Through the pioneering work of Duchenne de Boulogne, Franois Delaporte provides a remarkable philosophical and historical examination of expressive physiology during the mid-19th century, and considers the science of emotion as a means of revealing inner life--thoughts, feelings--upon the surface of the face.

François Delaporte is Professor of Philosophy at Université de Picardie Jules-Verne in Amiens, France. His publications include Nature's Second Kingdom (1982), The History of Yellow Fever (1991), and Disease and Civilization (1986).