Few books have generated as much controversy as the recently published "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life." The tremendous polarization on the issue of the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) to race and social class, reinforced by the book, and the potential this book has for undermining social programs designed to help the poor and disenfranchised make it worthy of attention. It is a pseudo-scientific treatise that must be considered in the sociopolitical and philosophical contexts within which it is written. Evidence suggests that "The Bell Curve" is a philosophically skewed attempt at revising and reviving the idea that nature is more significant and important in determining intelligence and survivability than is nurture. The author analyzes the book's hypotheses, which are often convincingly presented, and considers its social policy implications for the disadvantaged and children's programs. Herrnstein's and Murray's thesis of genetic inferiority and inherited cognitive deficiency is without scientific merit, and is contrary to the spirit of the American constitution. (Contains 27 references.) (SLD)