What is Johann Friedrich Blumenbach?
{{Infobox scientist |name = Johann Friedrich Blumenbach |image =Johann Friedrich Blumenbach.jpg |image_size = |caption = Johann Friedrich Blumenbach|birth_date = {{birth date|1752|5|11|df=y}} |birth_place = [[Gotha (town)|Gotha]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1840|1|22|1752|5|11|df=y}} |death_place = |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = [[Germany|German]] |ethnicity = |field = [[physiology]] |work_institutions = |alma_mater = [[University of Jena]]<br>[[University of Göttingen]] |known_for = [[comparative anatomy]] |author_abbrev_bot = }} '''Johann Friedrich Blumenbach''' (11 May 1752 – 22 January 1840) was a [[Germany|German]] [[physician]], [[Natural history|naturalist]], [[physiologist]] and [[anthropologist]]. He was one of the first to explore the study of mankind as an aspect of [[natural history]]. He used [[comparative anatomy]] to classify human races, of which he listed five. == Blumenbach's classification of races == [[File:Blumenbach's five races.JPG|thumb|right|230px|Blumenbach's five races]] Blumenbach divided the human [[species]] into five [[race (sociology)|race]]s in 1779. Later he based them on the anatomy of the human [[skull]]. Blumenbach's work included the description of sixty skulls published as ''Decas craniorum'' (Göttingen 1790–1828). This was a founding work for other scientists. He called the five races (1793/1795): * the [[Caucasian race]] or white race * the [[Mongoloid (race)|Mongolian]] or yellow race * the [[Malay race|Malayan]] or brown race * the [[Negroid|Ethiopian]], or black race * the [[Native American|American]] or red race. He did not think other races were inferior to the Caucasian race, and were potentially good members of society. Anatomical study led him to the conclusion that 'individual Africans differ as much, or even more, from other individual Africans as Europeans differ from Europeans'. Furthermore he thought that Africans we