Hofacker-Sadler hypothesis
The Hofacker-Sadler hypothesis (also Hofacker-Sadler hypothesis or Hofacker-Sadler law ) is an outdated theory from the 19th century that dealt with the distribution of the sexes in newborns. The thesis was based on the assumption that the age of the father could influence the sex of the child. It was assumed that if both partners are of the same age, more girls would be born, but if the father were significantly older than the woman, more sons would be born. The thesis was named after the German veterinarian Johann Daniel Hofacker and the British Michael Thomas Sadler, who had independently come to similar results.
History and impact
According to the French science historians Eric Brian and Marie Jaisson, the Hofacker-Sadler hypothesis was formulated by the Belgian Adolphe Quetelet . Quetelet was a statistician and had evaluated the research results of Hofacker and Sadler and found a high level of agreement. He published this in his essay on social physics ( de physique sociale ) published in 1835. As a result, the theory was the subject of various debates and was examined and refuted by various demographers and sociologists, such as Alfred Legoyt , Wilhelm Stieda , Corrado Gini and Maurice Halbwachs .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Hofacker-Sadlersche law , Mchealth
- ↑ Le sexisme de la première heure. Hasard et sociologie , Éric Brian et Marie Jaisson, Raisons d'agir, 2007 - ISBN 978-2912107367 .