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Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (May 11, 1752 – January 22, 1840) was a German doctor and physiologist, one of the first to explore the study of mankind as an aspect of natural history, whose teachings in comparative anatomy were applied to classification of human races, of which he determined five. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1752 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1752 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ... Table of natural history, 1728 Cyclopaedia Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now often viewed as several distinct scientific disciplines of integrative organismal biology. ... Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. ...

Biography

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach^[1] was born at Gotha, studied medicine at Jena, and graduated in 1775 with his MD thesis De generis humani varietate nativa (On the Natural Varieties of Mankind, University of Göttingen, first published in 1776), which is considered one of the most influential works in the development of subsequent concepts of "human races." Gotha is a town in Thuringia, in Germany. ... , For other uses, see Jena (disambiguation). ... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

He was appointed extraordinary professor of medicine in Göttingen in 1776 and ordinary professor in 1778. His later works included Institutiones Physiologicae (1787), and Handbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie (1804). Blumenbach died in Göttingen in 1840. The meaning of the word professor (Latin: [1]) varies. ... Göttingen marketplace with old city hall, Gänseliesel fountain and pedestrian zone Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... Göttingen marketplace with old city hall, Gänseliesel fountain and pedestrian zone Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

Blumenbach's racial classification system

Blumenbach's five races.

On the basis of his craniometrical research (analysis of human skulls), Blumenbach divided the human species into five races: This article is about race as an intraspecies classification. ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Race. ...

• the Caucasian race or white race
• the Mongolian or yellow race
• the Malayan or brown race
• the Negroid, or black race
• the American or red race.

His classification of Mongolian race included all East Asians and some Central Asians. Blumenbach excluded peoples of Southeast Asian islands and Pacific Islanders from his definition, as he considered them to be part of the Malay race. He considered American Indians to be part of the American (Indigenous peoples) race. He did not think they were inferior to the Caucasian race, and were potentially good members of society. He included the peoples of most of Africa in the Negro or black race. For the peoples actually from the Caucasus, see Peoples of the Caucasus. ... The concept of a Malay race was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840). ... Negro is a term referring to people of Black African ancestry. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Central Asia is a region of Asia. ...

Blumenbach argued that physical characteristics like skin color, cranial profile, etc., were correlated with group character and aptitude. He interpreted craniometry and phrenology to make physical appearance correspond with racial categories. The fairness and relatively high brows of Caucasians were held to be apt physical expressions of a loftier mentality and a more generous spirit. The epicanthic folds around the eyes of Mongolians and their slightly sallow outer epidermal layer bespoke their supposedly crafty, literal-minded nature. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Phrenology (from Greek: φρήν, phrēn, mind; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is a theory which claims to be able to determine character, personality traits and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head (i. ...

The dark skin and relatively sloping craniums were taken as wholesale proof of a closer genetic proximity to the monkeys, despite the fact that the skin of chimpanzees and gorillas beneath the hair is whiter than the average Caucasian skin, and that orangutans and some monkey species have foreheads fully as vertical as the typical Englishman or German. Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Official language None; English is de facto Capital London Capitals coordinates 51° 30 N, 0° 10 W Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831...

Blumenbach's work included his description of sixty human crania (skulls) published originally in fascicules as Collectionis suae craniorum diversarum gentium illustratae decades (Göttingen, 1790-1828). This was a founding work of craniometry. Cranium can mean: The brain and surrounding skull, a part of the body. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Later in life, Blumenbach encountered in Switzerland "eine zum Verlieben schönen Négresse" ('a negro woman so beautiful to fall in love with'). Further "anatomical study" led him to the conclusion that 'individual Africans differ as much, or even more, from other individual Africans as Europeans differ from Europeans'. Furthermore he concluded that Africans were not inferior to the rest of mankind 'concerning healthy faculties of understanding, excellent natural talents and mental capacities'.^[2]

These later ideas were far less influential than his earlier assertions with regard to the perceived relative qualities of the different races. His early ideas were adopted by other researchers and encouraged scientific racism.^[3] Blumenbach's work was used by many biologists and comparative anatomists in the nineteenth century who were interested in the origin of races: Wells, Lawrence, Prichard, Huxley and William Flower are good examples of his influence on human biology. Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Ethnocracy Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial quota... William Charles Wells (1757 — 1817) was Wells was born Charlestown, where? and was sent to school in Dumfries and later attended the University of Edinburgh. ... James Cowles Prichard (February 11, 1786 - December 23, 1848), English physician and ethnologist, was born at Ross in Herefordshire. ... Thomas Henry Huxley PC, FRS (4 May 1825 Ealing – 29 June 1895 Eastbourne, Sussex) was an English biologist, known as Darwins Bulldog for his advocacy of Charles Darwins theory of evolution. ... Sir William Henry Flower KCB FRCS FRS (November 30, 1831 - July 1, 1899) was an English comparative anatomist and surgeon. ...

Blumenbach and the Platypus

Blumenbach was also one of the first scientists to study the anatomy of the platypus. He gave the scientific name Ornithorhynchus anatinus to the animal not knowing that George Shaw had given it the name Platypus anantinus. However Platypus had already been shown to be used for the scientific name for a genus of Ambrosia beetles so Blumenbach's scientific name for the genus was used.^[4] For other uses, see Platypus (disambiguation). ... George Shaw. ... Species many Wikispecies has information related to: Platypodinae Ambrosia beetles are beetles of the weevil subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), which live in nutritional symbiosis with ambrosia fungi. ...

References

• Schmidt-Wiederkehr, P (1973), "[J. F. Blumenbach--Chr. Girtanner--C. F. Becker: precursors of tissue theory of warmth production]", Medizinische Monatsschrift 27 (3): 122-6, 1973 Mar, PMID:4579732, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4579732> 
• McLaughlin, P (1982), "Blumenbach und der Bildungstrieb. Zum Verhältnis von epigenetischer Embryologie und typologischem Artbegriff.", Medizinhistorisches Journal 17 (4): 357-72, 1982, PMID:11620622, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11620622> 
• Wiesemann, C (1990), "[Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840)]", Pathologe 11 (6): 362-3, 1990 Nov, PMID:2290797, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2290797> 
• Bhopal, Raj (2007), "The beautiful skull and Blumenbach's errors: the birth of the scientific concept of race.", BMJ 335 (7633): 1308-9, 2007 Dec 22, PMID:18156242, doi:10.1136/bmj.39413.463958.80, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18156242> 

For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... PMID is an acronym for PubMed Identifier or more specifically PubMed Unique Identifier which is a unique number assigned to each PubMed citation of life sciences and biomedical scientific journal articles. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... PMID is an acronym for PubMed Identifier or more specifically PubMed Unique Identifier which is a unique number assigned to each PubMed citation of life sciences and biomedical scientific journal articles. ... This article is about the year. ... PMID is an acronym for PubMed Identifier or more specifically PubMed Unique Identifier which is a unique number assigned to each PubMed citation of life sciences and biomedical scientific journal articles. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... PMID is an acronym for PubMed Identifier or more specifically PubMed Unique Identifier which is a unique number assigned to each PubMed citation of life sciences and biomedical scientific journal articles. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

Notes

See also

• Scientific racism
• Craniometry