Franz Joseph Gall

Franz Joseph Gall was an early 19th-century German physician and anatomist best known for developing the theory of phrenology. This theory suggested that the shapes and bumps on a person's skull could reveal their character traits and mental abilities. Gall believed that different regions of the brain corresponded to specific faculties, such as language or morality. While phrenology was popular in its time, it has since been discredited as a pseudoscience. Nonetheless, Gall's work contributed to the early understanding of the brain's relationship to behavior and the localization of mental functions, influencing later neurological research.