Meaning of Fitzpatrick scale | Babel Free

Definitions

A numerical classification schema for human skin color.

Examples

“The Fitzpatrick scale was based not on color alone, but on how skin responds to UV radiation from sunlight. This factor meant that skin type, while linked to skin color, had more elements at play, namely different kinds of melanin cells.”

“Following a 1972 Australian study on skin burning, Harvard medical pioneer Thomas B. Fitzpatrick created the Fitzpatrick scale. […] Since the Fitzpatrick scale is a scientific resource, the Unicode Consortium adopted it in its diversity representation. It was a way for them to avoid probable controversial consequences and achieve ‘technological neutrality’.”

CEFR level