Phrenology in Nineteenth-Century Britain and America | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Phrenology in Nineteenth-Century Britain and America

Overview

Phrenology was an attempt in the early nineteenth century to make judgments about a person's characteristics by measuring the surface of his or her skull. It was enormously popular in Britain during this time, symbolizing the progressive nature of science during the Industrial Revolution. It was popular to a lesser extent in America. Although the theory was flawed, it is regarded as an important step towards modern theories of localization of brain function.

Background

Phrenology is the theory that judgments about a person's character and mental capacities can be made by studying the surface of his or her skull. Franz Joesph Gall (1758-1828), the inventor the theory, believed that the brain was divided into specific areas and that each area was responsible for a human characteristic such as pride or wit. The size of each area was linked to the "power of manifestation" of that trait. Put simply, Gall believed those people with larger "pride areas" of the brain, for example, were more proud. He reasoned that it was possible to judge the size of an area, and hence to make judgments about a person's character, by examining the surface of the skull directly above that area.

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