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[ 2026-03-25 ] Reading List for MSc History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) Prep Masters-level
[ 2026-02-18 ] Project Pitch Explained for HPSC0044 Undergraduates Undergraduate-level
[ 2025-11-03 ] The Country of the Iguanodon, by Gideon Mantell – Two Versions Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
[ 2025-11-02 ] Gideon Mantell’s 1851 Guide to Fossils at British Museum Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
[ 2025-10-14 ] Society for the Study of Speciation: Bibliographic Analysis Using LLM Featured

First International Eugenics Congress 1912. Proceedings volume 2 (1913)

The First International Eugenics Congress was held at the University of London, July 24th to 30th, 1912, and was organised by the Eugenics Education Society. Major Leonard Darwin was the president of the society and chair of the organising committee. […]

Legacies of Eugenics project website December 2019

Launching the Legacies of Eugenics project

The subject of eugenics is back on the agenda for historians of science. I’ve been involved in the UCL Inquiry on the history and legacies of eugenics within that institution. My academic department has reviewed […]

Eugenics Poster - Only Healthy Seed Must Be Sown

American Universities Teaching Eugenics in 1914

In 1914, Journal of Heredity published a directory of US colleges and universities with eugenics courses. This is not an exhaustive list, but it gives a good indication of the range of institutions which supported […]

Karl Pearson, 1934, from Filon et al (1934)

Speeches Delivered at a Dinner in Honour of Karl Pearson, 1934

Karl Pearson retired in 1933, aged 76. To honour his career, colleagues and former students gathered for a dinner in April 1934. On this occasion, Professor LNG Filon, Vice-Chancellor of University of London, gave a […]

Karl Pearson praised Hitler and Nazi Race Hygiene

Did Professor Karl Pearson praise Hitler and Nazi ‘race hygiene’ programmes? Yes, he did. He did this in 1934, at a dinner to mark his retirement the previous year from University College London (UCL). Pearson […]

HPSC0070 Eugenics in Science and Culture | UCL Science and Technology Studies | ProfJoeCain

HPSC0070 Eugenics in Science and Culture (Teaching)

Eugenics combined science and politics to create social policies intent on “improving the stock” of some human groups at the expense of others. This module investigates eugenics as a history of science and technology operating […]

Farrall's Origins and Growth of the English Eugenics Movement, 1865-1925, cover art

Origins and Growth of English Eugenics, 1865-1925 (Farrall)

Lyndsay Andrew Farrall’s PhD dissertation on “The Origins and Growth of the English Eugenics Movement, 1865-1925” (Indiana University) is an important source of information about the history of eugenics at University of London, University College. […]

Professor Joe Cain

UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology