Where did racial classification come from?

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (May 11, 1752 – January 22, 1840) was a German doctor and physiologist whose studies related to classification of human races. On the basis of his craniometrical research (analysis of human skulls), Blumenbach divided the human species into five races: the Caucasian race or white race; the Mongolian or yellow race; the Malayan or brown race; the Negroid, or black race; and the American or red race. How he linked Craniometrical research to skin color is baffling.

To continue reading – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Blumenbach