George Combe was educated at Edinburgh High School and at Edinburgh University, where he studied law; he became a Writer to the Signet in 1812. At this time he began to study the phrenological works of Franz Josef Gall and Johann Kaspar Spurzheim, and soon became a fervent advocate of that science. In 1837 he gave up his legal practice to devote himself to spreading the causes of phrenology, secular education, and criminal and prison reform, travelling widely in Europe and America. His views on practical education and moral training were pioneering, but were generally lost from view in the downfall of phrenology.