John S . Michael
I am a historian and a Research Associate with the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. I have worked for government agencies for over 25 years. My professional focus is demographics largely dealing US Census data.
In 1986, when I was an undergraduate at Macalester College, I re-measured a sample of the Morton collection of human crania housed in the University of Pennsylvania Museum. I published a paper on my findings in 1988.
After graduation I left academia, but in 2011, I again pursued my interest in the history of science, specifically Samuel George Morton and other early 19th century race theorists.
In 2017, I published a paper entitled, “Nuance Lost in Translation Interpretations of J. F. Blumenbach’s Anthropology in the English Speaking World” in NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin. Since then I have published a number of papers and book chapters.
I am currently writing a history the scholarly study of human racial variation beginning with Camper and Blumenbach, and ending with Tiedemann, and Morton.
In 1986, when I was an undergraduate at Macalester College, I re-measured a sample of the Morton collection of human crania housed in the University of Pennsylvania Museum. I published a paper on my findings in 1988.
After graduation I left academia, but in 2011, I again pursued my interest in the history of science, specifically Samuel George Morton and other early 19th century race theorists.
In 2017, I published a paper entitled, “Nuance Lost in Translation Interpretations of J. F. Blumenbach’s Anthropology in the English Speaking World” in NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin. Since then I have published a number of papers and book chapters.
I am currently writing a history the scholarly study of human racial variation beginning with Camper and Blumenbach, and ending with Tiedemann, and Morton.
less
Related Authors
InterestsView All (8)
Uploads
Papers by John S . Michael
and paleontologist who gained fame for the extensive collection of human skulls he collected and curated at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. An early scholar of physical anthropology in America, Morton promoted race supremacy, asserting that Germanic Europeans had the largest brains and highest intelligence of all human populations. When he died, four Philadelphia physicians eulogized
him. Their writings have served as the foundation for most modern interpretations of Morton. An examination of rarely cited nineteenth-century documents indicates that his eulogists exaggerated the importance and reception of Morton’s anthropological research and omitted or misrepresented details of his personal life. Studies
of Morton by anthropologists, philosophers of science, or scholars studying race in America should therefore take a highly skeptical view of the memoirs written by Morton’s nineteenth-century colleagues and admirers.
Books by John S . Michael
findings from his private correspondence and published works, we argue for a reinterpretation of the role of bias in the works of prominent race scientist Samuel George Morton (1799–1851). In particular, by contrasting Morton with the anti–race supremacist anatomist Friedrich Tiedemann (1781–1861), we show how bias has been consciously hidden in one of the foundational works of race science. More generally, we observe, supported by many other scholars, that scientific racism is neither dead nor dormant, but is today at work. Indeed, whether openly or not, many domains of contemporary science either tacitly rely on assumptions of fundamental racial difference, or misconstrue recent
research in population genetics to reconstitute race as a biologically valid category, despite decades of research showing its invalidity.
Drafts by John S . Michael
Conference Presentations by John S . Michael
and paleontologist who gained fame for the extensive collection of human skulls he collected and curated at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. An early scholar of physical anthropology in America, Morton promoted race supremacy, asserting that Germanic Europeans had the largest brains and highest intelligence of all human populations. When he died, four Philadelphia physicians eulogized
him. Their writings have served as the foundation for most modern interpretations of Morton. An examination of rarely cited nineteenth-century documents indicates that his eulogists exaggerated the importance and reception of Morton’s anthropological research and omitted or misrepresented details of his personal life. Studies
of Morton by anthropologists, philosophers of science, or scholars studying race in America should therefore take a highly skeptical view of the memoirs written by Morton’s nineteenth-century colleagues and admirers.
findings from his private correspondence and published works, we argue for a reinterpretation of the role of bias in the works of prominent race scientist Samuel George Morton (1799–1851). In particular, by contrasting Morton with the anti–race supremacist anatomist Friedrich Tiedemann (1781–1861), we show how bias has been consciously hidden in one of the foundational works of race science. More generally, we observe, supported by many other scholars, that scientific racism is neither dead nor dormant, but is today at work. Indeed, whether openly or not, many domains of contemporary science either tacitly rely on assumptions of fundamental racial difference, or misconstrue recent
research in population genetics to reconstitute race as a biologically valid category, despite decades of research showing its invalidity.