Mark Twain's life-long fascination with phrenology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3150797 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stanley Finger (0000-0002-9773-497X, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Program in History of Medicine Washington University St. Louis Missouri, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 99-121 |
| Publication date | 2019-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-5061 • E-ISSN: 1520-6696 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/jhbs.21960 |
| PMID | 30786029 |
| OpenAlex | W2915485900 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain; 1835-1910), American humorist and writer, followed scientific and medical developments, and relished exposing questionable practices and ideas. In his youth, he pondered how phrenologists were assessing character, and in 1855 he copied sections of a phrenology book and a skull diagram into a notebook. Later, in London, he had two phrenological examinations by Lorenzo Fowler-one without and the other after identifying himself. Following his "test," which produced contrasting results, he began to ridicule phrenologists and phrenology inTom Sawyer,Huckleberry Finn,and other works. He underwent at least two more head readings in the United States, and inEddypus, an unfinished work from 1901 to 1902, he maintained that phrenologists base their insights primarily on how people dress and answer questions. Although now lampooning the craniological tenets of phrenology, Twain never seemed to reject the idea of distinct faculties of mind associated with specialized brain organs
Art · Art history · Character (mathematics) · Phrenology · Psychoanalysis · Skull · American Literature and Humor Studies · Anatomy · Cognitive Science and Education Research · Medicine · Psychology · Sound Studies and Aurality
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Phrenology
A measure of perfection
Skulls, Brains, and Memorial Culture
Phrenology and the origins of Victorian scientific naturalism
Mark Twain Had His Head Examined
Mark Twain's Nom de Plume
"Mark Twain, Phrenology and the "Temperaments
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |