Rudolf Virchow: Sämtliche Werke

In his monograph on the base of the skull, first published in 1857 and reprinted here for the first time in extended form, Virchow examined an ancient and still not fully solved scientific question, namely the nature of the relationship that ‘exists between the outward appearance of the head and mental characteristics.’ Today Virchow’s approach to this theme forms part of many disciplines beside anthropology: embryology, neuroanatomy, neuropathology, neuropediatrics, neuroradiology, psychiatry, psychology, neurology, neurosurgery, neuro-orthopaedics and genetic engineering, as well as veterinary medicine, zoology, philosophy and aesthetics. His comments on the necessity of exact skull and body measurements using standard procedures have been further developed in the science of biometrics, and remain relevant today. The editor, Christian Andree, has written the first introduction to the work to cover the history of scholarship in this field (including the influence of the work and some additional texts) and has prepared comprehensive indexes of subjects, literature and personal, ethnic and geographical names.