Phrenology of famous heads. Phrenological divisions of the heads of Buffon, Descartes, Gluck and Raphael. The belief that variations in skull shape ca


Phrenology of famous heads. Phrenological divisions of the heads of Buffon, Descartes, Gluck and Raphael. The belief that variations in skull shape can be measured to deduce brain and personality traits is known as phrenology. It was proposed by the German physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), who published his major work on it in 1819. He called it 'Schadellehre' (doctrine of the skull). It is now considered pseudoscience. Artwork from an 1838 volume of 'Dictionnaire pittoresque d'histoire naturelle et des phenomenes de la nature' (Paris, 1833-1839) edited by Felix E. Guerin-Meneville.


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Photo credit: © PAUL D STEWART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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