Galton Collection
A compact, critical look at Sir Francis Galton’s restless mind—part inventor, part statistician, and a deeply problematic eugenicist. Cases gather his fingerprint studies, weather instruments, ‘composite’ portrait photography, and the famous quincunx (bean machine) that makes the bell curve visible. Labels today set the science beside its social harms, turning a Victorian showcase into a lesson in ethics. Expect a scholarly, small-room experience; check opening hours/appointments and allow 30–45 minutes.
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What's not to miss inside?
Fingerprints & Forensics
Proof that no two prints are alikeGalton’s ridge patterns and classification work helped make fingerprints practical for ID worldwide.
📍 Main case near entrance
The Quincunx (Galton Board)
Statistics you can watch fall into placeBalls drop through pins to build a binomial curve: chance becomes a shape.
📍 Central display
Composite Photography
Early data-visualization—flawed and revealingBy stacking faces to ‘average’ a type, Galton prefigured image processing—and exposed the biases baked into it.
📍 Photographic panels
Weather & Maps
From ‘anticyclone’ to citizen dataHe popularised the term ‘anticyclone’ and gathered public observations to map weather systems.
📍 Instrument drawer & charts
Inspire your Friends
- Galton coined ‘anticyclone’ and helped pioneer the synoptic weather map—crowdsourcing data long before the word existed.
- He designed the ultrasonic ‘dog whistle’ in the 1870s—an audio experiment turned everyday gadget.
- Terms like ‘regression to the mean’ and ‘correlation’ were formalised through his studies—statistical tools still used across science.
