During my year at the Center I read a great deal in a variety of fields, outside my training as a physicist or my work in city planning. Moreover, I learned a lot from the anthropologists and historians of science,…
Blog Archives
CASBS Recollection
Robert H. Bates, Class of 1993-94 & 1985-86
I have been fortunate to have spent two years at the Center. For reasons of space, I write only about the second. Had the closet in my office been large enough, I would have stayed for a third year, but…
The Stream of Consciousness and Beyond in Ulysses
Julia Rothenberg (Class of 2013-14) on Erwin R. Steinberg (Class of 1970-71)
Erwin R. Steinberg (Professor of English and Rhetoric, Carnegie Mellon University 1946-2007) was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences for 1970-71. He used the year to develop his Ph.D. dissertation into a book,…
CASBS: Effects on Me and Observations for the Future Kenneth J. Arrow, Class of 1956-57
(Talk given at the 60th Anniversary Event on Nov 9, 2014) Basic inspiration: a unity of the social sciences with psychology; hence the term, “behavioral” – very much inspired by Talcott Parsons. Motivations: a mixture of psychoanalysis, rational behavior. Social…
Serendipity at the Center
Robert 0. Keohane, Class of 2004-05, 1987-88 & 1977-78
I was a “double recidivist” at the Center. I couldn’t stay away. After an initial year (1977-78) while I was on the Stanford faculty, I was there again in 1987-88 (from Harvard) and in 2004-05 (from Duke). The first time…
CASBS Memories
Peter Eisinger , Class of 1985-86
The class of 1986 worked hard and played hard. I wrote the first half of a book during my year. But it was not a hard slog. Erica, who worked as an associate at the Wilson, Sonsini law firm that…
Reminiscences
Ray S. Jackendoff, Class of 1983-84
From the acknowledgments of my book Consciousness and the Computational Mind (MIT Press, 1987) drafted at CASBS 1983-4: “Pride of first acknowledgment must go to the Center for Advanced Study in the Baheavioral Sciences, where I had the privilege of…
America the Unusual
John Kingdon, Class of 1987-88
I was a Fellow at the Center in 1987-88. I had been Chair of my department at Michigan for the previous five years, during which time I had hardly any time to turn around, yet alone do anything serious on…
Elysium
Gerald Holton, Class of 1975-76
Our stay (1975-76) at the Center was magical, felt to be so both at the time and in retrospect– a terrestrial alternative to Schiller’s blessed Elysium: From the moment we arrived, the remarkable staff of the Center took care of…
Memories and Appreciation
David E. Leary, Class of 1982-83
I have many wonderful memories of my year at the Center (1982-83), particularly those associated with lively friendships and the advancement of several research projects. Regarding the latter, A Century of Psychology of Science, co-edited with Sigmund Koch, was subsequently…