15. SHAW, GEORGE BERNARD. _Saint Joan_. Dodd, Mead, & Co., Inc., New York; 1924, 1936. 16. WELDON, W. F. R. "Certain Correlated Variations in Crangdon Vulgaris," _Proceedings_ of The Royal Society, Vol. 51, page 2 (1892). [1] See endnote [1] in Preface. [2] Numbers in parentheses refer to correspondingly numbered references in the Bibliography at the end of each chapter. CHAPTER TWO EARLY SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF EMINENT ADULTS [1] Because, strictly speaking, the present study is limited in its interest and data to childhood, no attempt will be made to review in detail the somewhat numerous studies of exceptional adults. ORIGIN OF EMINENT ADULTS Such studies as those undertaken by Galton (11, 12), De Candolle (9), Ellis (10), Odin (17), and Cattell (4, 5) show that those who, as adults, become eminent in intellectual work, are in disproportionately great numbers the children of the "upper" (nobler or professional) classes; and that they are usually born either in cities or on large country estates (in France, in the chateaux). Very few eminent adults have originated in the families of laborers, and relatively few have been born in agricultural districts, in countries long settled. Beyond these facts of origin, the investigators of eminence in adults have not given much information about their subjects of inquiry in respect to childhood. YODER'S STUDY We shall begin our detailed reference to previous observations with Yoder's study, published in 1898. Yoder (25) made a systematic attempt to gather data about the boyhood of very eminent men. He thus tracked down certain facts about fifty great persons concerning whom he could find data bearing on their childhood. From these he was able to make the following generalizations: 1. The child who will become a great man may be born at any time, over a very wide range of the productive period in the lives of parents. The mothers of the fifty great persons studied ranged in age from 18 to 44 years, when the great man was born, with a median of 29.8 years. The fathers ranged in age from 23 to 60 years, with a median of 37.7 years. 2. The average number of siblings of these persons was 5+, not including half brothers and sisters. 3. In families of more than one child, there was found to be a strong tendency (chances of nearly 2 to 1) for the great man to be in the elder half of the siblings. 4. Of those listed, 17 were only sons, either by order of birth or by death of other sons born. (This is not to say that they were only children.) 5. There was found no evidence that the great were sickly or physically weak in childhood, to a more marked extent than average. 6. There appeared a tendency to great height among them than among persons in general, "though the tendency is not very marked."