First Edition. Garrison-Morton 4976. Horblit, One Hundred Books Famous in Science, 100a.

The foundation of experimental psychology, which uses quantitative methods to study psychological processes such as perception and the formation of ideas. Wundt first conceived of a physiological psychology in 1858 while working as an assistant to Helmholtz, and produced two works on the subject before publishing the Grundzuge, the book that made his reputation. Wundt later established the first laboratory devoted to experimental psychology, which exerted an enormous influence in the spread of "brass instrument psychology" as Wundt attracted more and more foreign students, particularly Americans, many of whom later founded similar laboratories of their own.

Wundt's system of experimental psychology is difficult to summarize, as he constantly changed his views without warning, and he left no significant factual or theoretical contribution to the science. His greatest importance lay in his ability to stimulate research and in his role as the leader of a crusade; he "constituted an important rallying point for the generation of young men who saw experimental psychology as a new avenue to man's self-understanding" (DSB). Norman 2270.