Graphology to use it for personality evaluation, empirical studies fail to show the validity claimed by its supporters. The word "graphology" is derived from "grapho-" (from the Greek γραφή, "writing") and "logos" (from the Greek λόγος, which relates to discussion or theory). Jean-Charles Gille-Maisani stated in 1991 that Juan Huarte de San Juan's 1575 "Examen de ingenios para las ciencias" was the first book on handwriting analysis. In American graphology, Camillo Baldi's "Trattato come da una lettera missiva si conoscano la natura e qualita dello scrittore" from 1622 is considered to be the first book. Around 1830 Jean-Hippolyte Michon became interested
Graphology is "useless... absolutely hopeless". The British Psychological Society ranks graphology alongside astrology, giving them both "zero validity". Graphology was also dismissed as a pseudo-science by the skeptic James Randi in 1991. In his May 21, 2013 Skeptoid podcast episode titled "All About Graphology," scientific skeptic author Brian Dunning reports:In his book "The Write Stuff", Barry Beyerstein summarized the work of Geoffrey Dean, who performed probably the most extensive literature survey of graphology ever done. Dean did a meta-analysis on some 200 studies: Dean showed that graphologists have failed unequivocally to demonstrate the validity or reliability of their art for predicting