Rating: 
Summary: Not the Book They Told You It Was
Review: This book is not about race. It's about intelligence, and how measured intelligence profoundly affects the lives of individuals in America. More than socioeconomic background, parents' marital status or anything else, intelligence correlates with education, income, employment, criminal behavior, disability, likelihood of being in automobile accidents, and just about everything else. And intelligence is largely genetic. This has ominous implications for American society. The highly intelligent largely work and associate with other highly intelligent people. They marry each other, and have highly intelligent kids. Murry and Herrnstein argue that an intelligence-derived class system is developing in America. Of course, it has even more ominous implications for people whose political credos rest upon the assumption that everything about an individual is socially conditioned and can therefore be improved by enlightened tinkering. These people, predictably, respond with wild accusations of "Nazi science!" This, of course, is a blatant and somewhat pathetic effort to taint the book so that no one will touch it. Ignore the screamers. Read this book.
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Summary: Enlightening, incredible
Review: I read this book with a bias against it. Someone I knew made some politically incorrect statements and used this book as a defense. Determined to see what all this "nonsense" was about, I read the book. I was amazed by the incredibly new thinking contained in it. It was a whole new way of looking at the societal problems that face the United States. It drew connections that I did not think existed, or possibly could exist. It relied on a wealth of evidence to support its claims, and used sufficient evidence and sound reasoning to refute every "but what about..." question/objection. Do not cast immediate judgement on this book or dismiss it as right-wing nonsense. Read this book with an open mind, and you'll soon find yourself at least gripped, if not utterly convinced, by the new (and forward thinking) ideas contained therein.
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Summary: Dressed up pseudo-science
Review: This book is an attempt to give otherwise generally discredited theories on eugenics and race so-called academic respectability. I'm not surprised that J. Phillippe Ruston, also known for his generally discredited theories on race and intelligence, has given a glowing review here, as Murray and Herrnstein have written a defense of Ruston's pseudoscientific racism in their book. Murray and Herrnstein have heavily relied on sources from scholars who have received grants from the Pioneer Fund. For those who don't know, the Pioneer Fund was founded by Wyckliffe Draper, a textile magnate who admired the racial eugenics policies of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and has funded efforts to promote such efforts. One of the first projects was a series of cash grants to get Air Force pilots to have children and pass on their genes, not unlike the Nazi Lebensborn program of elite breeding programs. Other recipients of Pioneer Fund largesse include William Shockley (the father of the transistor who later went into eugenics theory)and Arthur Jensen, as well as Rushton. Murray, Rushton, Herrnstein and others of this group are rejected by mainstream social scientists, liberal AND conservative. This is not new work---it's just that the conservative movement in recent years has become more extreme---with the National Review publishing rave reviews of these individuals' works and giving them needed attention. For those who say critiquing Murray and Herrnstein is "political correctness", well, "PC" these days is generally used as an all-purpose excuse by those on the right to justify their views, no matter how shaky they are. I suppose that those who crow about the book may be an example of "preaching to the choir". In short, this book is an utter waste of paper with its shaky scientific work. It's only significant because the mainsteam conservative intellectual circles in America, which had previously ignored or indifferent to these theories, now give it attention.
Rating: 
Summary: The same old bias, now with "scientific evidence"
Review: This book tries to show that differences in intelligence are based on genetics rather than opportunity. This is an essential liberal verses conservative debate. While most of the attention is on blacks, all groups are misrepresented. The modernization of Africa refutes it as does the fact that Asian countries often fall behind Europe and America. Is black jazz less intelligent than Frank Sinatra? People often denied a college education can excel at sports because of resourcefulness, not genes. How do you determine the need for IQ anyway? I don't have a college degree, but I know how to run a spell checker (unlike the people who praised this book). As a liberal I will admit that a dog can't compete with a person but racial differences have been proven false.
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Summary: You may love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it.
Review: Conservatives will love this book as it provides a firm intellectual foundation for many of the policies they support on ideological bases. Liberals, on the other hand, will hate it as it undermines whatever intellectual foundations they have that support many of their causes. Whether you are liberal or conservative, however, the clear reasoning - backed up by sound statistical analysis - offered by this book cannot be ignored. And once you have read and digested its full impact, you will realize that you no longer look at various social issues the way you did before reading it. I took a geology class in college and after that, I never saw a rock, a mountain or a river the same way again; It enabled me to see beyond what was merely superficially visible and, among other things, discern causation - that is, why a rock looked like a rock and why a river meanders. This book struck me the same way. Not only will this text help you understand the underlying root cause of many societal problems, but will clearly demonstrate how idiotic most of our social policy is. Like most stupid things, however, such policies are easy to create but very difficult to extricate one's self from. The approaches the authors suggest to address various social ills are reasonable, buttressed by hard data but, sadly, are politically impossible. One last thing: if you are math-phobic, you will also hate this book; however, the authors provide a short tutorial on statistics for the uninitiated
Rating: 
Summary: convincing book
Review: Even though I am a registered Democrat, I was forced to agree with the conclusions made in "The Bell Curve". While I did not like the book's thesis, I had to agree with it. Many experts in the fields of cognitive psychology and behavioral genetics now accept the possibility that some of the differences in intelligence observed between different "groups" may in fact be due to genetic differences. If you don't believe me, you should read the statement released in the Washington Post by 52 experts in the field of intelligence in response to this book. The experts basically agree with the conclusions made by Herrnstein and Murray in this book. It is also interesting that my "Behavioral Genetics" text book agrees with the authors' assertion that genes are far more important than parental SES in determining adult intelligence. Adoption studies from around the world confirm this. It is unfortunate that most popular magazines and newspapers try to distort this evidence. Warning: This book is not a "feel good" book. If you want a "feel good" book, read Steven Jay Gould's stuff (as a geologist, I have to recommend his essays on paleontology) or "The Mozart Effect". On the other hand,if you want a book that is not afraid to be politically incorrect, get this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Innacurate
Review: When I first read the bell curve I admit it presented cogent arguments. Now I question its putting so much weight on intelligence as a determining factor for success. The statistical information in the book leaves gaps that need to be filled in. That said most of the detractors of this book seem to come to their conclusions out of ideological well wishing instead of fact - ironic since this is exactly what they accuse the authors of doing. One of the dumbest complaints is that the authors are white supremacist. Hmm! How many white supremacists say that Asians and Jews have average IQ greater than whites? In any case my suggestion to the applauders and detractors alike is to read books like "Emotional Intelligence or "The Millionaire Mind. These two books do more to prove that intelligence is only one factor - and not necessarily the most important one - that leads to success in later life. Personal disciplines like hard work, emotional maturity, courage, and rationality fill in a large gap of variables that contribute to success. Particularly for some of the detractors I suggest reading these books. You will find that intelligence or not you will not get very far in life with a bad attitude and a "being the victim" mentality apparent in some of the reviews I have read.
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Summary: The Bell Curve--What was Missing
Review: I read The Bell Curve shortly after it was first published six or seven years ago and came away with the sense that while the authors' arguments sounded plausible,they really were saying nothing that many of us thought we knew already, particularly as it concerns the hereditary nature of intelligence. After all,it seems only "logical" that highly intelligent and well educated parents will tend to produce offspring whose IQs will be higher than average. But why? Exactly what is "intelligence"? Where does it come from? Can intelligence be augmented by positive factors within one's environment and, conversely, be retarded by negative factors? If, as has been suggested, blacks are less intelligent as a group than whites, why should this be so when, if what geneticists say is true, we all share the same genepool? None of this is really touched upon by the authors--neither of whom, it must be pointed out, are "hard scientists"-- and leads me to my central criticism: the reliance on the part of solely upon social scientists, i.e. psychologists, as source material. Nowhere was there any reference to the extensive research into this subject conducted by geneticists,evolutionary biolgists, even quantum physicists. I am sure Stephen Jay Gould would have had something to say about intelligence and heredity. Ditto Edward O.Wilson. Where were Drs. Watson and Crick? To me, this is akin to writing a book about fractal geometry while citing the works of Shakespeare as one's sources. Though The Bell Curve is a good start, it barely scratches the surface of a subject the depths of which have only barely been plumbed.
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Summary: Social Darwinism Vindicated!
Review: Like many (white) males, my ideology has changed over the years. I went from a liberal in my teens to a Libertarian conservative today. The Bell Curve was a long overdue statement of truth with which few can argue the facts. Intelligence does determine status, health, success and behavior to a large degree. The ocean of evidence also support the authors' views that it is mostly genetic and can therefore be inherited. DUH! Any people who disagree with the thesis of this work will no doubt (as they have) instead of arguing the science, argue the politics and cry "hate, hate". Nonsense! Today, to many scientists are politicians INSTEAD of scientists. The authors of the Bell Curve took a bold step in standing up to political correctness, and others have followed. This is healthy for debate in science and in society. I agree (and had agreed) with virtually all the points in the book, except some of the conclusions on the way we are headed. The authors thought that we might be headed towards a strengthing of the welfare state out of white liberal guilt. Remember the book was released in 1994, BEFORE the Republicans re-took the Congress and before bipartisan welfare reform. I think that as the genetic intellectual gap grows and as behavior between intellectual classes grows (crime, etc.) we will continue to head away from the welfare state. By the way, I actually read the book, unlike most of its critics. The conclusions by the authors that intelligence in 40-80% inherited (probably about 70%) is probably an understatement. I welcome comments that are factual in basis. In short, this book is a great contribution to science, social science, and it is built on solid science, unlike the psuedo-science of the left-wing opponents.
Rating:
Summary: Analysis, not politics.
Review: This book offers the most accurate accounting I've read regarding the relations between social standing, intelligence and race. I am frankly annoyed by some of the other reviews by their politization of this book in accordance with their personal views. To whichever party you subscribe, this book offers empirical evidence of which we should all be aware. Regarding at least one other reader, the particular circumstances of other countries are largely irrelevant due to the vast variables involved. Racial issues in the U.S. are not likely to disappear of their own volition within our lifetimes, and to turn a blind eye to rational scientific thought is not the solution.
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