Galton’s Theory of Heredity

GaltonGalton, Francis was DarwinDarwin, Charles Robert’sDarwin, Charles Robert cousin, and his work on heredity was inspired by his belief in eugenicseugenics. His investigation of exceptional qualities in parents and offspring lead him to the concept of regression to the meanregressionto the mean (or regression towards mediocity or regression effect). GaltonGalton, Francis believed in both hard heredityhard heredity and discontinuous evolution, both of which were at odds with Darwin’sDarwin, Charles Robert theory. As a reaction to Darwin’sDarwin, Charles Robert pangenesispangenesisDarwin's provisional hypothesis of (1868), GaltonGalton, Francis proposed a hard theory of heredity based on the notion of stirpstirp in 1876. Galton’sGalton, Francis stirpstirp comprised gemmulesgemmulesin Galton's theory of heredity that were found in the fertilized eggs and were thus different from Darwin’sDarwin, Charles Robert gemmulesgemmulesin Darwin's provisional hypothesis of pangenesis (1868). At the same time, GaltonGalton, Francis also proposed a statistical theory (the ancestral lawancestral law), which purported to account for an individual’s received proportions of ancestral contributions.