Headspanner

This is a device for measuring the size of human heads (and hence brains), developed by Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911). Known as the ‘father of eugenics’, Galton was influenced by the evolutionary theories of his cousin Charles Darwin and believed in the need to improve human races via selective breeding. Using a variety of ‘anthropometric’ devices to measure the proportions of the human frame, he sought evidence of links between physical appearance and the supposed evolutionary progress of different population groups.