Useful Backward and Forward Reflections

Extract

Pathways to Prominence in Neuropsychology: Reflections of Twentieth-Century Pioneers. Anthony Y. Stringer, Eileen L. Cooley, and Anne-Lise Christensen, 2002. New York: Psychology Press. 324 pp., $64.95.

Pathways to Prominence in Neuropsychology discusses the origin and development of research and clinical neuropsychology in the 20th century. This is an important first book to help us better understand where we have been, where we are, where we are going and who we are, but be forewarned that the writer of this review is extremely biased, believing that history is both interesting and potentially useful to enlighten our individual and collective journeys. The writing of history, its facts and interpretations, is fraught with challenges and pitfalls, especially when looking at ourselves. As the American humorist Herb Shiner once said, “Nothing has changed the course of history as much as the historian.