Physiognomy personality. Physiognomy is also sometimes referred to as anthroposcopy, though the expression was more common in the 19th century when the word originated. Notions of the relationship between an individual's outward appearance and inner character are historically ancient, and occasionally appear in early Greek poetry. Siddhars from ancient India are also known to have defined "samudrika lakshanam" that identifies personal characteristics with body features. Chinese physiognomy or face reading ("mianxiang") reaches back at least to the Northern Song period. The first indications of a developed physiognomic theory appear in fifth century BC Athens, with the works of Zopyrus (who was
Physiognomy Middle Ages when practised by vagabonds and mountebanks. It was then revived and popularised by Johann Kaspar Lavater before falling from favour again in the late 19th century. Physiognomy as understood in the past meets the contemporary definition of a pseudoscience. Popular in the 19th century, it has been used as a basis for scientific racism, along with physical anthropology. No clear evidence indicates physiognomy works—but the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning for facial recognition has brought a revival of interest, and some studies that suggest that facial appearances do "contain a kernel of truth" about a person's