Education and Class

Dr Schiff and Professor Lewontin here present an important contribution to the nature-nurture debate. The book opens with a carefully argued view of the history and present state of the literature on inequality, its biological and social origins, and the nature of intelligence testing. The second part of the book gives an account of a remarkable French study of children of blue-collar origin who were adopted into upper-middle-class families, with an analysis of the results, which are of wide significance. The authors then consider how far scholastic achievement might be boosted and access to universities improved. The book concludes with a discussion of the theory and measurement of genetics, social structure, and IQ scores. The book will be of interest to all who are concerned with human behaviour genetics and its social implications.