ABSTRACT
PROLOGUE Those who think the ethnic differences are readily explained by environmental differences haven’t been tough-minded enough about their own argument…. At this complex intersection of complex factors, the easy answers are unsatisfactory ones. (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994, p. 299)
The tumult surrounding The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life has died down. However, the main ideas it expressed are still with us, widely and sincerely proclaimed. They are not new: they seem always to have been with us. But judging from the news media coverage-major articles in Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, and radio and TV reports-
The Bell Curve appears to be a particularly appealing and compelling statement of these ideas.
