Earnest Albert Hooton (1887–1954)

Being, ostensibly, an apologia for the introduction of eugenics into human society. The book is composed of three sections. The first is a review of the evolution of man; I would assume that the information contained therein may be considered outdated or just plain incorrect. The second section is a cumbersome, nearly unreadable compendium of researches into physical anthropological traits of human races. The third is a review of simian physiology. All, especially, the second part, make extreme vocabulary demands, though I did discover that there was a glossary when I was about 20 pages from being done.
Most of these are reprints of addresses to scholarly societies or essays from volumes of contributed papers. The author occasionally demonstrates a whimsical, sardonic style not unlike that of H. L. Mencken, but those episodes are rare. As for eugenics, although he does allude to his sympathy for the principle, he nowhere expands on his remarks or adduces serious arguments in its behalf.… (altro)