effects of human selective mating.

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Sir Francis Galton

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Sir Francis Galton. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:28, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/francis-galton-9305647.

Harvard Style

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Chicago Style

"Sir Francis Galton," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/francis-galton-9305647 (accessed May 21, 2013).

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Sir Francis Galton [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/francis-galton-9305647.

Bluebook Style

Sir Francis Galton, http://www.biography.com/people/francis-galton-9305647 (last visited May 21, 2013).

AMA Style

Sir Francis Galton. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/francis-galton-9305647. Accessed May 21, 2013.

Final Years

Galton spent much of his life studying heredity and eugenics, and he later thought that a person's fingerprints might be a part of human genetic puzzle. He thought that these prints might provide information on differences between people, from race to moral character to intelligence. While he never made any discoveries in this area, Galton established a fingerprint classification system that is still in use today.

In 1908,

Galton published his autobiography. He received a knighthood from King Edward the following year. Galton died on January 17, 1911, in Haslemere, England, at the age of 88. In his will, he donated funds for a professorship in eugenics to University College London.