MICHAEL H. HART is both a trained scientist and a successful history writer. He did his undergraduate work at Cornell University, where he majored in mathematics, and later obtained a Ph.D. in astronomy from Princeton University. He also has master's degrees in two other fields (physics and computer science). His published work in scientific journals includes several detailed computer simulations of atmospheric evolution. His best known history book is The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, which has been translated into over a dozen foreign languages and has sold several hundred thousand copies. That book has been widely praised for its scope, its lucidity, and its factual accuracy.

 

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN HISTORY is a history of humanity, beginning about 100,000 years ago and going through the 20th century. It includes discussions of developments in every major area of the world. Unlike other books on world history, it explicitly discusses racial differences in intelligence, and explains how, why, and when they arose. The book also discusses the many consequences that those differences have had on human events, starting in prehistoric times and continuing to the present. The book includes an abundance of data and tables, together with sixteen maps, three tables, an extensive bibliography, and a thorough index.

RICHARD LYNN is Emeritus Professor of Psychology of the University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland. He graduated in Psychology at the University of Cambridge and has held positions at the University of Exeter and the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin. Among his earlier books are Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations (1996) and Eugenics: A Reassessment (2001), IQ and the Wealth of Nations (Co-author, 2002), and Race Differences in Intelligence (2006).

 

TATU VANHANEN is Emeritus Professor of Political Science of the University of Tempere, Finland, and Emeritus Docent of Political Science of the University of Helsinki. He became Doctor of Social Sciences at the University of Tampere in 1968 and has held positions at the University of Jyväskylä , at the University of Tampere and the University of Helsinki. Among his earlier books are The Process of Democratization: A Comparative Study of 147 States, 1980-88 (1990), On the Evolutionary Roots of Politics (1992), Prospects of Democracy: A study of 172 Countries (1997), Ethnic Conflicts Explained by Ethnic Nepotism (1999) and IQ and the Wealth of Nations (Co-author, 2002).

 

"We address the following questions. First, in Chapter 1, we review the major theories of economic growth that have been developed since this problem was considered by Charles de Montesquieu and Adam Smith in the eighteenth century and introduce the 192 countries of this study. In Chapter 2 we define and describe what is meant by intelligence. In Chapter 3, we summarise work showing that intelligence is a determinant of incomes and related phenomena (educational attainment and socio-economic status) among individuals in a number of countries; this is the basis of our theory that the intelligence of national populations is likely to be a determinant of per capita incomes among nations. Chapter 4 describes how we have collected and quantified the IQs of nations and presents new IQ data for a further 32 nations. This brings the total number of nations for which we have measured IQs to 113. In addition, national IQs are estimated for 79 other countries so that we have IQs for all countries with populations of more than 40,000. In Chapter 5, five measures of the quality of human conditions and their composite index (QHC) are introduced as well as 12 alternative variables that measure human conditions from different perspectives. In Chapter 6, the hypothesis on the positive relationship between national IQ and the quality of human conditions is tested by empirical evidence on PPP GNI (Gross National Income at Purchasing Power Parity) per capita in 2002, adult literacy rate in 2002, tertiary enrollment ratio, life expectancy at birth in 2002, and the level of democratization in 2002. Chapter 7 focuses on the relationship between national IQ and the composite index of the quality of human conditions (QHC) The results are analysed at the level of single countries on the basis of regression analyses. The results are checked by exploring the impact of latitude and annual mean temperature on human conditions through national IQ. Chapter 8 shows that national IQ is correlated also with many other variables that measure differences in human conditions from different perspectives. Twelve alternative variables are used in these analyses. Chapter 9 discusses the contributions of genetic and environmental determinants to national differences in intelligence and concludes that the racial identity of the population is the major factor. Chapter 10 considers the causal interactions between our most important measures. Chapter 11 (Criticisms and Rejoinders) discusses and responds to the criticisms made of our theory by reviewers. Finally, we summarize the results and conclusions of this study in Chapter 12 and discuss policy implications.

Five appendices complement the text. In Appendix 1, the calculation of national IQs for 113 countries is presented and documented. Appendix 2 includes documented empirical data on the adult literacy rate in 2002, the gross enrollment ratio at the tertiary level of education, PPP GNI per capita in US dollars in 1002, and the life expectancy at birth in 2002 for the total group of 192 countries. Appendix 3 provides documented data on the measures of democracy, of the calculated values of the Index of the Quality of Human Conditions (QHC), and of latitude and annual mean temperature. Appendix 4 includes residuals of regression analyses of the five components of QHC on national IQ for single countries in the group of 192 countries. Appendix 5 provides estimated data on per capita GDP derived from Maddison (2003) for 1500 and 2000 in a group of 109 countries."

Richard Lynn, one of the leading researchers on intelligence and personality and the author of several major books on IQ and personality research, summarizes in this landmark work what one scholar has described as "the definitive study of race differences in intelligence."

Since 1977, Richard Lynn has blazed a pioneering trail of research on racial differences in IQ. In previous books and scientific articles, Lynn has explored dysgenic trends in intelligence, sex differences in IQ, psychopathic personality traits, and the dimensions of personality and national character.

In this book, Lynn analyzes the results of over 500 published studies that span ten population groups—races and sub-races worldwide—in what is certain to be a path-breaking book for IQ experts and educated laypersons alike. This comprehensive review of worldwide racial differences of general intelligence explores the formation of races, meaning of intelligence, validity of race differences in IQ, environmental and genetic correlates of intelligence, the relationship between brain size and intelligence, the evolution of racial differences in intelligence, and the factor of racial hybrids. In a relentlessly methodical approach, Lynn expands upon an extensive array of research findings from the biomedical and social sciences, including the latest studies from the fields of behavior genetics, evolutionary psychology, and anthropology in reaching his thought-provoking conclusions. Extensively referenced, this exhaustive study of race and IQ is a milestone accomplishment and should serve as the yardstick by which future research is measured.

"The IQs of the races... can be explained as having arisen from the different environments in which they evolved, and in particular from the ice ages in the northern hemisphere exerting selection pressures for greater intelligence for survival during cold winters; and in addition from the appearance of mutations for higher intelligence appearing in the races with the larger populations and under the greatest cold stress.

The IQ differences between the races explain the differences in achievement in making the Neolithic transition from hunter-gathering to settled agriculture, the building of early civilizations, and the development of mature civilizations during the last two thousand years.

The position of environmentalists that over the course of some 100,000 years peoples separated by geographical barriers in different parts of the world evolved into ten different races with pronounced genetic differences in morphology, blood groups, and the incidence of genetic diseases, and yet have identical genotypes for intelligence, is so improbable that those who advance it must either be totally ignorant of the basic principles of evolutionary biology or else have a political agenda to deny the importance of race. Or both."

From Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis