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Summary: amazing account of history of science put doubt in authority
Review: When I was a kid, we were all very concerned with our IQ. Even a few years ago, I was so pleased to learn that we Asians are supposed to have higher IQ than Whites. Now Gould, with this highly intellectual and enjoyable book, showed us how flawed and biased "intelligence science" has been. For readers interested in human intelligence, this book presents a very well researched history of intelligence measurement and masterfully demonstrate how this science progress and regress along with the political climate of the time (and locale). For readers interested in science and philosophy, Gould is not anti-science, he pushed beyond the negativism of Kahn and Feyerabend and advocate a new outlook of science that emphasize both the value and limitation of science. As a scientist myself, this is a highly inspiring message.
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Summary: wonderfully humane account
Review: _The Mismeasure of Man_ is the best book I have read on intelligence testing, and I hope you read it, too. It is part a social history, part a theoretical deflation of the idea that intelligence can be measured with a single fixed number. Both parts are very interesting and can be read with profit by historians, lay readers, and people on both sides of the IQ debate. Even if Gould is no psychologist, psychologists must answer his arguments, which compel by dint of common sense. I'm surprised no one has mentioned how very literate and artfully written this book is. Readers of Gould's essays will not be surprised by this, but if you're expecting to pick up a dry technical tome with unfathomable jargon, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Gould has written a great book without ``dumbing it down.''
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Summary: Very correct and to the point
Review: There are people who condemn Gould as 'not a psychologist, therefore not qualified to write about it'. Such people obviously don't take into account the fact that Mr. Gould is not writing a treatise on psychology but pointing out the inherent flaws in a particular type of mental testing looking for 'the g factor'. He is NOT just being politically correct and pushing for social engineering (where is that even hinted at?). This is a brilliant book collectively repudiating theories for supposed differences in racial abilities. People increasingly speak of IQ as a sort of holy grail, a measurement whose ultimate truth cannot be denied, and which is a measure of self worth. I do not see how it is possible to abstract intelligence into a single number. Such attempts, as Mr. Gould points out, are obviously oversimplifications. The history of IQ repeatedly involves itself in disgraceful eugenic engineering attempts and monoethnicism. Fans of these attempts will obviously dislike a book such as this. I say, 'Bravo!' to Mr.Gould for writing a book such as this clearly and explicitly combating favoritist and oversimplified methods of intelligence measurement.
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Summary: Please Don't just Say - "Gould's not a psychologist"
Review: For those who condemn Gould too prematurely: If you read the REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION of the book, Gould rebutts your argument. He admits that,'True, I am not a psychologist' and 'know little about the technicalities of item selection in mental testing' but this book is 'a critique of a specific theory of intelligence...supported by a particular interpretation of a certain style of mental testing.' So why not listen to the other side of the story and broaden your mind on the history of Psychology. REMEBER:'yesterday's paper wraps today's garbage'.
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Summary: An incredible work - a must read for psychologists
Review: Anyone who is interested in the concept of intelligence and how it has been applied to American public policy should read this work. Gould may not be a psychologist, but his insights on some of the pervasive issues (for example, the nature nurture issue) and the problems (for example, reification) of the field have convinced me time and again that we cognitive scientists could profit from what he has to say. Those interested in single versus multiple theories of intelligence may be particularly interested in Chapter 6, in which Gould provides an intuitive yet accurate description of principle components analysis, the method which has been used to support the idea of "g."
Rating: 
Summary: unscientific
Review: In this book Gould uses biased arguments to refute the scientific facts about racial differences (Bell curve, etc.) Gould's poor arguments are no match for Arthur Jensen's recent book, The g Factor (1998), which I recommend instead. One problem with Gould is that he is a paleontologist, not a psychologist, and really incompetent in matters of psychology. Also his bolchevism has pushed him to be untrue to evolution, I recommend the books of Dawkins over those of Gould, who has betrayed Darwin. A third problem with Gould is that he follows the fundamentalists in refusing that evolution be true also in ethics and politics (as is very clear in his book Rocks of the Age). I recommend instead books that are sound on these issues: Why Race matters (by Michael Levin); Race, Evolution and Behavior : A Life History Perspective (by J. P. Rushton); Mein Kampf; The Real American Dilemma: Race, Immigration, and the Future of America (by Jared Taylor.)
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Summary: Political correctness disguissed as scientific arguments
Review: Gould has utterly dissapointed me by writing this tabloid about how nature "ought to be" rather than how nature behaves. He knows little about psychology and statistics while leading the reader into flawed arguments about the differences (or otherwise) of various human races. There is no doubt whatsoever that Gould is pushing a typical social engineering, pseuo-academic, political correct agenda. I feel sorry for science for having individuals such as Gould, who, instead of observing nature and fomulatinng theories about it, jumps into left-wind propaganda of how everyone is and has been wronged and exploted by white, middle-class Europeans. I think that Gould has made a fool of himself with the scientific community.
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Summary: A refreshing blend of Science and History
Review: Gould's _Mismeasure of Man_ is a remarkable text. Not only does has it addressed a critical contemporary scientific (and societal) debate, but it has done so with commendable historical acumen and clarity. Few scholars so successfully cross academic boundaries. As a historian with considerable grounding in physical anthropology, I consider it to be a standard against which other inter-disciplinary works should be judged.
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Summary: Fabulous book
Review: This is a splendid book for its historical (some not so ancient history!) treatment of biased measures of intelligence. I recommend this book for scientists and for students of social and physical sciences. It is important to evaluate interpretations drawn from research and statistics critically, and this book is a good place to start. It is written at a very non-technical level, so pretty much anyone can appreciate it.
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Summary: Not a Psychologist
Review: Gould is not a psychologist, nor does he understand statistics. The authors of the particular statistical tests he writes about discredited those approaches long ago see Jensen's g-factor for a detailed explaination and history. The book is still somewhat historically interesting but psychometrically meaningless.
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