Malcolm Gladwell, the writer of "Tipping Point," a number of other books and a New Yorker column, wrote the book "Blink."

Blink is very much about the science related to this article. But "reading faces" has less to do with the physical structure of the face, as it does the innate ability of humans to read the emotions, thoughts and intentions of others based on very fine aspects of expression. Humans are hard wired to see these very minute changes in expression, and we are also fundamentally unable to fully hide them, so our faces are books open for the reading.

Gladwell talks about a scientist who, after many years of scientifically "reading faces" had mastered it to the point that he could spot certain traits of a person with uncanny accuracy. We are all doing this during every interaction with others; it's just that this guy made himself conscious of it and mastered it.

So I expect that predictions of criminality based on reading the face has less to do with "Guy with big forehead and close-set eyes is a criminal," but rather, "I am subconsciously detecting movement in his upper lip and lowering of eyelids which indicates deception." It is the "shifty eyed" concept taken to minute and very brief levels.