Race

Scientific classifications of race

In publications issued from 1735 to 1759, Linnaeus classified all the then-known animal forms. He included humans with the primates and established the use of both genus and species terms for identification of all animals. For the human species, he introduced the still-current scientific name Homo sapiens. He listed four major subdivisions of this species, H. americanus, H. africanus, H. europaeus, and H. asiaticus. Such was the nature of knowledge at the time that Linnaeus also included the categories H. monstrosus (which included many exotic peoples) and H. ferus (“wild man”), an indication that some of his categories were based on tall tales and travelers’ myths.

Blumenbach divided humankind into five “varieties” and noted that clear lines of distinction could not be drawn between them, as they tended to blend “insensibly” into one another. His five categories included American, Malay, Ethiopian, Mongolian, and Caucasian. (He chose the term Caucasian to represent the Europeans because a skull from the Caucasus Mountains of Russia was in his opinion the most beautiful.) These terms were still commonly used by many scientists in the early 20th century, and most continue today as major designations of the ... (200 of 16,589 words)