Empire of Skulls

This fascinating history of phrenology reveals how one family, despite their flawed framework, helped shape early understanding of the human mind—reflecting both the limits of early science and the ongoing evolution of scientific inquiry For readers of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks , The Emperor of All Maladies , and Radium Girls Today, everyone remembers phrenology—the study of the formation of the skull as indicative of mental faculties and traits of character—as pseudoscientific at bes