The Francis Crick Papers

Title:

Letter from John T. Edsall, Fogarty International Center to Francis Crick

Description:

In this letter Edsall detailed his position on the controversy within the National Academy of Sciences over statements by William Shockley, a Nobel Laureate in physics, that the lag in educational attainment among black Americans could be explained by inherited racial deficiencies in intelligence, as measured by IQ tests. Edsall and six other scientists had sent a letter to the president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Philip Handler, on August 21, 1970, in which they set forth their "opinion that Dr. Shockley's proposals [that the Academy sponsor research into hereditary racial factors in intelligence] are based upon such simplistic notions of race, intelligence, and 'human quality' as to be unworthy of serious consideration by a body of scientists."

Among other clarifications, Edsall drew a distinction between Shockley's stance and that of the educational psychologist Arthur Jensen, who drew similar conclusions but whom Edsall considered "thoughtful, careful, and scholarly."

Number of Image Pages:

4 (430,067 Bytes)

Date:

1971-03-05 (March 5, 1971)

Creator:

Edsall, John T.

Fogarty International Center

Recipient:

Crick, Francis

Source:

Original Repository: Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers

URL: http://archives.wellcome.ac.uk/

Rights:

This item is in the public domain. It may be used without permission.

Subject:

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):: Continental Population Groups; Intelligence

Exhibit Category:

Embryology and the Organization of DNA in Higher Organisms, 1966-1976

Relation:

Letter from Francis Crick to John T. Edsall, Fogarty International Center (March 29, 1971)

Letter from Francis Crick to John T. Edsall, Fogarty International Center (February 22, 1971)

Box Number: 22

Folder Number: PP/CRI/D/2/14

Unique Identifier:

SCBBNL

Document Type:

Letters (correspondence)

Language:

English

Format:

application/pdf

image/tif

Physical Condition:

Good

Series: Correspondence

SubSeries: Individual Correspondents

Folder: "Jensen's Work"

Metadata Last Modified Date:

2004-10-20

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