By Satyajit Amin

In 1835, the French astronomer Adolphe Quetelet published an essay entitled “L’Homme Moyen” (the average man). In it, Quetelet used statistical techniques to analyse the similarities in the biological and social natures of man. This systematic approach was novel, and allowed for a portrait of society to be painted in patterns of averages. Quetelet argued that the traits most commonly represented in humanity were the ones that were ‘normal’— those who deviated from this set were not. This marriage of mathematical analysis and scientific study yielded many offspring: The development of the Body Mass Index (BMI), for example, was one fruitful outcome. Quetelet’s essay, however, also had a more dubious consequence. In the natural sciences, statistical abnormalities are scorned and disregarded. They can be disruptive drains on resources, and have no real value. But this rational enmity takes on an altogether different complexion when the ‘abnormalities’ have names, faces, and identities. Read more