Jacoby, Russell

• The Bell Curve Debate (edited, with Naomi Glauberman)

  • Here is a compilation of about 60 essays written either about the Bell Curve or about the related topics of IQ testing and eugenics. Stephen Jay Gould's essay leads off the book with a bang, and the rest of the essays are all interesting in their own right, especially in the section where the book discusses some of the sources of Murray and Herrnstein (the original authors of "The Bell Curve"). This book is chock full of excellent quotable material for debates, and it also is a pretty good primer on statistics in the social sciences. Unfortunately, the book gets a little repetitive (esp. in the first section). The editors could have done a better job culling and probably sold a book half this size with much greater impact. Still, it is a great reference source for anyone interested in the subject.

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