Lightner Witmer: His Life and Times
by Paul McReynolds (9781557984449)

This book chronicles the life and times of a major figure in early American psychology, a man whose influence, continues to shape current Western culture. Lighther Witmer, widely recognized as the founder of clinical psychology, can also be considered the primary pioneer of school psychology and a major figure in the development of special education. Moreover, in a role associated with these accomplishments but going beyond them, Witmer was an early, outspoken, and effective advocate for the rights and improved treatment of children.

The seminal -- and perhaps most enduring -- accomplishment of Witmer's career was his establishment of the world's first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896. This date is only seventeen years after Wilhelm Wundt (under whom Witmer studied) had established what is generally considered the first experimental laboratory of psychology in Leipzig, and it was only four years prior to Sigmund Freud's landmark Interpretation of Dreams. Apart from chronology, however, what may be most important on the large scale is that Witmer advanced and advocated the idea that the fruits of scientific psychology could have practical benefits for human beings -- that is, that psychology could be mobilized to help people having personal difficulties in living.

Author Paul McReynolds, the preeminent authority on Witmer, presents Witmer's life in a largely chronological, narrative fashion in which he not only gives full attention to personal events and circumstances but also offers lucid glimpses into its professional, scientific, academic, and clinical aspects. McReynolds places Witmer's life in the economic and political context of his times andillustrates how his overall perception of psychology flowed both with and against the existing trends.

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