Phrenology

Phrenology is a pseudomedical technique that focuses on measurements of the skull. It is based on the
concept that the brain is the organ of the mind and it has localized functions they can use the skull the
analyze the brain. It was developed by a German physician, Franz Joseph Gall, and was very popular in
the 19th century. The technique was based on the belief that the skull acted as a glove for the brain and
expanded to fit different sizes of different parts of the brain. To analyze the brain the physician would feel
the skull of the subject and use it to determine their personality, similar to reading a palm. Gall believed
the skull was made of 27 different organs that combined make a person’s personality. Europeans used this
pseudoscience as “scientific evidence” to be racist, claiming that their cranial structure made them
superior over other ethnic races. It was also used in diagnosing “criminal tendencies” but this was just
creating a negative association with a certain race and a negative characteristic just because they share
similar genetic structure.