This book began as a course in the history of psychology that I taught for more than four decades at three different Universities. The course went through a series of metamorphoses as the world changed and I changed my understanding of it. By 1985 it included the idea that most of the real insights in psychology come from its scholarly ancestors, and that this scholarship needs to be carefully re-introduced to students if they are to fully utilize the intellectual treasures that they have inherited as psychologists. Contemporary psychology’s conceit is supposing that it can comprehend deep psychological problems using science and technology that do not have deep roots in intellectual history. Many psychologists are beginning to appreciate this as we move into the future.

More immediately, this book is a collaboration by Curtis Shelton and myself that began when he was a teaching assistant in my course in the history of psychology at Simon Fraser University in 2005. Our collaboration continued as he and I produced an earlier book on the psychology of addiction together, although I was the sole author of that book (Alexander, 2010).

In this jointly authored book on the history of scholarly psychology, the narrative voice that tells occasional personal stories and the majority of the text writing is mine. We found that stories from my long career as a psychologist help put parts of the scholarly history into contemporary context. Most of the organization, resolution, and focus to get the project done came from Curtis. He is also the principal author of Chapter 3, many key ideas throughout the text, and many of the thought questions that accompany Chapters 2 through 9. The book took my direction as senior author, and I alone bear the responsibility for its most radical and flamboyant statements. However, all of the positions have been shaped by sometimes lengthy discussions between Curtis and myself and the final form of the book is a joint product.