RACE, EVOLUTION, and BEHAVIOR: A Life History Perspective
- What Others Have Said
- About the Author
- Return to CDRI Home Page
- Abridged Edition in English
- Abridged Edition in Dutch
- Abridged Edition in Romanian
- Abridged Edition in Spanish
- Abridged Edition in Portuguese
- Abridged Edition in German
- Abridged Edition in Chinese
- Abridged Edition in French
- Book and Audio CD Orders
- Rushton’s Essay: Is Race A Valid Taxonomic Construct?
- Essay in German: Ist Rasse ein gültiges Klassifizierungskriterium?
History of Race, Evolution, and Behavior
Race, Evolution, and Behavior by J.P. Rushton analyzes racial differences in brain size, intelligence, and behavior using data from multiple scientific disciplines. The book posits that Orientals, Blacks, and Whites display consistent patterns across many traits that suggest evolutionary and genetic causes.
Originally published in 1995 by Transaction Publishers and later translated and reissued in abridged forms, the book drew both academic attention and controversy. When the 1999 Special Abridged Edition was distributed, activist groups pressured Transaction to withdraw it and apologize publicly. Coverage of this episode appeared in major publications like the Chronicle of Higher Education and National Post.
Rushton’s work challenges what he views as taboos around discussing race. The goal of the book, he states, is not to prescribe policies but to present scientific data for a more informed public discourse on human diversity.
What Others Have Said
“(An) incendiary thesis….that separate races of human beings evolved different reproductive strategies… led to physical differences in brain size and hence in intelligence.”
—Malcolm W. Browne, New York Times Book Review
“Rushton is a serious scholar who has assembled serious data… a significant and substantial relationship exists between brain size and measured intelligence.”
—Charles Murray, Afterword to The Bell Curve
“Describes hundreds of studies… On each of these variables, the groups are aligned in the order: Orientals, Caucasians, Blacks.”
—Mark Snyderman, National Review
“Rushton’s Race, Evolution, and Behavior… is an attempt to understand [race] differences in terms of life-history evolution.”
—Henry Harpending, Evolutionary Anthropology
“This brilliant book is the most impressive theory-based study… of psychological and behavioral differences between the major racial groups.”
—Arthur R. Jensen, University of California, Berkeley
“The only acceptable explanation… is an entirely environmental one… Professor Rushton deserves our gratitude for having the courage to declare that this emperor has no clothes.”
—Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., University of Minnesota
“The resistance to racial science… has led to comparisons with the inquisition of Rome. Psychology and the social sciences today have their Darwin, Galton, and Rushton.”
—Glayde Whitney, Contemporary Psychology
“Race, Evolution, and Behavior confronts us… with the dilemmas wrought in a democratic society by individual and group differences.”
—Linda Gottfredson, Politics and the Life Sciences
“Professor Rushton is widely known and respected… A remarkable synthesis of well-integrated information.”
—Hans J. Eysenck, University of London
“Should, if there is any justice, receive a Nobel Prize.”
—Richard Lynn, Spectator
For more comments on the book, please visit Amazon.com
About the Author
J. Philippe Rushton was a psychology professor at the University of Western Ontario. He held Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees from the University of London and was a fellow of several major scientific associations, including the AAAS. He published six books and nearly 200 articles, and in 1992 was ranked the 22nd most published and 11th most cited psychologist by the Institute for Scientific Information.
He is listed in Who’s Who in Science and Technology, Who’s Who in International Authors, and Who’s Who in Canada.