Cyril Burt

the long version

When Sir Cyril Burt died in 1971, he was widely regarded as Britain's most eminent educational psychologist whose studies of gifted and delinquent children, contributions to the development of factor analysis, and research on the inheritance of intelligence had led to an international reputation. Within five years of his death, however, he was being publicly denounced as a fraud who had fabricated data purporting to show that human intelligence is genetically determined. Careful examination of the published data revealed serious inconsistencies that raised questions about their authenticity. The case has divided the scientific community ever since, and spilled over on several occasions into the popular press. . This book provides an up-to-date and unbiased analysis of one of the most notorious recent scandals in science. The distinguished group of contributors examines the areas of Burt's work which have been the subject of charge and counter-charge. They argue that Burt's defenders have sometimes, but by no means always, been correct, and that his critics have often jumped to hasty conclusions. In their haste, however, these critics have missed crucial evidence which is not easily reconciled with Burt's total innocence, leading to the conclusion that both the defence and prosecution cases are seriously flawed.