Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

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Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Born May 11, 1752
Died January 22, 1840
Nationality German
Fields physiology
Known for comparative anatomy

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.

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[edit] 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."

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.

[edit] Blumenbach's racial classification system

Blumenbach's five races.
Blumenbach's five races.

On the basis of his craniometrical research (analysis of human skulls), Blumenbach divided the human species into five races:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[edit] 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]

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Biographical details are in Charles Coulston Gillispie, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 1970:203f s.v. "Johann Friederich Blumenbach".
  2. ^ Jack Hitt, "Mighty White of You: Racial Preferences Color America’s Oldest Skulls and Bones," Harper’s, July 2005, pp. 39-55
  3. ^ Fredrickson, George M. Racism: A Short History, p.57, Princeton University Press (2002), ISBN 0-691-00899-X
  4. ^ Platypus by Ann Moyal, pages 8 and 9

[edit] See also