Customer Reviews

A Whisper of Espionage

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I read this book many years ago, after it was recommended to me by Michael Wertheimer (son of Max). It was a fascinating story. If you have any interest in the history of psychology, psychology and science during WWII and the holocost, or Gestalt Psychology, then this is really full of lots of interesting things. Wolfganf Kohler's work on insight in chimps seems to have been a cover for his espionage work in WWI. As his status grew, Kohler distanced himself from these times and this research.

One point that the author makes is that WWI was much different than WWII. We shouldn't confuse pre-Nazi Germany with the German nightmare that followed. Kohler seems to have followed his patriotic duty in WWI. In WWII, he was an anti-Nazi hero in a dangerous time and place. He generally stood up for his Jewish colleagues and bravely communicated his discontent before he had to leave Nazi Germany. So I hope this book doesn't serve to villify Kohler in any way. One gets the sense that his family felt the need to cover up Kohler's past, but I didn't read anything that deteracted from his heroic nature. (Compare this to, say, Konrad Lorenz' Nazi past).

I remember talking to Richard Held, the emminent MIT psychologist, about this book. He was one of Kohler's students in the U.S. He emphasized this point, and emphasized that Kohler was a man of remarkable integrity. I believe this!

I'm currently reading another remarkable book on Gestalt Psychologists. This one is the long-awaited book on Max Wertheimer and Gestalt Psychology by Michael Wertheimer and Brett King. Highly recommended!