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Introduction

1890–1947

GERMAN/AMERICAN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIST, EDUCATOR, RESEARCHER

UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN, Ph.D., 1916

At the time of Kurt Lewin's death in February 1947, he was widely regarded as one of the outstanding psychologists of his generation. Edward Tolman, the colleague who delivered a tribute to Lewin at a meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA) later that year, thought that Lewin could be compared to Freud himself.

Freud the clinician and Lewin the experimentalist—these are the two men whose names will stand before all others in the history of our psychological era. For it is their contrasting but complementary insights which first made psychology a science applicable to real human beings and to real human society.

One of many gifted scientists and teachers who fled Hitler's Germany for a new life in the United States, Lewin made significant contributions to so many different areas of psychology—child development, philosophy of science, psychology of prejudice, industrial psychology, organizational development, clinical psychology, personality structure, group process, leadership training, and others—that he has been called "the complete social scientist." As interested in applied psychology as he was in research, Lewin coined or popularized such terms and concepts as group dynamics, level of aspiration, sensitivity training, field theory, and action research. His colleagues also regretted that his sudden death had cut short the contribution he had hoped to make in the field that held together many of his other interests—the

Kurt Lewin. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

In spite of the range, depth, and originality of Lewin's work, however, he received less recognition during his lifetime than many psychologists whose work proved less durable. He was never elected to the presidency of a major scholarly or professional organization, was bypassed for major awards and honors, and was never offered a tenured professorship in one of the more prestigious universities. Much of his career in the United States was spent in such unlikely departments as home economics and child welfare. Nevertheless many of his theories and concepts became so influential that their origin was forgotten. His saying "There is nothing so practical as a good theory" is often quoted even in the early 2000s without recognition of its source. Lewin's personal modesty—he rarely added his name as coauthor to his students' published papers—and his ability to stimulate the creativity of his students and colleagues also meant that his innovations in experimental method as well as theory did not attract the attention they deserved.

Lewin's most lasting contribution to psychology may well have been his social conscience. His teaching of evening classes for blue-collar workers during his graduate school years in Berlin, his concern for equal education for women, his action research projects investigating anti-Semitism and racial prejudice—all of these inspired three generations of psychologists to undertake work that benefits the wider society as well as academic scholarship.