An intelligent Scotland: Professor Sir godfrey Thomson and the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1932 and 1947

In the first half the focus is historical on the work of Professor Sir Godfrey Thomson (1881Thomson ( -1955)). In particular, new primary sources are described and illustrated. The principal new source is a collection of his public lectures from 1924 until 1954 that illustrate his interests and opinions in education and intelligence, and their place in society. The second half consists of an illustrative summary of our follow-up studies on the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1932 and 1947, in which Thomson played such a large part. These data are now being used in the study of cognitive ageing and cognitive epidemiology.