I enjoyed this! Does anyone have any ideas why Bertillon was so grumpy? I'm curious why he set his school desk on fire, but maybe he didn't even know why himself.
Thanks for your comment! I don’t know why Bertillon was so grumpy. The reasons are not to be found in any of the literature on him - at least, not in English. There’s far more in French of course. Good question about the desk! I’ll have to look into it…
Fantastic! The identification of criminals was (is) pivotal for criminal justice systems. I can also see how this kind of analysis can lend itself to looking for correlations between measurements and criminal impulses. Was that the case?
I don’t believe that Bertillonage led to that kind of analysis. It might have done, but if so I haven’t heard about it. Of course, one only had to wait 40 or 50 years for constitutional psychology to come along & do just that.
I enjoyed this! Does anyone have any ideas why Bertillon was so grumpy? I'm curious why he set his school desk on fire, but maybe he didn't even know why himself.
Thanks for your comment! I don’t know why Bertillon was so grumpy. The reasons are not to be found in any of the literature on him - at least, not in English. There’s far more in French of course. Good question about the desk! I’ll have to look into it…
Such a great read! As criminology lecturer I find these stories utterly intriguing
Glad you liked it, Dave. There is even more & better to come…
Fantastic! The identification of criminals was (is) pivotal for criminal justice systems. I can also see how this kind of analysis can lend itself to looking for correlations between measurements and criminal impulses. Was that the case?
I don’t believe that Bertillonage led to that kind of analysis. It might have done, but if so I haven’t heard about it. Of course, one only had to wait 40 or 50 years for constitutional psychology to come along & do just that.
I love this story.
Just wait till next week!