22nd August 1828, death of German-French physician, and pioneer of phrenology, Franz Joseph Gall. Influenced by Johann Kaspar Lavater in his work on Physiognomy, (the practice of discerning the character of a person through their facial appearance), Gall further proposed that the measurement of bumps on the skull, and the skull size could be used to predict mental traits. Gallβs theories would become most accepted in England where they were used for racial and colonial superiority, in the justification of the subjugation of non white peoples. The theories also became popular in the United States from 1820 to 1850 for the same reasoning. Despite phrenology even during Gallβs lifetime being shunned as a pseudoscience, Gall's study of phrenology did assist in establishing psychology as a science. The practice also entered popular language, the terms high brow, and low brow deriving from determining a persons supposed intelligence from these same skull shapes. See www.ofgraveconcern.com/steampunkscienceandanatomy For more historical and steampunk themed art. You are further invited to follow @ofgrave.concern for more dark tales of history, and inspired macabre art. #steampunkscience #steampunkhistory #steampunkillustration #steampunkart #steampunkartist #steampunkartists #weirdscience #phrenology #historyofscience #historyofpsychology #psychologyart #lavater #strangehistory #originofwords #physiognomy #sciencehistory #19thcentury #19thcenturyhistory #phrenologyhead #diedonthisday #steampunkstyle #steampunktendencies https://www.instagram.com/p/CSzW4H3nYlv/?utm_medium=tumblr
