Franz Joseph Gall

Franz Joseph Gall was a late Eighteenth/ early Nineteenth Century neuroscientist who believed that mental functions are localized in discrete parts of the brain, and is famous for founding the notorious pseudoscience of phrenology. That fact is unfortunate for his reputation, as he also directly influenced the advance of neuroscience, carrying out meticulous dissections of the brain and spinal cord.

Dr. Franz Joesph Gall was German, "born in Tiefenbrunn, in Baden, and obtaining his medical doctorate in Vienna in 1785". (reference for quote: Donald Simpson: PHRENOLOGY AND THE NEUROSCIENCES: CONTRIBUTIONS OF F. J. GALL AND J. G. SPURZHEIM. COWLISHAW SYMPOSIUM. ANZ J. Surg. 2005; 75 : 475–482). Apparently, he noticed a correlation between excellent verbal memories and very large eyes in his classmates in childhood, and used this correlation in his later thinking about the brain.