Fifty Key Thinkers in Psychology »

Noel Sheehy is a Professor and Reader in Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University and was formerly Chair of the School of Psychology at Queen's University Belfast. His research interests are in risk perception and risk communication. He is also co-author of Understanding Suicidal Behaviour and Applied Social Psychology.

Fifty Key Thinkers in Psychology introduces the life, thought and work of some of the most influential figures who have shaped and developed modern psychology. It features accessibly written and fully cross-referenced entries on such figures as: Sigmund Freud, Noam Chomsky, Carl Jung, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Anne Anastasi, Konrad Lorenz, Hans Eysenck and William James.

This fascinating and informative guide is an invaluable resource for those studying, working in, or who simply want to find out more about psychology.

Library Journal

In this entry of the new "Key Guides" series, Sheehy (psychology, Queen's Univ., Belfast) profiles 50 personalities in psychology with great care, as is fitting for a discipline devoted to understanding who we are and why we do what we do. The list begins with Hermann von Helmholtz, Francis Galton, Wilhelm Wundt, and William James and includes 11 who are still living (in order of birth): Jerome Bruner, Eleanor Maccoby, Richard Gregory, Albert Bandura, Robert Luce, Endel Tulving, Noam Chomsky, Ulric Neisser, Philip Zimbardo, Alan Baddeley, and John Anderson. Following each of the articles is a short bibliography. While a brief glossary is helpful, Sheehy often introduces definitions in the text (e.g., of such terms as intentionality, phenomenology, and functionalism). References are often quite recent, but some major biographies are not listed (e.g., on Freud, Erikson, and Jung). In addition, Maccoby and Anne Anastasi are the only two women represented, and there is a preponderance of English-speaking psychologists. These are minor quibbles, however, considering the richness and readability of the essays, which combine human interest with intellectual substance-50 exemplary short studies of life and work (averaging five and a half pages). The broadening inclusion of linguist Noam Chomsky and ethologist Konrad Lorenz is welcome. This book should be compared with Nicholas Wade's Psychologists in Word and Image, which presents 104, one-page summaries with provocatively fashioned portraits. A fine companion volume to both is Daniel Robinson's An Intellectual History of Psychology. Highly recommended for most libraries. (Index not seen.)-E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.