Concept The term eugenics was coined by Sir Francis Galton in his book Inquiries into Human Faculty (1883). The term is taken from two Greek words: eu, which is the Greek word for the adverb “well,” and gen, which has its roots in the verb gignesthai, meaning “to become.” Galton described with this word the
Eugenics is the attempt to deliberately improve the hereditary, genetic traits of a particular race in order to improve the race as a whole. In particular, eugenics, meaning “good birth,” describes the regulation and manipulation of reproduction to reduce the incidence of genetically derived problematic traits while increasing the incidence of ideal genetically derived traits.