Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

I found this book very disappointing considering how much I love other books by Gould. The Mismeasure of Man aims to attack some of the supposed evidence for scientific racism. The book's purpose intrigued me initially, but as I began reading its content, I found Gould's method very unconvincing.

This is one of Gould's arguments that I found most difficult to buy - Gould's attack on craniometry. He first gives a brief background of some of the first craniometric studies of human races done by Agazzis and Morton (quite informative). Gould then points out the flaw in Morton's studies: his measurements of the volume of skulls are done by filling the skull with seeds, and Morton might have, according to Gould, pressed the seeds further in the skulls that he believed (a priori) to be larger. It is an interesting case study of confirmation bias, and Gould claimed that he repeated Morton's measurements to find out that Morton's measurements were indeed influenced by his preconceptions. Gould's re-measurements were then falsified by many other scientists/anthropologists (according to a critique titled 'Mismeasure of Gould'). Gould seems to forget that he too has his own preconceptions about the topic.

I think it is very difficult to read a book that relies on claiming that its opponent is under the influence of confirmation bias. The author would then simply repeat the experiment, only to be falsified by his critics, who suggest that he too is under the influence of said bias. It somehow seems like an endless exchange of straw-man arguments, and I don't find that very interesting to read about.

Gould's fascination with the relationship between fact/theory and human preconceptions in science is admirable, but he does it much more beautifully in Wonderful Life. I suggest that you should read that rather than The Mismeasure of Man.