Editing Gustave Le Bon (section)

=== Widespread travels ===
[[File:Gustave Le Bon 1880.png|thumb|left|160px|Le Bon in [[Algiers]], 1880]]

Le Bon became interested in the emerging field of [[anthropology]] in the 1870s and travelled throughout [[Europe]], [[Asia]] and [[North Africa]]. Influenced by [[Charles Darwin]], [[Herbert Spencer]] and [[Ernst Haeckel]], Le Bon supported [[biological determinism]] and a hierarchical view of the races and sexes; after extensive field research, he posited a correlation between cranial capacity and intelligence in ''Recherches anatomiques et mathématiques sur les variations de volume du cerveau et sur leurs relations avec l'intelligence'' (1879), which earned him the Godard Prize from the [[French Academy of Sciences]].<ref>{{harvnb|Staum|2011|p=65}}</ref> During his research, he invented a portable [[cephalometry|cephalometer]] to aid with measuring the physical characteristics of remote peoples, and in 1881 published a paper, "''The Pocket Cephalometer, or Compass of Coordinates''", detailing his invention and its application.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Bud|first2=Deborah Jean|last2=Warner|title=Instruments of Science: An Historical Encyclopedia|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date=1998|isbn=9780815315612|page=157}}</ref>

In 1884, he was commissioned by the French government to travel around [[Asia]] and report on the civilisations there.<ref name="nature"/> The results of his journeys were a number of books, and a development in Le Bon's thinking to also view culture to be influenced chiefly by hereditary factors such as the unique racial features of the people.<ref>{{cite book|first=Mehtap|last=Söyler|title=The Turkish Deep State: State Consolidation, Civil-Military Relations and Democracy|publisher=Routledge|date=2015|isbn=9781317668800|page=70}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Partha|last=Mitter|title=Much Maligned Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=1992|isbn=9780226532394|page=268}}</ref> The first book, entitled ''La Civilisation des Arabes'', was released in 1884. In this, Le Bon praised [[Arabs]] highly for their contributions to civilisation, but criticised [[Islamism]] as an agent of stagnation.<ref>{{cite book|first=Frederick|last=Quinn|title=The Sum of All Heresies: The Image of Islam in Western Thought|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2007|isbn=9780199886760|page=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Albert|last=Hourani|title=Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939|url=https://archive.org/details/arabicthoughtinl0000hour|url-access=registration|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1962|isbn=9780521274234|page=[https://archive.org/details/arabicthoughtinl0000hour/page/173 173]}}</ref> He also described their culture as superior to that of the [[Turkish people#Ottoman Empire|Turks]] who governed them, and translations of this work were inspirational to early [[Arab nationalism|Arab nationalists]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Sylvia|last=Kedourie|title=Arab Nationalism: An Anthology|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1962|isbn=9780520026452|page=[https://archive.org/details/arabnationalisma0000unse/page/182 182]|url=https://archive.org/details/arabnationalisma0000unse/page/182}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Martin Seth|last=Kramer|title=Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East|publisher=Transaction Publishers|date=2011|isbn=9781412817394|page=63}}</ref> He followed this with a trip to [[Nepal]], becoming the first Frenchman to visit the country, and released ''Voyage au Népal'' in 1886.<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Carey|title=The Intellectuals and the Masses: Pride and Prejudice Among the Literary Intelligentsia 1880-1939|publisher=Faber & Faber|date=2012|isbn=9780571265107|page=31}}</ref>

He next published ''Les Civilisations de l'Inde'' (1887), in which he applauded Indian architecture, art and religion but argued that Indians were comparatively inferior to Europeans in regard to scientific advancements, and that this had facilitated British domination.<ref>{{cite book|first=Sarah|last=Seymore|title=Close Encounters of the Invasive Kind: Imperial History in Selected British Novels of Alien-Encounter Science Fiction After World War II|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|date=2013|isbn=9783643903914|page=108}}</ref> In 1889, he released ''Les Premières Civilisations de l'Orient'', giving in it an overview of the Mesopotamian, Indian, Chinese and Egyptian civilisations. The same year, he delivered a speech to the International Colonial Congress criticising colonial policies which included attempts of [[cultural assimilation]], stating: "Leave to the natives their customs, their institutions and their laws."<ref>{{harvnb|Betts|1960|p=68}}</ref> Le Bon released the last book on the topic of his travels, entitled ''Les monuments de l'Inde'', in 1893, again praising the architectural achievements of the Indian people.<ref>{{cite book|first=David L.|last=Sills|title=International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalenc08sill|url-access=registration|publisher=Macmillan|date=1968|isbn=9780028661520|page=[https://archive.org/details/internationalenc08sill/page/82 82]}}</ref>