Harvard's Quixotic Pursuit of a New Science

Patrick L. Schmidt is an attorney in Washington, D.C. He received a BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, a JD from Georgetown University, and an MIPP from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He first examined the history of the Department of Social Relations in his undergraduate honors thesis at Harvard.

• Preface Acknowledgments 1 Psychoanalytic Thought Arrives at Harvard: Roiling the Disciplines 2 World War II Changes Everything: InterdisciplinaryResearch Emerges 3 The Founding of the Department: A Determined Dean Acts 4 The First Five Years: A Golden Age but Integration Proves Elusive 5 The 1950s: A Decade of Disunity 6 The 1960s: Drugs and Departmental Drift 7 The Final Unraveling: Soc Rel 149 Disrupts and Sociology Departs 8 Conclusion and Summary Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

Schmidt’s book is not only an instructive story of intellectual hubris and academic scandal. It also offers insight into ongoing debates over education, knowledge, power and progress.... In the case of Harvard’s Quixotic Pursuit of a New Science, the unorthodox approach has borne fruit. Through meticulous research and compelling writing, Schmidt has taken a set of dry, inaccessible institutional records and turned them into a gripping intellectual drama. Best of all, he’s managed to do so without sensationalizing his subject or shying away from semantics. A must-read for anyone interested in how educational systems are developed and their effect on the way we view the world.