FRANCIS GALTON, EUGENICS AND WHY WE NEED NEW SCIENCE STORIES
7PM, WEDNESDAY 27 JULY
Francis Galton is the most influential Victorian scientist most people have never heard of. If you have heard of him, you may know that in 1883 Galton coined the word ‘eugenics’ to describe his vision for a society governed by scientific knowledge. In this talk, Subhadra Das, former curator of the Galton Collection at UCL, will describe the colonial and racist ideas that framed Galton’s work, and explain why, for her, the absence of Galton’s story is a story in itself.
*Please note, this is an ONLINE talk and attendees will have access for 7 days*
About the Speaker:
Subhadra Das is a researcher and storyteller who specialises in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the history of scientific racism and eugenics, and what those histories mean for our lives today. For nine years, she was Curator of the Science Collections at University College London, where she was also Researcher in Critical Eugenics at the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation. She’s written and presented podcasts, curated museum exhibitions, done stand-up comedy and regularly appears on radio and tv.