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The Unfit: The History of a Bad Idea
by Carlson, Elof Axel
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very good in good dust jacket. DJ has slight wear and soiling, with small edge wear.
- ISBN 10
- 0879695870
- ISBN 13
- 9780879695873
- Seller
-
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2001. Reprint. Second printing. Hardcover. Very good in good dust jacket. DJ has slight wear and soiling, with small edge wear.. xiv, 451 p. Illustrations. Footnotes. Bibliography. Index. The Unfit, by Elof Carlson explores the sources of a movement--negative eugenics--that was used to justify the Holocaust, which claimed millions of innocent lives in World War II. The title reflects the nearly three centuries of belief that some people are socially unfit by virtue of a defective biology, and echoes an earlier theory of degeneracy, dating to biblical antiquity, in which some people were deemed unfit because of some transgression against religious law. The author presents the first biological theory of degeneracy onanism--and then follows the development of degeneracy theory throughout the nineteenth century and its application to a variety of social classes. The key intellectual theories and their proponents form the framework of this exploration, which includes the concepts of evolution and heredity and how they were applied to social problems. These ideas are followed into the twentieth century with the development of theories of positive and negative eugenics, the establishment of compulsory sterilization laws, racism and anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust. This story of misapplied science and technology is one that still haunts humanity in the twenty-first century. The ghost of eugenics recurs in many guises during debates and controversies about intelligence testing, genetic screening, prenatal diagnosis, gene therapy, new reproductive strategies, and uses of our genomic information. Carlson ends his discussion of the history of humanity in this arena with an exploration of the future of genetics that is base on new technologies and application of the Human Genome Project findings, as well as a discussion of the death of the old eugenics and of the problemsthat will not go away, including our ambivalence about our own biology.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Ground Zero Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 60976
- Title
- The Unfit: The History of a Bad Idea
- Author
- Carlson, Elof Axel
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good in good dust jacket. DJ has slight wear and soiling, with small edge wear.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- Reprint. Second printing
- ISBN 10
- 0879695870
- ISBN 13
- 9780879695873
- Publisher
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
- Place of Publication
- Cold Spring Harbor, NY
- Date Published
- 2001
- Keywords
- Anti-Semitism, Racism, Aryan, Atavism, William Bateson, Bigotry, Birth Defects, Carrie Buck, Henry Boies, Robert Chambers, Compulsory Sterilizaiton, Richard Dugdale, Francis Galton, David Jordan, Lamarck, Harry Laughlin, Lombroso, Paupers, Ploetz, Ha
Terms of Sale
Ground Zero Books
Books are offered subject to prior sale. Satisfaction guaranteed. If you notify us within 7 days that you are not satisfied with your purchase, we will refund your purchase price when you return the item in the condition in which it was sold.
About the Seller
Ground Zero Books
Biblio member since 2005
Silver Spring, Maryland
About Ground Zero Books
Founded and operated by trained historians, Ground Zero Books, Ltd., has for over 30 years served scholars, collectors, universities, and all who are interested in military and political history.
Much of our diverse stock is not yet listed on line. If you can't locate the book or other item that you want, please contact us. We may well have it in stock. We welcome your want lists, and encourage you to send them to us.
Much of our diverse stock is not yet listed on line. If you can't locate the book or other item that you want, please contact us. We may well have it in stock. We welcome your want lists, and encourage you to send them to us.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...