Often celebrated as a pioneer of genetics alongside Francis Crick, racist and sexist remarks tarnished his reputation in later years.
Often celebrated as a pioneer of genetics, allegations of uncredited work and discriminatory and inflammatory remarks cast a shadow over his legacy.
He was accused of making racist and sexist observations and was quoted as favoring genetic engineering to do away with “stupidity” and make “all girls pretty.”
The scientist’s “legacy in regard to eugenics is complex,” Lombardo said. Although Watson helped found an ethics office at NIH and condemned state-sponsored eugenics programs that included forced sterilization, his repeated remarks indicating that racism might be genetically justified tarnished his reputation.
Is genius even a worthwhile term in the first place? It comes across as in the same space as Great Man Theory to me; putting too much focus on individuals as “exceptional” rather than seeing it more as boiling points being reached out of steadily shifting conditions and contradictions.