Biographical

Much of the intellectual history of psychology as both a scientific and a clinical enterprise has involved the attempt to come to grips with these two problems of mind and body. Through this exhibit and in the discussion to follow, we will trace this history as we identify major contributions to theories of mind, body and their relationship. Starting with Descartes, whose formulation of the problem has in one way or another affected all later views, we will note the way in which 17th and 18th century ideas developed in direct response to the Cartesian challenge, and then relate 19th century mind/brain theorizing to progress in understanding the brain as the "organ of mind" and the mind as a powerful source of physical illness and cure.

With this as background, we will outline the rise of experimental psychology as it occurred at the interface between philosophical analyses of the mind/world relationship and physiological conceptions of the nervous system as a sensory-motor device mediating between the mind and the world. In this regard, we will focus not only on European but on early and often overlooked American contributions. We will conclude with a brief discussion of some of the most important influences on the thought of William James, whose Principles of Psychology (1890) gathered all of these various threads together in what is probably the greatest single work in psychology.

William James was born in New York City on January 11, 1842, to an affluent, cosmopolitan, and deeply religious family. His father Henry dabbled in theology, doted on his five children, was well connected to literary and philosophical luminaries of the day, and often took the family for extended stays in Europe. His journeys to the continent were primarily theological and philosophical odysseys intended to resolve his conflicting spiritual bouts. His right leg had been amputated after burns suffered in a boyhood accident failed to heal. His spirit never quite recovered. A devoted father, he sought to provide his children with the sort of education that might enable them some day to outdistance their countrymen both in erudition and in breadth of knowledge. To this end, he enrolled them in fine schools, obtained for them gifted tutors, and saw to it that they frequented museums and attended lectures and the theater with regularity. William and two of his siblings would give fruit to their father's liberal educational efforts. Brother Henry became one of America's most famed novelists, and sister Alice acquired a literary reputation of her own after her diaries were posthumously published.

The Exhibition Program of the National Library of Medicine presents lively and informative exhibitions that enhance the public and scholarly awareness and appreciation of the National Library of Medicine’s collections. The Program conducts scholarly research in science, medicine, and history; interprets that research for presentation to diverse audiences; designs and develops engaging displays; and produces educational outreach programs. The Exhibition Program makes traveling versions of its exhibitions, which are hosted by America’s libraries and medical centers. The Exhibition Program promotes public education about science, medicine, and history through its creation of interactive exhibitions, multimedia displays, traveling exhibitions, web sites, symposia, films, lectures, and publications. The Program expands the local community’s knowledge about the Library’s collections though outreach to community groups, senior centers, schools, universities, and professional groups. The Exhibition Program manages a robust tour program for Library visitors, which features special presentations by National Institutes of Health scientists and other Library programs.

Welcome to the web page for biographies of women in mathematics. These pages are part of an on-going project by students in mathematics classes at Agnes Scott College, in Atlanta, Georgia, to illustrate the numerous achievements of women in the field of mathematics. There are biographical essays or comments on most of the women mathematicians and some photos (which look best at more than 256 colors). Our goal is for this list to continue to expand, and for more biographies to be completed.

The father of modern rocket propulsion is the American, Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard. Along with Konstantin Eduordovich Tsiolkovsky of Russia and Hermann Oberth of Germany, Goddard envisioned the exploration of space. A physicist of great insight, Goddard also had an unique genius for invention.
By 1926, Goddard had constructed and tested successfully the first rocket using liquid fuel. Indeed, the flight of Goddard's rocket on March 16,1926, at Auburn, Massachusetts, was a feat as epochal in history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Yet, it was one of Goddard's "firsts" in the now booming significance of rocket propulsion in the fields of military missilery and the scientific exploration of space.

This site is an attempt to reconstruct, in fine-grained detail, the path taken by Alexander Graham Bell, with links to other inventors and ideas. Click on the buttons at the top of the page to begin to explore this growing resource, whose initial development was funded, in part, by a grant from the History and Philosophy of Science program of the National Science Foundation. Pending further funding, this site remains woefully incomplete: your comments are most welcome.

Alan Turing would probably have laughed at the idea of being called a great philosopher, or any kind of philosopher. He called himself a mathematician. But his 1950 paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence has become one of the most cited in modern philosophical literature. This is principally because he brought the new and rigorous mathematical concept of computability to bear on traditional problems of mind and body, free-will and determinism.

What if Hitler had been able to get what he wanted in Munich, so appeasement had actually worked? What if Goddard, von Braun, Oberth, Sanger, Korolev, Tsiolovsky, and other rocket scientists had been taken more seriously and had been properly funded? Would Germany have put the first man into space? Could Goddard, had he lived, have put a man on the moon without von Braun? Come and join the discussion, click either picture above.

ALBRECHT VON HALLER (1708-1777)