Professor Joe Cain publishes blog posts on many subjects related to his research interests.
Charles Darwin made reference to many people in his writings. Most were correspondents who sent him pieces of useful information. Others were writers whose work he used, promoted, or criticised. In his 1871 book, Descent More…
UCL Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment has taken the decision to de-name the R A Fisher Centre for Computational Biology owing to Fisher’s life-long commitment to eugenics research and campaigning. It is now the UCL Centre for More…
This is the text of a presentation I delivered in September 2019 titled, “Eugenics, Karl Pearson and the Legacy of Anglo-Saxon Nativism”. It was for the conference “Universities and their contested pasts”. At the time, the UCL More…
The “eugenics tree” is one of the most reprinted images associated with the history of the subject. The source is Laughlin (1923: 15, figure 3). It was used at the Second International Congress of Eugenics (September More…
Because I’ve been vocal in arguing for de-naming UCL facilities once (but no longer) associated with racist, nativist, eugenicists Francis Galton and Karl Pearson, I was asked if UCL should de-name its Petrie Museum of More…
For the Innes Lecture 2020, I discussed the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. Owing to COVID-related public health restrictions, we moved this lecture online. Details on access now are available through the John Innes Centre. The More…
Shortly after the conclusion of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial – officially, the case of State of Tennessee versus John Thomas Scopes, the National Book Company (Cincinnati, Ohio) published transcripts of the trial. Under the More…
The surge of energy for BlackLivesMatter this summer (2020) is driving change in areas far beyond those directly connected with police violence and responsive protests. This surge has given huge momentum to efforts seeking removal More…
It’s been a long road. UCL has announced the official decision to remove the names of Francis Galton and Karl Pearson from its estate. De-named will be the Galton Lecture Theatre, Pearson Lecture Theatre, and More…
Photographs on Twitter show catastrophic damage to the jaw of the Crystal Palace Dinosaur Megalosaurus. This is one of the original four giant statues of dinosaurs built by sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins for the opening More…
Copyright 2020 Professor Joe Cain
