Galton Laboratory

The Galton Laboratory
Two unidentified women sat at a large table with computing machines in the Galton Laboratory.
Established1911–2013
Laboratory type
British Eugenics Laboratory
Field of research
Directors
Staff
LocationBloomsbury, London, England
AffiliationsUniversity College London

The Galton Laboratory of National Eugenics was a laboratory established for the research of eugenics, later for the study of biometry and statistics, and eventually human genetics, based at University College London (UCL) in London, England. Reflective of his focus on quantitative analysis that led to statistical heredity and eugenics. In the early 1900s, biometricians such as Karl Pearson and Mendelians like William Bateson were inspired by his work. In 1904, he launched his eugenics campaign at the Sociological Society, founded by Patrick Geddes and others. This was a step towards making eugenics a national social scientific program. The laboratory existed in name until 2020.