Albert Einstein's Brain - Brains of Other Geniuses

Brains of Other Geniuses

Preserving the brains of geniuses was not a new phenomenon—another brain to be preserved and discussed in a similar manner was that of the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss almost a hundred years earlier. His brain was studied by Rudolf Wagner who found its weight to be 1,492 grams and the cerebral area equal to 219,588 square millimeters. Also found were highly developed convolutions, which was suggested as the explanation of his genius. Other brains that were removed and studied include that of Vladimir Lenin and the Native American, Ishi. The brain of Edward H. Rulloff, a noted philologist and criminal, was removed after his death in 1871; in 1972, it was still the second largest brain on record.