The first scientist to confront society with the central role of sex in human development was Freud. His method, the detailed and in depth analysis of the childhood experiences of a handful of upper class Viennese women, may be suspect by today's standard of scientific inquiry. It was, however, the first systematic attempt to study an area of human behaviour which was wrapped in mystery, prejudice and fear. His crucial and most controversial book, Three Essays on the Sexual Theory, was published in 1905 and branded at the time as an obscene book. A disclaimer from the publisher was attached to the English translation of this book which read: “The sale of this book is limited to Members of the Medical, Scholastic, Legal and Clerical professions”. If read together with Freud's earlier book, The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), these two books give the distinct impression that Freud did discover the problem of sexual abuse.

Everyone has heard of Le Suicide, by Emile Durkheim, but relatively few have read even its English translation. This is a pity, since it is a good read, although it may seem tasteless to enjoy a treatise on such a sad subject. French psychiatric literature has so lacked appeal for the English, that its first appearance in 1897 was not followed by an English translation until 1952. However, the English translation is vigorous, clear and vivid, capturing the spirit of the time of the original edition, an age away from the pompous and turgid sociological literature of today. Durkheim wrote the book, one of his two great works, using a social phenomenon – suicide –to investigate society itself. Psychiatrists might read Suicide for the breadth and depth of its social data, now of historical interest, and for his closely reasoned sociological arguments.