Interest in astrology and phrenology over two centuries: A google ngram study

  • Jeremy E C Genovese

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Google Ngram Viewer shows the frequency of words in a large corpus of books over two centuries. In this study, the names of two pseudosciences, astrology and phrenology, were compared. An interesting pattern emerged. While the level of interest in astrology remained relatively stable over the course of two centuries, interest in phrenology rose rapidly in the early 1800s but then declined. Reasons for this pattern are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)940-943
Number of pages4
JournalPsychological Reports
Volume117
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2015

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