Biomaterial Database

Skulls, brains, and memorial culture: on cerebral biographies of scientists in the nineteenth century. 2003

Michael Hagner

Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin.

In this paper, I will argue that the scientific investigation of skulls and brains of geniuses went hand in hand with hagiographical celebrations of scientists. My analysis starts with late-eighteenth century anatomists and anthropologists who highlighted quantitative parameters such as the size and weight of the brain in order to explain intellectual differences between women and men and Europeans and non-Europeans, geniuses and ordinary persons. After 1800 these parameters were modified by phrenological inspections of the skull and brain. As the phrenological examination of the skulls of Immanuel Kant, Wilhelm Heinse, Arthur Schopenhauer and others shows, the anthropometrical data was interpreted in light of biographical circumstances. The same pattern of interpretation can be found in non-phrenological contexts: Reports about extraordinary brains were part of biographical sketches, mainly delivered in celebratory obituaries. It was only in this context that moral reservations about dissecting the brains of geniuses could be overcome, which led to a more systematic investigation of brains of geniuses after 1860.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010792	Phrenology	The study of the conformation of the skull as indicative of mental faculties and traits of character, especially according to the hypothesis of F. J. Gall (1758-1828). (Webster 3d ed)
D001931	Brain Mapping	Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures.	Brain Electrical Activity Mapping,Functional Cerebral Localization,Topographic Brain Mapping,Brain Mapping, Topographic,Functional Cerebral Localizations,Mapping, Brain,Mapping, Topographic Brain
D005060	Europe	The continent north of AFRICA, west of ASIA and east of the ATLANTIC OCEAN.	Northern Europe,Southern Europe,Western Europe
D005197	Famous Persons	Individuals widely known or recognized.	Famous Person,Persons, Famous
D001680	Biographies as Topic	Works about a written account of a person's life and the branch of literature concerned with the lives of people.	Biography as Topic
D012886	Skull	The SKELETON of the HEAD including the FACIAL BONES and the bones enclosing the BRAIN.	Calvaria,Cranium,Calvarium,Skulls
D017056	Medical Laboratory Personnel	Health care professionals, technicians, and assistants staffing LABORATORIES in research or health care facilities.	Clinical Laboratory Personnel,Clinical Laboratory Scientists,Clinical Laboratory Technicians,Medical Laboratory Assistants,Medical Laboratory Scientists,Medical Laboratory Technicians,Medical Technologists,Assistant, Medical Laboratory,Assistants, Medical Laboratory,Clinical Laboratory Personnels,Clinical Laboratory Scientist,Clinical Laboratory Technician,Laboratory Assistant, Medical,Laboratory Assistants, Medical,Laboratory Personnel, Clinical,Laboratory Personnel, Medical,Laboratory Personnels, Clinical,Laboratory Personnels, Medical,Laboratory Scientist, Clinical,Laboratory Scientist, Medical,Laboratory Scientists, Clinical,Laboratory Scientists, Medical,Laboratory Technician, Clinical,Laboratory Technician, Medical,Laboratory Technicians, Clinical,Laboratory Technicians, Medical,Medical Laboratory Assistant,Medical Laboratory Personnels,Medical Laboratory Scientist,Medical Laboratory Technician,Medical Technologist,Personnel, Clinical Laboratory,Personnel, Medical Laboratory,Personnels, Clinical Laboratory,Personnels, Medical Laboratory,Scientist, Clinical Laboratory,Scientist, Medical Laboratory,Scientists, Clinical Laboratory,Scientists, Medical Laboratory,Technician, Clinical Laboratory,Technician, Medical Laboratory,Technicians, Clinical Laboratory,Technicians, Medical Laboratory,Technologist, Medical,Technologists, Medical
D049671	History, 18th Century	Time period from 1701 through 1800 of the common era.	18th Century History,18th Cent. History (Medicine),18th Cent. History of Medicine,18th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 18th Century,History of Medicine, 18th Cent.,History, Eighteenth Century,Medical History, 18th Cent.,Medicine, 18th Cent.,18th Century Histories,Cent. History, 18th (Medicine),Cent. Medicine, 18th,Century Histories, 18th,Century Histories, Eighteenth,Century History, 18th,Century History, Eighteenth,Eighteenth Century Histories,Eighteenth Century History,Histories, 18th Century,Histories, Eighteenth Century,History, 18th Cent. (Medicine)
D049672	History, 19th Century	Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.	19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History