Speaking to a crowded but civil audience at the Institute of Politics last night, Charles A. Murray '65 explained the reasoning and defended the premises behind his controversial book, The Bell Curve.

Murray, currently a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., co-authored the book with the late Pierce Professor of Psychology Richard J. Herrnstein, who died in September.

Although the press hype since the book's publication in October has focused on its implication of a link between genetics, I.Q. and race, Murray did not discuss the issue of race until the end of his speech, and then only for about five minutes.

The Bell Curve says that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean I.Q. of Blacks and whites.

In a statement at the beginning of his presentation, Murray argued the book was not about race at all.

"I understand that the temptation is to talk about race," Murray said. "I would much rather talk about The Bell Curve, which is not about race," he continued, in the face of quiet gasps from the audience.

In his tempered but biting rebuttal to Murray, Professor of Geology Stephen J. Gould said the book was indeed about race.

The book treats "arguments about group differences in the reality of America," said Gould, who wrote The Mismeasure of Man. "You can't pretend that somehow has nothing to do with race."

For the most part, the standing-room-only audience listened to Murray's speech in silence. The only real interruption came at the beginning, when 40 members of Kennedy School minority action groups linked arms, stood peacefully for five minutes and quietly walked out. Their seats were soon filled by students who had been waiting at the door to get into the heavily secured auditorium.

Public Service Professor of Jurisprudence in the Kennedy School of Government A. Leon Hig-ginbotham Jr., who moderated the event, brought up the issue of race at the outset.

"Tonight's forum is a part of a continuum to encourage dialogue on crucial and difficult issues to Americans of all races," Higginbotham said in a statement that appeared to set the evening's calm tone.

Higginbotham was speaking for DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis Gates Jr., who was scheduled to moderate but had to attend an international conference instead.

In response to The Bell Curve's suggestion that Blacks are inherently less intelligent than whites, Higgin-botham said, "There is a profound lesson we can learn. We know that if we use our brain power, rather than just our anger, we can we can respond to their diatribes."

The body of Murray's speech dealt not with race, but with the growing dichotomy he said he perceives between the "cognitive elite" and the "cognitive underclass" in America. Transformations in higher education, centralization of power and occupations requiring high levels of intelligence have created this cognitive elite since the 1950s, he said.

"What worried Dick Herrnstein and me about emerging cognitive elite is itsemergence into a group of society with a view allits own," Murray said.

As a result of the discrepancy between theunderclass and the elite, Murray said theemergence of a "custodial state" is possible,"whereby we take one part of the population, wallthem off and try to continue on normally with therest of the country."