Nine major works of scientific racism that are still influencing thinkers today

Annalee Newitz is the author of Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction and the editor in chief of io9. One of nine major works that have helped create a scientific frame for racist ideas, as tagged at io9:

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray (1994)

In this incredibly influential work of economics and sociology, researchers Herrnstein and Murray argue that class differences between whites and blacks in America can be traced back to differences in IQ. Blacks, they write, are simply not as intelligent as whites (and, to a certain extent, Asians — though mostly they're talking just about blacks and whites). Because many studies show that IQ is a very strong indicator of economic success, they believe that IQ differences are at the root of racial differences. They use "scientific" data about IQ scores to dismiss the idea that political inequalities and the history of slavery in the U.S. are causes of racial inequality.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue