Science based technologies have done much to shape late-20th-century America, 1 and none, perhaps has been more influential than standardized psychological testing. Certainly the technology of the tests has played a major role in determining the course of American education since 1900. No wonder, then, that a spate of books on the history of psychological testing has appeared since 1970. I count at least fifteen, as well as five doctoral dissertations; far too many to discuss even in the generous format of an essay review. For this reason, I will concentrate here on two of them, with notes about several others, as appropriate. The two on which I'm focussing are not necessarily the best or the most important, though one-Gould's-has attracted much national attention.! Certainly one can argue that Leslie Hearnshaw's biography of Cyril Burt is a better example of history.! But Seagoe's and Gould's books afford an opportunity to sample the scholarship and see just what type of history of testing has been written. Both books have their strengths, but both have their weaknesses, and these in particular are typical of those found in many other books on the subject. Therefore, by examining these problems, we can get some idea of how to avoid them and gain insight into what a better history of testing would be like. This review won't attempt such a history, but will try something almost as audacious. That is, it will sketch some prerequisites for such an analysis and suggest some of its characteristics. Even this may be foolhardy, but the chance to try something this bold is too good to mISS.
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