The Mismeasure of Man

The Mismeasure of Man is a critical examination of the statistical methods and cultural motivations underlying biological determinism.

Gould challenges the traditional concept of intelligence as a single, measurable quantity and critiques the historical use of psychometrics and IQ tests.

He argues that these methods are flawed due to reification and ranking, and that they have been used to justify social inequalities and racist ideologies.

The book also includes a critique of Samuel George Morton's craniometry and later editions address Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's book The Bell Curve.