A critical history of physiognomic thought in German-speaking Europe that traces the roots of
twentieth-century racial profiling to the Enlightenment. Once associated with astrology and …

In late fifteenth century Florence, Renaissance humanists rediscovered a secret, natural
language hidden in the visual wisdom of the proverb'the eyes are the windows of the soul' …

A strong preoccupation with the human body-often manifested in startling ways-is a
characteristic shared by early modern Europeans and their present-day counterparts. Whilst …

With the rise of imperialism, the centuries-old European tradition of humanist scholarship as
the key to understanding the world was jeopardized. Nowhere was this more true than in …

Physiognomy-the notion that there is a relationship between character and physical
appearance-is often dismissed as a marginal pseudoscience; however, The Appearance of …

Beyond the Gymnasium is the first systematic effort to examine the history of the body in
modern Germany. By looking into medical dietetics, walking, dancing, gymnastics, cholera …

When you see deep blue eyes that stand still, you may take it that their owner is remote from
other men, aloof from his neighbors, and extremely eager to amass wealth. You should …

The emergence of biology as a distinct science in the eighteenth century has long been a
subject of scholarly controversy. Michel Foucault, on the one hand, argued that its …

German Bodies explores the cultural representations of German identity and citizenship
before and after World War II, and offers a critical analysis of race, violence, and modernity in …

In the sociology of the body, the analysis of physiognomy is a neglected topic. The idea that
one can judge the character of another from their facial or bodily characteristics is a …