Eugenics - Wikimedia Commons

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Eugenics is a concept which advocates the manipulation of human reproduction for the purposes of attempting to improve the human species over generations in regards to hereditary features. It was first put forth in the late 19th century by Sir Francis Galton, and was popular in scientific and political circles in Europe and the USA during the first decades of the twentieth century. After it was used to justify the racial policies and atrocities of Nazi Germany, though, it was almost universally reviled. Modern inquiries into the potential use of genetic engineering have led to an increased invocation of the history of eugenics in the discourse of bioethics, usually as a cautionary tale.

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  Logo from the Second International Congress of Eugenics

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  Shifting attitudes toward eugenics

See also: The Kallikak Family

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  Charles Davenport, prominent American eugenicist.

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  Madison Grant, prominent American eugenicist.

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  An image depicting the comparison of brain types to criminality.

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  Anthropometry -- measuring humans.

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  Map indicating sterilization legislation in U.S. states ca.1921.

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  Madison Grant's map of the races of Europe, 1916.

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  Lothrop Stoddard's map of the races of the world, 1920.