Biography Of Franz Joseph Gall

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One of the most well-known scientists of the 19th century was a German scientist named Franz Joseph Gall. Claimed as the founder of Phrenology, Gall was a pioneer in his fields of neuroanatomy, and physics, and also widely known for his theories and concepts of the localized functions of the brain and phrenology. His primary goal in his studies was to develop a functional anatomy and physiology of the brain as well as a revised psychology of personality. (http://grants.hhp.coe.uh.edu/clayne/HistoryofMC/HistoryMC/Gall.htm) This influential psychologist made many influential contributions, yet controversial at the time, to the study of psychology and the human brain.

A.) Franz Joseph Gall’s Early Life And Education
Franz Joseph Gall was born in the village of Tiefenbronn in Baden, Germany on March 9th, 1758 into a culture shaped by the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. The eighteenth century created a lavish and costly aristocratic culture. (http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/4/1053/269656.cw/index.html) Gall was soon accustomed to this culture because he was born into a rather wealthy Roman Catholic Family. His family was one of the leading families in their specific region for over a century. In fact, his father was even the mayor of Tiefenbronn making his family even more well-known and popular amongst their neighbors. Gall was a sibling to twelve brothers and sisters, however, only nine survived to adulthood. In the century of Gall’s childhood, it was quite common for children to not survive to adulthood because couples were conceiving their children at a younger age, causing more complications for the mother and child during pregnancy and childbirth.

As a child, Gall had been very interested in...

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...eveloped into more extensive studies of the brain and its functioning. Another huge contribution that Gall made through his work was the idea of brain localization and the area of the brain that controls speech, language, and also word memory. Gall was also the first to discover that the white matter of the brain contained fibers or axons, and the gray matter in the brain contained neurons or cell bodies. Franz Joseph Gall is now known as one of the most influential people in history because of his ground work of Phrenology that led to later discoveries. His work led to many other scientific branches to become developed such as craniology, psychognomy, and anthropometry. ( Biographies on Psychologists.) We can thank Franz Joseph Gall for improving the field of psychology through his work, and for being strong through the criticisms of his lectures and system.

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