Early Empirical Studies of Genius

Abstract

Louis Lélut presented the first medical examination of genius in 1836 (Becker, 2014; Lélut, 1836). There followed a large number of studies on geniuses (Galton, 1869; Lange-Eichbaum and Paul, 1931; Lombroso, 1891; Maudsley, 1908), and soon the literature on genius and in particular genius and madness was comprehensive. The author foremost associated with the idea of the mad genius during this period was the Italian psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909). In The Man of Genius, Lombroso argues for genius being inevitably linked to madness and degeneration (Lombroso, 1891). His contemporary, Francis Galton (1822–1911) was not convinced of this view but forcefully argued for traits of genius being hereditary. In what is often suggested the birth of behavioural genetics, Hereditary Genius: An enquiry into its laws and consequences, he makes a compelling argument for genius being hereditary by collecting data from renowned English families. The emphasis on factors of genius unsusceptible to alteration was increasingly questioned, however, and in 1928 Wilhelm Lange-Eichbaum (1875–1949) contended a sociological perspective on the definition of genius.