Memoirs of a Dissident Psychologist

Richard Lynn was born in 1930, the illegitimate son of geneticist Sydney Harland, and raised by his mother Ann in London and Bristol. Despite a wartime childhood disrupted by evacuation to the north of England, he attended the prestigious Bristol Grammar School and won a scholarship to King's College, Cambridge. His early academic career was spent in Exeter and Dublin, after which he was appointed Professor of Psychology at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. It was here that he developed the theories on intelligence that would make him one of the more controversial psychologists of the late 20th century. Lynn describes his work, and that of his numerous contemporaries, many of whom became colleagues and close friends. He intersperses the account of his academic life with reflections on important world events and personalities, as well as entertaining insights in to his personal and family affairs over the course of 90 years and 3 marriages. "Richard Lynn's life is exceptional in many ways. He became one of the most important intelligence researchers of the world and a pioneer in cognitive human capital research. His scientific autobiography describes the development of his research and gives critical assessments of many of his contemporaries. This is highly recommended reading!" Professor Heiner Rindermann, Chemnitz University of Technology "Richard Lynn's autobiography gives an account of his personal and professional life and how he reached his controversial views on race and sex differences in intelligence and personality. It shows a courageous scientist whose strong personal character lets him prevail in an uncompromising hunt for clarity in the current hostile academic climate." Professor Helmuth Nyborg, University of Aarhus