Ethel M. Elderton
Encyclopedia
Ethel Mary Elderton was a eugenics
researcher who worked with Francis Galton
and Karl Pearson
. In 1905 she resigned her teaching post to become Galton's assistant. Subsequently she became Galton Scholar and Fellow and Assistant Professor at University College London
.http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=2872&inst_id=13. She retired in 1933.
Elderton produced many reports, the most controversial of which argued that predisposition to alcoholism was largely inherited. With her brother the actuary
William Palin Elderton
she wrote a Primer of Statistics. The book has a preface by Galton.
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
researcher who worked with Francis Galton
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton /ˈfrɑːnsɪs ˈgɔːltn̩/ FRS , cousin of Douglas Strutt Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an English Victorian polymath: anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician...
and Karl Pearson
Karl Pearson
Karl Pearson FRS was an influential English mathematician who has been credited for establishing the disciplineof mathematical statistics....
. In 1905 she resigned her teaching post to become Galton's assistant. Subsequently she became Galton Scholar and Fellow and Assistant Professor at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
.http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=2872&inst_id=13. She retired in 1933.
Elderton produced many reports, the most controversial of which argued that predisposition to alcoholism was largely inherited. With her brother the actuary
Actuary
An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries provide expert assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms ....
William Palin Elderton
William Palin Elderton
Sir William Palin Elderton KBE PhD was a British actuary who served as president of the Institute of Actuaries . Elderton also had a very long association with the statistical journal Biometrika...
she wrote a Primer of Statistics. The book has a preface by Galton.
Writings
- Ethel M. Elderton (1910) A first study of the influence of parental alcoholism on the physique and ability of the offspring, University of London. Francis Galton laboratory for national eugenics. Eugenics laboratory memoirs; v.X.
- W. Palin Elderton and Ethel M. Elderton (1909) Primer of Statistics. London: A&C Black Ltd.
Discussion
- R. Love (1979) Alice in Eugenics Land: Feminism and Eugenics in the Scientific Careers of Alice Lee and Ethel Elderton, Annals of Science, 36, 145-158.