Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

User:Robert P. O'Shea/sandbox

2025-01-08T14:47:50Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Add to introductory and early-life sections

{{User sandbox}}



{{Infobox scientist
| name = Eileen Kowler
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 June 1952}}
| birth_place = [[New York]], USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|30|1952|6|3|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Manhatten]], USA
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[Rutgers University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Maryland]]
| academic_advisors = {{Robert M. Steinman<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=16123|title = Neurotree - Eileen Kowler}}</ref>
| awards =
}}

'''Eileen Kowler''' (3 June 1952-30 December 2024) was an American [[vision research]]er. She worked at [[Rutgers University]] for 44 years, culminating in a Distinguished Professorship of Psychology. Kowler made numerous discoveries into the effects of [[attention]] and [[cognition]] on human [[eye movement]]s. She was also active in promoting professional organizations for vision research, serving as president of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_science#Conferences]]|Vision Sciences Society]] in 2022.

==Early life==

Kowler was born New York on 3 June 1952. Her parents were Arthur and Shirley (née Cohen) Kowler.<ref name="MSMC">{{cite web |title=Dr. Eileen Kowler Obituary |url=https://www.msmc.us/obituaries/Dr-Eileen-Kowler?obId=34261674 |website=Mount Sinai Memorial Chapels |access-date=8 January 2025}}</ref>

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}

User:Robert P. O'Shea/sandbox

2025-01-05T07:12:35Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Try some more

{{User sandbox}}



{{Infobox scientist
| name = Eileen Kowler
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 June 1952}}
| birth_place = [[New York]], USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|30|1952|6|3|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Manhatten]], USA
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[Rutgers University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Maryland]]
| academic_advisors = {{Robert M. Steinman<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=16123|title = Neurotree - Eileen Kowler}}</ref>
| awards =
}}

'''Eileen Kowler''' (3 June 1952- 30 December 2024) was an American vision researcher.

==Early life==

Kowler was born New York on 3 June 1952. Her parents were Arthur and Shirley (née Cohen) Kowler.

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}

User:Robert P. O'Shea/sandbox

2025-01-05T05:45:10Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Try again to make infobox appear correctly

{{User sandbox}}



{{Infobox scientist
| name = Paul Dirac
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|FRS|size=100%}}
| image = Dirac 4.jpg
| caption = Dirac, photographed in 1933
| birth_name = Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1902|8|8}}
| birth_place = [[Bristol]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1984|10|20|1902|8|8}}
| death_place = [[Tallahassee, Florida]], U.S.
}}

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Eileen Kowler
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 June 1952}}
| birth_place = [[New York]], USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|30|1952|6|3|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Manhatten]], USA
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[Rutgers University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Maryland]]
| academic_advisors = {{Robert M. Steinman<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=16123|title = Neurotree - Eileen Kowler}}</ref>
| awards =
}}

'''Eileen Kowler''' (3 June 1952- 30 December 2024) was an American vision researcher.

==Biography==

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}

User:Robert P. O'Shea/sandbox

2025-01-02T14:37:34Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Continue to tinker with infobox

{{User sandbox}}



{{Infobox scientist
| name = Paul Dirac
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|FRS|size=100%}}
| image = Dirac 4.jpg
| caption = Dirac, photographed in 1933
| birth_name = Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1902|8|8}}
| birth_place = [[Bristol]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1984|10|20|1902|8|8}}
| death_place = [[Tallahassee, Florida]], U.S.
}}

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Eileen Kowler
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 June 1952}}
| birth_place = [[New York]], USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|30|1952|6|3|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Manhatten]], USA
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[Rutgers University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Maryland]]
| academic_advisors = {{Robert M. Steinman<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=16123|title = Neurotree - Eileen Kowler}}</ref>
| awards = {{unbulleted list
| Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (1996)
| Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]] (the German Research Foundation, DFG, 2004-2011)
| Member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards (2012-)
| Named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world (2018)}}
}}

'''Eileen Kowler''' (3 June 1952- 30 December 2024) was an American vision researcher.

==Biography==

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:American psychologists]]
[[Category:American vision researchers]]

User:Robert P. O'Shea/sandbox

2025-01-02T14:32:16Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Tinker with infobox again

{{User sandbox}}



{{Infobox scientist
| name = Eileen Kowler
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 June 1952}}
| birth_place = [[New York]], USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|30|1952|6|3|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Manhatten]], USA
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[Rutgers University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Maryland]]
| academic_advisors = {{Robert M. Steinman<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=16123|title = Neurotree - Eileen Kowler}}</ref>
| awards = {{unbulleted list
| Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (1996)
| Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]] (the German Research Foundation, DFG, 2004-2011)
| Member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards (2012-)
| Named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world (2018)}}
}}

'''Eileen Kowler''' (3 June 1952- 30 December 2024) was an American vision researcher.

==Biography==

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:American psychologists]]
[[Category:American vision researchers]]

User:Robert P. O'Shea/sandbox

2025-01-02T14:28:21Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Try to show infobox

{{User sandbox}}



'''Eileen Kowler''' (3 June 1952- 30 December 2024) was an American vision researcher.

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Eileen Kowler
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 June 1952}}
| birth_place = [[New York]], USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|30|1952|6|3|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Manhatten]], USA
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[Rutgers University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Maryland]]
| academic_advisors = {{Robert M. Steinman<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=16123|title = Neurotree - Eileen Kowler}}</ref>
| awards = {{unbulleted list
| Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (1996)
| Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]] (the German Research Foundation, DFG, 2004-2011)
| Member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards (2012-)
| Named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world (2018)}}
}}
'''Erich Schröger''' (born 11 November 1958, in [[Munich]]) is a German [[psychologist]] and [[neuroscientist]].

==Biography==

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:American psychologists]]
[[Category:American vision researchers]]

User:Robert P. O'Shea/sandbox

2025-01-02T14:24:35Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Post a working draft

{{User sandbox}}



Eileen Kowler

{Short description|American vision researcher (born 1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Eileen Kowler
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 June 3 1952}}
| birth_place = [[New York]], USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|30|1952|6|3|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Manhatten]], USA
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[Rutgers University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Maryland]]
| academic_advisors = {{Robert M. Steinman<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=16123|title = Neurotree - Eileen Kowler}}</ref>
| awards = {{unbulleted list
| Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (1996)
| Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]] (the German Research Foundation, DFG, 2004-2011)
| Member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards (2012-)
| Named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world (2018)}}
}}
'''Erich Schröger''' (born 11 November 1958, in [[Munich]]) is a German [[psychologist]] and [[neuroscientist]].

==Biography==

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:American psychologists]]
[[Category:American vision researchers]]

Michael Bach (vision scientist)

2025-01-02T13:25:12Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added caption to Infobox

{{Short description|German scientist (born 1950)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Michael Bach
| image = MichaelBachPortraitCropped.jpg
| caption = Michael Bach, April 2020
| birth_date = {{bda|1950|4|10|df=y}}<ref name = BachCV>{{Cite web|url=https://michaelbach.de/sci/cvFull.html|title = Michael Bach's CV}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Berlin]]<ref name = BachCV />
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = [[Germans|German]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Freiburg]]<ref name = BachCV />
| thesis_title = Interaction between neurones in the visual cortex based on recordings with a multi-microelectrode
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year = 1981<ref name = Bach1981Dissertation>{{cite thesis |last1=Bach |first1=Michael |date=1981 |title=Untersuchungen zur Wechselwirkung zwischen Nervenzellen im visuellen Cortex mit Vielfach-Mikroelektroden |trans-title=Interaction between neurones in the visual cortex based on recordings with a multi-microelectrode |language=de |oclc=720817219 }}</ref>
| doctoral_advisors = Burkhart Fischer, Jürgen Krüger<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/tree.php?pid=7483|title = Neurotree - Michael Bach Family Tree}}</ref>
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for =
| influences =
| fields = [[Ophthalmology]], clinical [[electroencephalography]], clinical [[electroretinography]], [[Visual perception]], [[Visual acuity]]
| work_institution =
| prizes = Elfriede-Aulhorn Award (2006),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dog.org/?cat=100&lang=en|title=Laureates 2006 « DOG}}</ref> Von Graeve Award (2018)<ref name = DOG2018>{{Cite web|url=https://iscev.wildapricot.org/misc/#miscBach2018/|title = ISCEV - Misc}}</ref>
| website = https://michaelbach.de
| spouse = Ulrike Bach (née Röhling)
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

'''Michael Bach''' (born 10 April 1950) is a German scientist who researches [[ophthalmology]], clinical [[electroencephalography]], clinical [[electroretinography]], [[visual acuity]] testing, and [[visual perception]]. Bach is the creator of website ''Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena'', which began receiving over two million hits a day in 2005.<ref name="thefuntimesguide">{{Cite web|url=https://thefuntimesguide.com/opticalillusion/|title=Optical Illusions by Michael Bach... A Cool Waste of Time!|date=11 August 2005}}</ref>

== Life and work ==
Bach was born in [[Berlin]] on 10 April 1950.<ref name = BachCV /> In 1956, he moved with his family to [[Dortmund]], where he attended school.<ref name = BachCV /> From 1970 to 1972, Bach completed an undergraduate degree in [[physics]] at [[Ruhr University Bochum]], then moved to the [[University of Freiburg]], where he studied for a Master's degree in physics. In 1975, he began a part-time position running an electronics workshop in the Department of Psychology, then became a full-time research assistant in the Department of Neurology in 1978. Bach was awarded his Master's in physics in 1977 and his PhD, also in physics, in 1981, on the [[visual system]].<ref name = Bach1981Dissertation /> In 1981 he moved into a full-time position in the Department of Ophthalmology, rising to Professor in 1998, and being appointed as Head of Section Visual Function/Electrophysiology at the University Eye Hospital in 1999.<ref name = BachCV /> After Bach's retirement in 2015 he became an Emeritus Scientist, continuing his research.<ref name = BachCV />

In 1996, Bach began his service to the [[International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision]],<ref name = ISCEVhome>{{cite web |url=https://iscev.wildapricot.org/ |title=Home |website=iscev.wildapricot.org}}</ref> establishing, with others, standards for clinical [[electroencephalography]], [[electroretinography]] and [[electrooculography]],<ref name = ISCEVstandards>{{Cite web|url=https://iscev.wildapricot.org/standards|title=ISCEV - Standards}}</ref> and becoming the society's president from 2004 to 2011.<ref name = ISCEV2005>[https://iscev.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/news/ISCEV-Newsletter-2005.pdf ISCEV Newsletter 2005] wildapricot.org</ref>

In 1975, Bach married Ulrike Röhling.<ref name = BachCV /> They have three adult children and one grandchild.<ref name = BachCV />

== Research ==

Bach has conducted research in [[ophthalmology]], [[electroretinography]], and [[visual perception]]. One strand of his research has been to develop tests of [[visual acuity]], using verbal responding<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bach |first1=Michael |title=The Freiburg Visual Acuity Test — Automatic Measurement of Visual Acuity |journal=Optometry and Vision Science |date=January 1996 |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=49–53 |doi=10.1097/00006324-199601000-00008 |pmid=8867682 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://michaelbach.de/fract/index.html|title=Freiburg Visual Acuity & Contrast Test – Homepage}}</ref> or using brain activity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dennis |first1=Richard J. |last2=Beer |first2=Jeremy M. A. |last3=Baldwin |first3=J. Bruce |last4=Ivan |first4=Douglas J. |last5=Lorusso |first5=Frank J. |last6=Thompson |first6=William T. |title=Using the Freiburg Acuity and Contrast Test to Measure Visual Performance in USAF Personnel After PRK |journal=Optometry and Vision Science |date=July 2004 |volume=81 |issue=7 |pages=516–524 |doi=10.1097/00006324-200407000-00013 |pmid=15252351 |s2cid=22810411 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kurtenbach |first1=Anne |last2=Langrová |first2=Hana |last3=Messias |first3=Andre |last4=Zrenner |first4=Eberhart |last5=Jägle |first5=Herbert |title=A comparison of the performance of three visual evoked potential-based methods to estimate visual acuity |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=February 2013 |volume=126 |issue=1 |pages=45–56 |doi=10.1007/s10633-012-9359-5 |pmid=23143759 |s2cid=5638667 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zheng |first1=Xiaowei |last2=Xu |first2=Guanghua |last3=Wu |first3=Yifan |last4=Wang |first4=Yunyun |last5=Du |first5=Chenghang |last6=Wu |first6=Yongcheng |last7=Zhang |first7=Sicong |last8=Han |first8=Chengcheng |title=Comparison of the performance of six stimulus paradigms in visual acuity assessment based on steady-state visual evoked potentials |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=December 2020 |volume=141 |issue=3 |pages=237–251 |doi=10.1007/s10633-020-09768-x |pmid=32405730 |s2cid=218605570 }}</ref>

As of April 2021, Bach has published 356 scientific papers that have been cited 16602 times, giving him an [[h-index]] of 61.<ref name = BachGoogleScholar>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ut0220UAAAAJ|title=Michael Bach}}</ref> According to [[Neurotree]], Bach has 16 academic children and 44 academic grandchildren.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=7483|title = Neurotree - Michael Bach}}</ref>

== Illusions ==

Bach began his illusions web site as a hobby some time before 2005.<ref name = Bach2008>Bach, M. (2008, July 1). Are we perceiving ‘true’ reality? Recreational neuroscience of vision [Lecture]. Leipzig University.</ref> He did not appreciate how popular the site was until he discovered that his internet service provider had suspended his account after it received more than one million hits per day.<ref name = Bach2008 /> Bach upgraded his account and continued developing the site.<ref name = Bach2008 />

As of April 2021, Bach's site contained 143 illusions, most interactive, and all with Bach's clear explanations. The site and Bach have won plaudits on the internet,<ref name = thefuntimesguide /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bettycjung.net/Everything.htm|title = COOL AND USEFUL INTERNET SITES - EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW... - Compiled by Betty C. Jung}}</ref> in the news media,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/EyeHealth/optical-illusions-eye-brain-agree/story?id=8455573|title=Optical Illusions: When Your Brain Can't Believe Your Eyes|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.today.com/health/what-color-are-circles-viral-optical-illusion-baffles-internet-t134021|title=What color are the circles? Viral optical illusion baffles the internet|date=24 July 2018 }}</ref> and in science journals.<ref name = BachCV /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herrmann |first1=Christoph S. |last2=Murray |first2=Micah M. |title=Seeing Things That are Not There: Illusions Reveal How Our Brain Constructs What We See |journal=Frontiers for Young Minds |date=13 November 2013 |volume=1 |doi=10.3389/frym.2013.00006 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The site has also been used in scientific research into illusions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=X. |last2=Huang |first2=A. E. |last3=Altschuler |first3=E. L. |last4=Tyler |first4=C. W. |title=Depth spreading through empty space induced by sparse disparity cues |journal=Journal of Vision |date=14 August 2013 |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=7 |doi=10.1167/13.10.7 |pmid=23946433 }}</ref>

==Selected works==

* {{cite journal |last1=Marmor |first1=M. F. |last2=Fulton |first2=A. B. |last3=Holder |first3=G. E. |last4=Miyake |first4=Y. |last5=Brigell |first5=M. |last6=Bach |first6=M. |title=ISCEV Standard for full-field clinical electroretinography (2008 update) |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=February 2009 |volume=118 |issue=1 |pages=69–77 |doi=10.1007/s10633-008-9155-4 |pmid=19030905 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bach |first1=Michael |title=The Freiburg Visual Acuity Test — Automatic Measurement of Visual Acuity |journal=Optometry and Vision Science |date=January 1996 |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=49–53 |doi=10.1097/00006324-199601000-00008 |pmid=8867682 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Odom |first1=J. Vernon |last2=Bach |first2=Michael |last3=Brigell |first3=Mitchell |last4=Holder |first4=Graham E. |last5=McCulloch |first5=Daphne L. |last6=Tormene |first6=Alma Patrizia |title=ISCEV standard for clinical visual evoked potentials (2009 update) |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=February 2010 |volume=120 |issue=1 |pages=111–119 |doi=10.1007/s10633-009-9195-4 |pmid=19826847 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=McCulloch |first1=Daphne L. |last2=Marmor |first2=Michael F. |last3=Brigell |first3=Mitchell G. |last4=Hamilton |first4=Ruth |last5=Holder |first5=Graham E. |last6=Tzekov |first6=Radouil |last7=Bach |first7=Michael |title=ISCEV Standard for full-field clinical electroretinography (2015 update) |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=February 2015 |volume=130 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1007/s10633-014-9473-7 |pmid=25502644 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Odom |first1=J. Vernon |last2=Bach |first2=Michael |last3=Barber |first3=Colin |last4=Brigell |first4=Mitchell |last5=Marmor |first5=Michael F. |last6=Tormene |first6=Alma Patrizia |last7=Holder |first7=Graham E. |last8=Vaegan |title=Visual evoked potentials standard (2004) |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=March 2004 |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=115–123 |doi=10.1023/b:doop.0000036790.67234.22 |pmid=15455794 |s2cid=16956477 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Schulze-Bonsel |first1=Kilian |last2=Feltgen |first2=Nicolas |last3=Burau |first3=Hermann |last4=Hansen |first4=Lutz |last5=Bach |first5=Michael |title=Visual Acuities 'Hand Motion' and 'Counting Fingers' Can Be Quantified with the Freiburg Visual Acuity Test |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date=1 March 2006 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=1236–1240 |doi=10.1167/iovs.05-0981 |pmid=16505064 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hood |first1=Donald C. |last2=Bach |first2=Michael |last3=Brigell |first3=Mitchell |last4=Keating |first4=David |last5=Kondo |first5=Mineo |last6=Lyons |first6=Jonathan S. |last7=Marmor |first7=Michael F. |last8=McCulloch |first8=Daphne L. |last9=Palmowski-Wolfe |first9=Anja M. |title=ISCEV standard for clinical multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) (2011 edition) |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=February 2012 |volume=124 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1007/s10633-011-9296-8 |pmid=22038576 |pmc=4466109 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heckenlively |first1=John R. |last2=Arden |first2=Geoffrey B. |title=Principles and Practice of Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision |date=2006 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-08346-1 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bach |first1=Michael |last2=Brigell |first2=Mitchell G. |last3=Hawlina |first3=Marko |last4=Holder |first4=Graham E. |last5=Johnson |first5=Mary A. |last6=McCulloch |first6=Daphne L. |last7=Meigen |first7=Thomas |last8=Viswanathan |first8=Suresh |title=ISCEV standard for clinical pattern electroretinography (PERG): 2012 update |journal=Documenta Ophthalmologica |date=February 2013 |volume=126 |issue=1 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.1007/s10633-012-9353-y |pmid=23073702 }}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://michaelbach.de/index.html Homepage of Michael Bach]
* [https://www.uniklinik-freiburg.de/augenklinik/mit/bach.html Profile from the Homepage of the Freiburg University Eye Clinic]
* [https://www.gwup.org/who-is-who/1845-michael-bach Profile from the Homepage of GWUP], the German equivalent of The [[Skeptics Society]] and the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]]
* [https://michaelbach.de/ot/ Homepage of Bach's Visual Phenomena & Optical Illusions]
* [https://michaelbach.de/fract/index.htmlFreiburg Homepage of Bach's on-line tests of visual acuity (‘FrACT’)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Michael}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:20th-century German biologists]]
[[Category:21st-century German scientists]]
[[Category:German biophysicists]]
[[Category:German ophthalmologists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Freiburg]]
[[Category:Scientists from Berlin]]
[[Category:Vision scientists]]
[[Category:Optical illusions]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Erich Schröger

2025-01-02T09:12:40Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Replace dead link with one from archive.org

{{Short description|German neuroscientist (born 1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Erich Schröger
| image = Erich Schröger at the BioCog Retreat in Machern, Saxony, Germany, 6 Sep 2014.jpg
| caption = Erich Schröger, 2014
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|11 November 1958}}
| birth_place = [[Munich]], Germany
| fields = [[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[psychology]]
| workplaces = [[University of Leipzig]]
| alma_mater = [[Ludwig Maximilians University]]
| academic_advisors = {{unbulleted list
| Kurt Müller<ref name = Neurotree>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/peopleinfo.php?pid=9139|title = Neurotree - Erich Schröger}}</ref>
| [[Risto Näätänen]]<ref name = Neurotree />
| [[Wolfgang Prinz]]<ref name = Neurotree />}}
| awards = {{unbulleted list
| Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (1996)
| Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]] (the German Research Foundation, DFG, 2004-2011)
| Member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards (2012-)
| Named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world (2018)}}
}}
'''Erich Schröger''' (born 11 November 1958, in [[Munich]]) is a German [[psychologist]] and [[neuroscientist]].

==Biography==

Erich Schröger<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/schroger/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref> studied [[philosophy]] and [[psychology]] at the [[Munich School of Philosophy]] and at the [[Ludwig Maximilians University]] (LMU) in Munich. In 1982, he earned a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, in 1986 he earned a Diploma in Psychology, and in 1991 he was awarded a PhD from the LMU for his work on [[Subjective constancy|loudness constancy]].<ref>Schröger, E. (1991). Konstanz und Lautheit. Zur Wirkung von Entfernung und Einstellung auf die Lautstärkebeurteilung. Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref> After research stays at the Cognitive Brain Research unit of the [[University of Helsinki]] (Finland) and a stint of teaching at the [[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]] (Germany), Schröger achieved his Habilitation in psychology in 1996 at LMU.

In 1997, Schröger was appointed to the [[University of Leipzig]] as a professor of [[Biological Psychology]]. Since 2001 he has held its Chair of [[Cognitive Psychology|Cognitive]]<ref>Schröger, E., & Koelsch, S. (Hrsg.). (2013). Kognitive und Affektive Neurowissenschaften: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Serie II: Kognition, Band 9). Göttingen: Hogrefe.</ref><ref>Kaernbach, C., Schröger, E., & Müller, H. J. (Hrsg.). (2004). Psychophysics beyond sensation: laws and invariants of human cognition. Erlbaum: Hilsdale, NJ.</ref> and Biological Psychology<ref>Schröger, E. (2010). Biologische Psychologie. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.</ref> and has been the Head of the research group BioCog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/|title = Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie}}</ref> In 2017, Schröger became Vice Rector for Research and Young Academics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/de/mitarbeiter/schroger/schroger-cv-en/|title = Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger}}</ref>

From 1999 to 2002, Schröger served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty for Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. From 2014 to 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty. Schröger's other service roles at the university include: from 2002 to 2004, Director of the Institute for General Psychology; from 2003 to 2004, Head of the Psychological Institutes; in 2005 and from 2010 to 2013, Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology.

==Research==

Schröger's main fields of research include [[perception]],<ref>Schröger, E., Kaernbach, C., & Schönwiesner, M. (2002). Auditive Wahrnehmung und multisensorische Verarbeitung. In J. Müsseler & W. Prinz (Hrsg.), Allgemeine Psychologie (S. 66-114). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.</ref> [[attention]],<ref>Näätänen, R., Alho, K., & Schröger, E. (2002). Electrophysiology of Attention. In H. Pashler & J. Wixted (Eds.), Steven´s Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition Volume Four: Methodology in Experimental Psychology (pp. 601-653). John Wiley: New York.</ref> and [[memory]].<ref>Schröger, E., Mecklinger, A., & Pollmann, S. (Hrsg.). (2004). Special issue: working memory and cognition. Experimental Psychology, 51(4).</ref> He usually works in [[audition]],<ref>Grimm, S., Roeber, U., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Schröger, E. (2006). Mechanisms for detecting auditory temporal and spectral deviations operate over similar time windows but are divided differently between the two hemispheres. Neuroimage, 32(1), 275-282.</ref><ref>Richter, N., Schröger, E., & Rübsamen, R. (in press). Differences in evoked potentials during the active processing of sound location and motion. Neuropsychologia.</ref><ref>Weise, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, D., & Schröger, E. (2012). Which kind of transition is important for sound representation? An event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1464, 30-42.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., & Roeber, U. (2007). Processing of abstract rule violations in audition. PLoS One, 2(11), e1131.</ref> but he also investigates visual<ref>Kimura, M., Kondo, H., Ohira, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Unintentional Temporal Context-Based Prediction of Emotional Faces: An Electrophysiological Study. Cerebral Cortex, 22(8), 1774-1785.</ref><ref>Müller, D., Winkler, I., Roeber, U., Schaffer, S., Czigler, I., & Schröger, E. (2010). Visual object representations can be formed outside the focus of voluntary attention: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1179-1188.</ref><ref>Roeber, U., Widmann, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N. J., Herrmann, C. S., O'Shea, R. P., & Schröger, E. (2008). Early correlates of visual awareness in the human brain: time and place from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 21, 1-12.</ref> and multimodal<ref>Bendixen, A., Grimm, S., Deouell, L. Y., Wetzel, N., Mädebach, A., & Schröger, E. (2010). The time-course of auditory and visual distraction effects in a new crossmodal paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2130-2139.</ref><ref>Saupe, K., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Müller, M. M., & Schröger, E. (2009). Effects of intermodal attention on the auditory steady-state response and the event-related potential. Psychophysiology, 46(2), 321-327.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., & Widmann, A. (1998). Speeded responses to audiovisual signal changes result from bimodal integration. Psychophysiology, 35(6), 755-759.</ref><ref>Eimer, M., & Schröger, E. (1998). ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention. Psychophysiology, 35(3), 313-327.</ref> mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention by changes of task-irrelevant stimulus information.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1998). Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of task-irrelevant sound change: a new distraction paradigm. Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 7(1), 71-87.</ref> Contributing to the work of the Finnish psychologist [[Risto Näätänen]], Schröger has described important processes on which the detection of violations in regular stimulus sequences is based.<ref>Schröger, E. (1997). On the detection of auditory deviations: a pre-attentive activation model. Psychophysiology, 34(3), 245-257.</ref> For example, he was able to show that such automatic change detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.<ref>Schröger, E., & Wolff, C. (1996). Mismatch response of the human brain to changes in sound location. NeuroReport, 7(18), 3005-3008.</ref><ref>Jacobsen, T., & Schröger, E. (2001). Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch? Psychophysiology, 38(4), 723-727.</ref> Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History<ref>Wontorra, M., Meischner-Metge, A., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) und die Anfänge der Experimentellen Psychologie [Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the rise of experimental psychology]. Retrieved October 28th, 2011, from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/viewerz.htm. (CD: {{ISBN|3-00-013477-8}} ed.).</ref><ref>Wontorra, M., Kästner, I., & Schröger, E. (Eds.). (2011, September). Wilhelm M. Wundts Briefwechsel [Letters to and from Wilhelm M. Wundt]. Leipzig, Germany: Institut für Psychologie der Universität Leipzig. Retrieved from http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~wundtbriefe/.</ref> and Methods of Psychology.<ref>Schubö, W., Perleth, C., Schröger, E., & Sierwald, W. (1991). SPSS kompakt für die Versionen 3 und 4. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.</ref><ref>Schubö, W., Piesbergen, C., Brodbeck, F., Rauh, R., & Schröger, E. (1989). Einführung in die Statistik: Wahrscheinlichkeit und Hypothesenprüfung. München: Oldenbourg.</ref><ref>Schröger, E., Rauh, R., & Schubö, W. (1993). Probability functions of Minkowski distances between discrete random variables. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 379-398.</ref><ref>Widmann, A., & Schröger, E. (2012). Filter effects and filter artifacts in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 233.</ref>

As of April 2022, Schröger had published more than 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and books<ref>BioCog (2022). Erich Schröger publications. Retrieved from http://home.uni-leipzig.de/biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/.</ref> and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations.

==Grants==

Schröger has received more than 15 grants from [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]] (DFG),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/wilhelm-wundt-institut-fuer-psychologie/arbeitsgruppen/kognitive-und-biologische-psychologie|title=Universität Leipzig: Kognitive und Biologische Psychologie|website=www.lw.uni-leipzig.de|accessdate=10 April 2023}}</ref> more than five grants from the [[German Academic Exchange Service|DAAD]],<ref name="auto"/> and several EU-projects.

In December 2008, Schröger won a one-million-Euro, five-year [[Reinhart Koselleck]] Project Grant by the DFG.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/pressemitteilung_nr_70/index.html|title = Mehr Freiraum für Risiko: DFG fördert erste Reinhart Koselleck-Projekte}}</ref> The main research issue of this project was the mechanism of predictive modeling in audition. Specifically, Schröger investigated how automatic predictions about upcoming auditory events can be generated on the basis of regular environmental stimulation.<ref>Bendixen, A., SanMiguel, I., & Schröger, E. (2012). Early electrophysiological indicators for predictive processing in audition: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 83(2), 120-131.</ref><ref>Pieszek, M., Widmann, A., Gruber, T., & Schröger, E. (2013). The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions. PLoS One, 8, e53634.</ref> Due to this mechanism, for example, incoming acoustic stimuli can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language or localizing moving sounds. Likewise, the specific processing of self-induced auditory stimuli—stimuli that a person creates by means of its own behavior—can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling.<ref>Timm, J., SanMiguel, I., Saupe, K., & Schröger, E. (2013). The N1-suppression effect for self-initiated sounds is independent of attention. BMC Neuroscience, 14(1), 2.</ref> In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal.<ref>SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633– 8639.</ref>

==Honours==

For his scientific work, Schröger received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career – Contribution to Psychophysiology from the [[Society for Psychophysiological Research]] (SPR). From 2004 to 2011, he was a Fellow of the Review Board for Psychology within the DFG,<ref>Weber, H., & Schröger, E. (2012). Kostbares Gut: Forschungsförderung durch die DFG. Forschung und Lehre, 1, 30-32.</ref><ref>Brähler, E., Brüggemann, A., Brunstein, J. C., Diehl, M., Erdfelder, E., Kirschbaum, C., Lindenberger, U., Schröger, E., Sonnentag, S., Ulrich, R., & Weber, H. (2011). Bericht des Fachkollegiums Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und der DFG-Geschäftsstelle Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(4), 248-253.</ref> Since 2012 he has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]] research awards.

In January 2018, Schröger was named among the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.<ref>The Best Schools. (2018). The 50 most influential living psychologists in the world. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175411/https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-psychologists-world/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/ Universität Leipzig - BioCog: Erich Schröger]
* [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biocog/content/schroger-en/schroger-pub-en/ Publications: Erich Schröger]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroger, Erich}}
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:German psychologists]]
[[Category:German neuroscientists]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Neurotree

2024-11-29T10:19:24Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Tools */ Updated number of steps and connections needed to make the link work

[[File:IsaacNewtonGenealogy 2019-09-13 at 15.11.27.png|thumb|300x300px|An example of part of an academic genealogy, a family tree, from Academic Family Tree (in this case from the Physics Tree), of four generations of [[Isaac Newton]]'s academic ancestors and two generations of his academic descendants]]

'''Academic Family Tree''', which began as '''Neurotree''', is an online [[database]] for [[academic genealogy]], containing numerous "family trees" of academic disciplines. Neurotree was established in 2005 as a family tree of [[neuroscientist]]s. Later that year Academic Family Tree incorporated Neurotree and family trees of other scholarly disciplines.

Unlike a conventional [[genealogy]] or [[family tree]], in which connections among individuals are from [[kinship]] (e.g., parents to children), connections in Academic Family Tree are from [[Mentorship|mentoring relationships]], usually among [[Faculty (academic staff)|people working in academic settings]] (e.g., doctoral supervisors to students).

Academic Family Tree has been used as sources of information for the history and prospects of academic fields such as psychology,<ref name="Marsh2017">{{cite journal |last=Marsh |first=E. J. |year=2017 |title=Family matters: Measuring impact through one's academic descendants |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |volume=12 |issue=6 |pages=1130–1132 |doi=10.1177/1745691617719759 |pmid=29149581 |s2cid=44835903 }}</ref> meteorology,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hart |first1=R. E. |last2=Cossuth |first2=J. H. |year=2013 |title=A family tree of tropical meteorology's academic community and its proposed expansion |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |volume=94 |issue=12 |pages=1837–1848 |doi=10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00110.1 |bibcode=2013BAMS...94.1837H |doi-access=free }}</ref> organizational communication,<ref name = D'Urso&2017>{{cite book |last1=D'Urso |first1=S. C. |last2=Fyke |first2=J. P. |year=2017 |chapter=Genealogy of the field |title=The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1002/9781118955567.wbieoc086 |isbn=9781118955604 }}</ref> and neuroscience.<ref name="David&2012">{{cite journal |last1=David |first1=S. V. |last2=Hayden |first2=B. Y. |year=2012 |title=Neurotree: A collaborative, graphical database of the academic genealogy of neuroscience |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=e46608 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0046608 |pmid=23071595 |pmc=3465338 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...746608D |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Patterson |first=M. M. |year=2011 |title=Two streams make a river: The rabbit in Richard F. Thompson's laboratory |journal=Neurobiology of Learning and Memory |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=106–110 |doi=10.1016/j.nlm.2010.11.005 |pmid=21111838 |s2cid=34956906 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Soltesz |first=I. |year=2011 |title=The Brain Prize 2011: From microcircuit organization to constellations of brain rhythms |journal=Trends in Neurosciences |volume=34 |issue=10 |pages=501–503 |doi=10.1016/j.tins.2011.08.006 |pmid=21917323 |pmc=3392082 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=G. P. |year=2011 |title=Stephen C. Woods: A precocious scientist |journal=Physiology & Behavior |volume=103 |issue=1 |pages=4–9 |doi=10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.12.027 |pmid=21232549 |s2cid=23118278 }}</ref> It has been used to address [[infometrics]],<ref name=Marsh2017 /><ref name=David&2012 /> to research issues of scientific methodology,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tebaykin |first1=D. |last2=Tripathy |first2=S. J. |last3=Binnion |first3=N. |last4=Li |first4=B. |last5=Gerkin |first5=R. C. |last6=Pavlidis |first6=P. |year=2017 |title=Modeling sources of inter-laboratory variability in electrophysiological properties of mammalian neurons |journal=Journal of Neurophysiology |volume=119 |issue=4 |pages=1329–1339 |doi=10.1152/jn.00604.2017 |pmid=29357465 |pmc=5966732 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and to examine mentor characteristics that predict mentee academic success.<ref name="Liénardet2018">{{cite journal|last1=Liénard|first1=Jean F.
|last2=Achakulvisut|first2=Titipat
|last3=Acuna|first3=Daniel E.
|last4=David|first4=Stephen V.
|title=Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers |journal=Nature Communications |date=2018 |volume=9 |issue=4840 |page=4840
|doi=10.1038/s41467-018-07034-y |doi-access=free|pmid=30482900
|pmc=6258699|bibcode=2018NatCo...9.4840L
}}</ref>

==Functioning and scope==

The founders of the initial trees, including Neurotree, populated them from published sources, such as [[ProQuest]]. Later, they set up discipline-specific family trees of Academic Family Tree to be volunteer-run; accuracy is maintained by a group of volunteer editors. Hierarchical connections between mentors ("parents") and mentees ("children") are defined as any meaningful mentoring relationship (research assistant, graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or research scientist). Continuous records extend well into the Middle Ages and earlier.

As of 29 September 2023, Academic Family Tree contained 871,361 people with 882,278 connections among them.<ref name = "AFT">{{cite web |title=Participating fields |url=https://academictree.org | website=The Academic Family Tree |access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref>

Academic Family Tree encompasses a broad range of discipline-specific trees. As of 29 September 2023, there were 73 trees spanning science (e.g., [[human genetics]], [[microbiology]], and [[psychology]]), [[mathematics]] and [[philosophy]], [[engineering]], the [[humanities]] (e.g., [[economics]], [[law]], [[theology]], and [[music]]), and business (e.g., [[organizational communication]] and [[advertising]]).<ref name="AFT" />

All trees within Academic Family Tree are closely linked. A search for a person in one tree gives hits from all trees in Academic Family Tree.

The data in Academic Family Tree are owned by the nonprofit academictree.org, but they are shared under the Creative Commons License ([[Creative Commons license|CC-BY 3.0]]). This means a person may use the data in any tree for any purpose as long as the source is cited.<ref name="AFT" />

==Tools==
All trees under Academic Family Tree have a set of tools similar to those of conventional genealogy applications.<ref name = D'Urso&2017 /><ref name="David&2012" /> One is ''Distance'' that allows a user to enter two scholars' names and to determine the number of [[Six degrees of separation|degrees of separation]] between the two. For example, the number of degrees of academic separation between Isaac Newton and [[Marie Curie]] is 9 (including research assistantships, postdoctoral positions, and research scientist positions).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://academictree.org/physics/distance.php?username=guest&sessionid=&refresh=1&search1=Marie++Skłodowska+Curie&pid1=51878&search2=Isaac++Newton&pid2=24747&includera=1&includepd=1&includers=1&backonly=1&Update=Find+Connection |title=Connection from Marie Skłodowska Curie to Isaac Newton |work=Academic Tree |access-date=November 29, 2024}}</ref>

==History==
Neurotree was founded in January 2005<ref name="AFTAbout">{{cite web |title=About The Academic Family Tree |website=Academic Family Tree |url = https://academictree.org/about.php|access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref> by Stephen V. David, then an assistant professor in the Oregon Hearing Research Center<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/ent/research/oregon-hearing-research-center/|title=Oregon Hearing Research Center|website=Oregon Health & Science University}}</ref> of [[Oregon Health and Science University]], and by Benjamin Y. Hayden, an assistant professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Center for Visual Science, [[University of Rochester]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rochester.edu/news/experts/faculty-experts/benjamin-hayden/ |title=Benjamin Hayden {{!}} Experts Database |website=www.rochester.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329040424/http://www.rochester.edu/news/experts/faculty-experts/benjamin-hayden/ |archive-date=2016-03-29}} </ref> David and Hayden founded Academic Family Tree soon after founding Neurotree.<ref name=AFTAbout />

In November 2014, David received funding for Neurotree from the Metaknowledge Network.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knowledgelab.org/news/detail/1.4_million_in_grants_awarded_to_metaknowledge_projects|title=1.4 Million in Grants Awarded to Metaknowledge Projects – Knowledge Lab – The University of Chicago|website=www.knowledgelab.org}} {{dead link|date=October 2024}}</ref> In November 2016, David received funding for Academic Family Tree from the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) SciSIP Program.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1646635|title=NSF Award Search: Award # 1646635 - EAGER: The impact of mentorship networks on academic research}}</ref> In July 2019, David again received funding for Neurotree from the NSF.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1933675&HistoricalAwards=false| title=NSF Award Search: Award # 1933675 - Collaborative Research: Social dynamics of knowledge transfer through scientific mentorship and publication }}</ref>

Marsh (2017) pointed out that information for Neurotree and Academic Family Tree is provided by volunteers and it is not formally [[peer-review]]ed.<ref name=Marsh2017 /> She cautioned that this can mean their information is inaccurate.<ref name=Marsh2017 />

===Relation to other academic genealogies===
One other notable discipline-specific academic genealogy is the [[Mathematics Genealogy Project]].<ref name=MGP>{{cite web|url=https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu|title=Welcome! - The Mathematics Genealogy Project|website=www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu}}</ref> Academic Family Tree has its own mathematics tree, MathTree<ref name = MathTree>{{Cite web|url=https://academictree.org/math/|title=MathTree}}</ref> but it is much less complete than the Mathematics Genealogy Project. As of 29 September 2023, MathTree contained 35,817 people<ref name = MathTree /> whereas the Mathematics Genealogy Project contained 297,268 people.<ref name=MGP />

One other general academic genealogy was PhD Tree.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phdtree.org/|title=PhDTree: academic genealogy & family tree|date=8 June 2017|url-status=deviated|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608194545/http://phdtree.org/|archive-date=8 June 2017}}</ref> PhD Tree ceased functioning some time after June 2017.

==See also==
*[[Mathematics Genealogy Project]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://academictree.org Academic Family Tree]

[[Category:Projects established in 2005]]
[[Category:Neuroscience projects]]
[[Category:History of neuroscience]]
[[Category:Historiography of science]]
[[Category:History of science]]

Neurotree

2024-10-28T04:00:31Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added link for mentoring relationships

[[File:IsaacNewtonGenealogy 2019-09-13 at 15.11.27.png|thumb|300x300px|An example of part of an academic genealogy, a family tree, from Academic Family Tree (in this case from the Physics Tree), of four generations of [[Isaac Newton]]'s academic ancestors and two generations of his academic descendants]]

'''Academic Family Tree''', which began as '''Neurotree''', is an online [[database]] for [[academic genealogy]], containing numerous "family trees" of academic disciplines. Neurotree was established in 2005 as a family tree of [[neuroscientist]]s. Later that year Academic Family Tree incorporated Neurotree and family trees of other scholarly disciplines.

Unlike a conventional [[genealogy]] or [[family tree]], in which connections among individuals are from [[kinship]] (e.g., parents to children), connections in Academic Family Tree are from [[Mentorship|mentoring relationships]], usually among [[Faculty (academic staff)|people working in academic settings]] (e.g., doctoral supervisors to students).

Academic Family Tree has been used as sources of information for the history and prospects of academic fields such as psychology,<ref name="Marsh2017">{{cite journal |last=Marsh |first=E. J. |year=2017 |title=Family matters: Measuring impact through one's academic descendants |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |volume=12 |issue=6 |pages=1130–1132 |doi=10.1177/1745691617719759 |pmid=29149581 |s2cid=44835903 }}</ref> meteorology,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hart |first1=R. E. |last2=Cossuth |first2=J. H. |year=2013 |title=A family tree of tropical meteorology's academic community and its proposed expansion |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |volume=94 |issue=12 |pages=1837–1848 |doi=10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00110.1 |bibcode=2013BAMS...94.1837H |doi-access=free }}</ref> organizational communication,<ref name = D'Urso&2017>{{cite book |last1=D'Urso |first1=S. C. |last2=Fyke |first2=J. P. |year=2017 |chapter=Genealogy of the field |title=The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1002/9781118955567.wbieoc086 |isbn=9781118955604 }}</ref> and neuroscience.<ref name="David&2012">{{cite journal |last1=David |first1=S. V. |last2=Hayden |first2=B. Y. |year=2012 |title=Neurotree: A collaborative, graphical database of the academic genealogy of neuroscience |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=e46608 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0046608 |pmid=23071595 |pmc=3465338 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...746608D |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Patterson |first=M. M. |year=2011 |title=Two streams make a river: The rabbit in Richard F. Thompson's laboratory |journal=Neurobiology of Learning and Memory |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=106–110 |doi=10.1016/j.nlm.2010.11.005 |pmid=21111838 |s2cid=34956906 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Soltesz |first=I. |year=2011 |title=The Brain Prize 2011: From microcircuit organization to constellations of brain rhythms |journal=Trends in Neurosciences |volume=34 |issue=10 |pages=501–503 |doi=10.1016/j.tins.2011.08.006 |pmid=21917323 |pmc=3392082 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=G. P. |year=2011 |title=Stephen C. Woods: A precocious scientist |journal=Physiology & Behavior |volume=103 |issue=1 |pages=4–9 |doi=10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.12.027 |pmid=21232549 |s2cid=23118278 }}</ref> It has been used to address [[infometrics]],<ref name=Marsh2017 /><ref name=David&2012 /> to research issues of scientific methodology,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tebaykin |first1=D. |last2=Tripathy |first2=S. J. |last3=Binnion |first3=N. |last4=Li |first4=B. |last5=Gerkin |first5=R. C. |last6=Pavlidis |first6=P. |year=2017 |title=Modeling sources of inter-laboratory variability in electrophysiological properties of mammalian neurons |journal=Journal of Neurophysiology |volume=119 |issue=4 |pages=1329–1339 |doi=10.1152/jn.00604.2017 |pmid=29357465 |pmc=5966732 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and to examine mentor characteristics that predict mentee academic success.<ref name="Liénardet2018">{{cite journal|last1=Liénard|first1=Jean F.
|last2=Achakulvisut|first2=Titipat
|last3=Acuna|first3=Daniel E.
|last4=David|first4=Stephen V.
|title=Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers |journal=Nature Communications |date=2018 |volume=9 |issue=4840 |page=4840
|doi=10.1038/s41467-018-07034-y |doi-access=free|pmid=30482900
|pmc=6258699|bibcode=2018NatCo...9.4840L
}}</ref>

==Functioning and scope==

The founders of the initial trees, including Neurotree, populated them from published sources, such as [[ProQuest]]. Later, they set up discipline-specific family trees of Academic Family Tree to be volunteer-run; accuracy is maintained by a group of volunteer editors. Hierarchical connections between mentors ("parents") and mentees ("children") are defined as any meaningful mentoring relationship (research assistant, graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or research scientist). Continuous records extend well into the Middle Ages and earlier.

As of 29 September 2023, Academic Family Tree contained 871,361 people with 882,278 connections among them.<ref name = "AFT">{{cite web |title=Participating fields |url=https://academictree.org | website=The Academic Family Tree |access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref>

Academic Family Tree encompasses a broad range of discipline-specific trees. As of 29 September 2023, there were 73 trees spanning science (e.g., [[human genetics]], [[microbiology]], and [[psychology]]), [[mathematics]] and [[philosophy]], [[engineering]], the [[humanities]] (e.g., [[economics]], [[law]], [[theology]], and [[music]]), and business (e.g., [[organizational communication]] and [[advertising]]).<ref name="AFT" />

All trees within Academic Family Tree are closely linked. A search for a person in one tree gives hits from all trees in Academic Family Tree.

The data in Academic Family Tree are owned by the nonprofit academictree.org, but they are shared under the Creative Commons License ([[Creative Commons license|CC-BY 3.0]]). This means a person may use the data in any tree for any purpose as long as the source is cited.<ref name="AFT" />

==Tools==
All trees under Academic Family Tree have a set of tools similar to those of conventional genealogy applications.<ref name = D'Urso&2017 /><ref name="David&2012" /> One is ''Distance'' that allows a user to enter two scholars' names and to determine the number of [[Six degrees of separation|degrees of separation]] between the two. For example, the number of degrees of academic separation between Isaac Newton and [[Marie Curie]] is 11.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://academictree.org/physics/distance.php?username=guest&sessionid=&refresh=1&search1=Marie++Sk%C5%82odowska+Curie&pid1=51878&search2=Isaac++Newton&pid2=24747&includepd=1&Update=Find+Connection |title=Connection from Marie Skłodowska Curie to Isaac Newton |work=Academic Tree |access-date=October 15, 2024}}</ref>

==History==
Neurotree was founded in January 2005<ref name="AFTAbout">{{cite web |title=About The Academic Family Tree |website=Academic Family Tree |url = https://academictree.org/about.php|access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref> by Stephen V. David, then an assistant professor in the Oregon Hearing Research Center<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/ent/research/oregon-hearing-research-center/|title=Oregon Hearing Research Center|website=Oregon Health & Science University}}</ref> of [[Oregon Health and Science University]], and by Benjamin Y. Hayden, an assistant professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Center for Visual Science, [[University of Rochester]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rochester.edu/news/experts/faculty-experts/benjamin-hayden/ |title=Benjamin Hayden {{!}} Experts Database |website=www.rochester.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329040424/http://www.rochester.edu/news/experts/faculty-experts/benjamin-hayden/ |archive-date=2016-03-29}} </ref> David and Hayden founded Academic Family Tree soon after founding Neurotree.<ref name=AFTAbout />

In November 2014, David received funding for Neurotree from the Metaknowledge Network.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knowledgelab.org/news/detail/1.4_million_in_grants_awarded_to_metaknowledge_projects|title=1.4 Million in Grants Awarded to Metaknowledge Projects – Knowledge Lab – The University of Chicago|website=www.knowledgelab.org}} {{dead link|date=October 2024}}</ref> In November 2016, David received funding for Academic Family Tree from the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) SciSIP Program.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1646635|title=NSF Award Search: Award # 1646635 - EAGER: The impact of mentorship networks on academic research}}</ref> In July 2019, David again received funding for Neurotree from the NSF.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1933675&HistoricalAwards=false| title=NSF Award Search: Award # 1933675 - Collaborative Research: Social dynamics of knowledge transfer through scientific mentorship and publication }}</ref>

Marsh (2017) pointed out that information for Neurotree and Academic Family Tree is provided by volunteers and it is not formally [[peer-review]]ed.<ref name=Marsh2017 /> She cautioned that this can mean their information is inaccurate.<ref name=Marsh2017 />

===Relation to other academic genealogies===
One other notable discipline-specific academic genealogy is the [[Mathematics Genealogy Project]].<ref name=MGP>{{cite web|url=https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu|title=Welcome! - The Mathematics Genealogy Project|website=www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu}}</ref> Academic Family Tree has its own mathematics tree, MathTree<ref name = MathTree>{{Cite web|url=https://academictree.org/math/|title=MathTree}}</ref> but it is much less complete than the Mathematics Genealogy Project. As of 29 September 2023, MathTree contained 35,817 people<ref name = MathTree /> whereas the Mathematics Genealogy Project contained 297,268 people.<ref name=MGP />

One other general academic genealogy was PhD Tree.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phdtree.org/|title=PhDTree: academic genealogy & family tree|date=8 June 2017|url-status=deviated|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608194545/http://phdtree.org/|archive-date=8 June 2017}}</ref> PhD Tree ceased functioning some time after June 2017.

==See also==
*[[Mathematics Genealogy Project]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://academictree.org Academic Family Tree]

[[Category:Projects established in 2005]]
[[Category:Neuroscience projects]]
[[Category:History of neuroscience]]
[[Category:Historiography of science]]
[[Category:History of science]]

Neuenburg Castle (Freyburg)

2024-10-21T07:10:30Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Imported a Google-Translated version of the article from the German Wikipedia. Applied it to the first paragraph.

{{Infobox building
| name = Neuenburg Castle
| native_name = Schloss Neuenburg
| native_name_lang = German
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'''Neuenburg Castle''' ([[German language|German]]: ''Schloss Neuenburg'') is a [[hilltop castle]] in the south of the [[Germany|German]] state of [[Saxony-Anhalt]], on the spur-like foothills of a plateau above the eastern bank of the river [[Unstrut]]. Below the castle to the north lies the wine-growing town of [[Freyburg]], which in turn is about seven kilometers north of [[Naumburg (Saale)]]. The castle is a stop on the [[Romanesque Road]], a route through the state of significant cultural and historic sites.The castle is owned and managed by the Saxony-Anhalt Cultural Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kulturstiftung-st.de/en/castles-cathedrals/neuenburg-castle/ |website=KULTURSTIFTUNG SACHSEN-ANHALT |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>

The castle was built around 1090 by the [[Thuringia]]n count [[Louis the Springer|Ludwig der Springer]], securing his territory in the east, as did its sister castle [[Wartburg]] in the west.<ref>[http://www.schloss-neuenburg.de/English-Site.html#a1431] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308170642/http://www.schloss-neuenburg.de/English-Site.html |date=2011-03-08 }}</ref> The name Neuenburg derives from German for "new castle".

From 1656 until 1746 it was a secondary residence of the Dukes of [[Saxe-Weissenfels]].

[[File:Neuenburg2.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Bergfried]]'' known as ''Dicker Wilhelm'' (Fat William)]]
[[File:Neuenburg3.jpg|thumb|upright|Double chapel]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.transromanica.com/de/poi/?artikel=212 Page at Transromanica.com (German)]
* [https://www.strasse-der-romanik.net/südroute-2/ Website of ''Strasse der Romanik'' (German)]

{{coord|51|12|31|N|11|46|32|E|region:DE-ST_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki|display=title}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Castles in Saxony-Anhalt]]
[[Category:Romanesque Road]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Burgenlandkreis]]

{{Germany-castle-stub}}

William James

2024-10-20T05:42:30Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Fixed formatting error of inbox

{{Short description|American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist (1842–1910)}}
{{About|the philosopher and psychologist|other people with the same name}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| era = [[19th-century philosophy|19th-]]/[[20th-century philosophy]]
| image = William James b1842c.jpg
| caption = James in 1903
| alt = A black and white photograph of James
| name = William James
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1842|1|11}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1910|8|26|1842|1|11}}
| death_place = [[Tamworth, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| relatives = [[Henry James Sr.]] (father) [[Henry James]] (brother) [[Alice James]] (sister)
| alma_mater = [[Harvard University]] ([[Doctor of Medicine|MD]])
| institutions = Harvard University
| school_tradition = {{hlist | [[Pragmatism]] | [[functional psychology]] | [[radical empiricism]]}}
| main_interests = {{hlist | [[Pragmatism]] | [[psychology]] | [[philosophy of religion]] | [[epistemology]] | [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]]}}
| notable_ideas = {{hlist | [[Will to believe doctrine]] | [[crisis of self-surrender]] | [[pragmatic theory of truth]] | [[radical empiricism]] | [[James–Lange theory]] of emotion | [[psychologist's fallacy]] | [[ten percent of the brain myth|brain usage theory]] | [[soft determinism]] | dilemma of determinism | [[stream of consciousness]] | [[#James' theory of the self|James's theory of the self]] | the term ''[[multiverse]]''}}
| notable_students = {{hlist | [[Mary Whiton Calkins]] | [[Morris Raphael Cohen]] | [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] | [[G. Stanley Hall]] | [[Edwin Holt]] | [[Learned Hand]] | [[Horace Kallen]] | [[Walter Lippmann]] | [[Alain Locke]] | [[C. I. Lewis]] | [[Ralph Barton Perry]] | [[Theodore Roosevelt]] | [[George Santayana]] | [[Boris Sidis]] | [[Gertrude Stein]]}}
}}

'''William James''' (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a [[psychology]] course in the United States.<ref>T. L. Brink (2008). ''Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach''. [http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/TLBrink_PSYCH01.pdf "Unit One: The Definition and History of Psychology"]. p. 10.</ref> James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers of the [[United States]], and the "Father of American psychology."<ref>{{cite web |title=William James: Writings 1878–1899 |publisher=[[The Library of America]] |url=http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=65 |date=June 1, 1992 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=William James: Writings 1902–1910 |publisher=The Library of America |url=http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=66 |date=February 1, 1987 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Dr. Megan E. Bradley |title=William James |work=PSYography |publisher=Faculty.frostburg.edu |url=http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/williamjames.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124184737/http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/williamjames.html |access-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-date=November 24, 2014}}</ref>

Along with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], James established the philosophical school known as [[pragmatism]], and is also cited as one of the founders of [[functional psychology]]. A ''[[Review of General Psychology]]'' analysis, published in 2002, ranked James as the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haggbloom |first1=Steven J. |last2=Warnick |first2=Renee |last3=Warnick |first3=Jason E. |last4=Jones |first4=Vinessa K. |last5=Yarbrough |first5=Gary L. |last6=Russell |first6=Tenea M. |last7=Borecky |first7=Chris M. |last8=McGahhey |first8=Reagan |last9=Powell III |first9=John L. |last10=Beavers |first10=Jamie |last11=Monte |first11=Emmanuelle |year=2002 |display-authors=4 |title=The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=139–152 |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/eminent.aspx |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139 |s2cid=145668721}}</ref> A survey published in ''[[American Psychologist]]'' in 1991 ranked James's reputation in second place,<ref>J. H. Korn, R. Davis, S. F. Davis: "Historians' and chairpersons' judgements of eminence among psychologists". ''American Psychologist'', 1991, Volume 46, pp. 789–792.</ref> after [[Wilhelm Wundt]], who is widely regarded as the founder of experimental psychology.<ref name="plato.stanford.edu">[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-wundt/ "Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt"] in ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''.</ref><ref>Tom Butler-Bowdon: [https://books.google.com/books?id=wfjB9Blnk8kC ''50 Psychology Classics'']. Nicholas Brealey Publishing 2007. {{ISBN|1857884736}}. p. 2.</ref> James also developed the philosophical perspective known as [[radical empiricism]]. James's work has influenced philosophers and academics such as [[Alan Watts]],<ref>https://alanwatts.org/transcripts/turning-the-head-or-turning-on/</ref> [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], [[Edmund Husserl]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[Hilary Putnam]], and [[Richard Rorty]]. <ref name=SEP>{{cite encyclopedia |title=William James |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=[[Center for the Study of Language and Information]] (CSLI), [[Stanford University]] |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/ |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref>

Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the [[Swedenborgian]] theologian [[Henry James Sr.]] and the brother of both the prominent novelist [[Henry James]] and the diarist [[Alice James]]. James trained as a physician and taught anatomy at Harvard, but never practiced medicine. Instead, he pursued his interests in psychology and then philosophy. He wrote widely on many topics, including [[epistemology]], education, [[metaphysics]], [[psychology]], religion, and [[mysticism]]. Among his most influential books are ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology; ''[[Essays in Radical Empiricism]]'', an important text in philosophy; and ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'', an investigation of different forms of [[religious experience]], including theories on [[mind-cure]].<ref name=James>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=2009 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=74–120 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

== Early life ==
[[File:Houghton MS Am 1092 (1185) - William James in Brazil, 1865.jpg|thumb|upright|right|William James in Brazil, 1865]]

William James was born at the [[Astor House]] in New York City on January 11, 1842. He was the son of [[Henry James Sr.]], a noted and independently wealthy [[Swedenborgian]] theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable [[Epistolary novel|epistolary]] talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics.

William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged [[cosmopolitanism]]. The family made two trips to Europe while William James was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. James wished to pursue painting, his early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of [[William Morris Hunt]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], but his father urged him to become a physician instead. Since this did not align with James's interests, he stated that he wanted to specialize in physiology. Once he figured this was also not what he wanted to do, he then announced he was going to specialize in the nervous system and psychology. James then switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the [[Lawrence Scientific School]] of [[Harvard College]].

In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also [[tone deafness|tone deaf]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sacks |first=Oliver |year=2008 |title=Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |pages=xiii |isbn=978-1-4000-3353-9}}</ref>
He was subject to a variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as [[neurasthenia]], and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson ([[Wilkie James|Wilkie]]) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the American [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. James himself was an advocate of peace. He suggested that instead of youth serving in the military that they serve the public in a term of service, "to get the childishness knocked out of them." The other three siblings (William,{{explain|reason=William James had a sibling named William James???|date=April 2024}} Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of [[invalidism]].{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

He took up medical studies at [[Harvard Medical School]] in 1864 (according to his brother [[Henry James]], the author). He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist [[Louis Agassiz]] on a scientific expedition up the [[Amazon River]], but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe [[seasickness]] and mild [[smallpox]]. His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he began to publish; reviews of his works appeared in literary periodicals such as the ''[[North American Review]]''.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

James finally earned his [[Medical Doctor|MD]] degree in June 1869 but he never practiced medicine. What he called his "soul-sickness" would only be resolved in 1872, after an extended period of philosophical searching. He married Alice Gibbens in 1878. In 1882 he joined the [[Theosophical Society]].<ref>Antony Lysy, "William James, Theosophist", ''The Quest'' Volume 88, number 6, November–December 2000.</ref>

James's time in Germany proved intellectually fertile, helping him find that his true interests lay not in medicine but in philosophy and psychology. Later, in 1902 he would write: "I originally studied medicine in order to be a physiologist, but I drifted into psychology and philosophy from a sort of fatality. I never had any philosophic instruction, the first lecture on psychology I ever heard being the first I ever gave".<ref>[[Ralph Barton Perry]], ''The Thought and Character of William James'', vol. 1, (1935), 1996 edition: {{ISBN|0-8265-1279-8}}, p. 228.</ref>

== Career ==
He interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], his godson [[William James Sidis]], as well as [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Josiah Royce]], [[Ernst Mach]], [[John Dewey]], [[Macedonio Fernández]], [[Walter Lippmann]], [[Mark Twain]], [[Horatio Alger]], [[G. Stanley Hall]], [[Henri Bergson]], [[Carl Jung]], [[Jane Addams]] and [[Sigmund Freud]].

James spent almost all of his academic career at Harvard. He was appointed instructor in [[physiology]] for the spring 1873 term, instructor in [[anatomy]] and physiology in 1873, assistant professor of psychology in 1876, assistant [[Harvard University Department of Philosophy|professor of philosophy]] in 1881, full professor in 1885, endowed chair in psychology in 1889, return to philosophy in 1897, and emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907.

James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology was constituting itself as a science. James's acquaintance with the work of figures like [[Hermann Helmholtz]] in Germany and [[Pierre Janet]] in France facilitated his introduction of courses in scientific psychology at [[Harvard University]]. He taught his first [[experimental psychology]] course at Harvard in the 1875–1876 academic year.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Duane P. Schultz |author2=Sydney Ellen Schultz |date=March 22, 2007 |title=A History of Modern Psychology |publisher=Cengage Learning |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ge36EniJWwQC&pg=PA185 |pages=185– |isbn=978-0-495-09799-0}}</ref>

During his Harvard years, James joined in philosophical discussions and debates with [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles Peirce]], [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]], and [[Chauncey Wright]] that evolved into a lively group informally known as [[The Metaphysical Club]] in 1872. [[Louis Menand]] (2001) suggested that this Club provided a foundation for American intellectual thought for decades to come. James joined the [[American Anti-Imperialist League|Anti-Imperialist League]] in 1898, in opposition to the United States annexation of the Philippines.

[[File:WilliamJames JosiahRoyce ca1910 Harvard.png|thumb|William James and [[Josiah Royce]], near James's country home in Chocorua, New Hampshire in September 1903. James's daughter Peggy took the picture. On hearing the camera click, James cried out: "Royce, you're being photographed! Look out! I say ''Damn the Absolute!"'']]

Among James's students at Harvard University were [[Boris Sidis]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[George Santayana]], [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], [[G. Stanley Hall]], [[Ralph Barton Perry]], [[Gertrude Stein]], [[Horace Kallen]], [[Morris Raphael Cohen]], [[Walter Lippmann]], [[Alain Locke]], [[C. I. Lewis]], and [[Mary Whiton Calkins]]. Antiquarian bookseller [[Gabriel Wells]] tutored under him at Harvard in the late 1890s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Barbara |title=A History of and Guide to Uniform Editions of Mark Twain's Works |publisher=twainquotes.com |url=http://www.twainquotes.com/UniformEds/UniformEdsCh29.html |access-date=October 1, 2014}}</ref>

His students enjoyed his brilliance and his manner of teaching was free of personal arrogance. They remember him for his kindness and humble attitude. His respectful attitude towards them speaks well of his character.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thorndike |first=Edward |year=1910 |title=Communications and discussions: William James |journal=Journal of Educational Psychology |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=473–474 |doi=10.1037/h0075718}}</ref>

Following his January 1907 retirement from Harvard, James continued to write and lecture, publishing ''Pragmatism'', ''A Pluralistic Universe'', and ''The Meaning of Truth''. James was increasingly afflicted with cardiac pain during his last years. It worsened in 1909 while he worked on a philosophy text (unfinished but posthumously published as ''Some Problems in Philosophy'').

James sailed to Europe in the spring of 1910 to take experimental treatments for his heart ailment that proved unsuccessful, and returned home on August 18. His heart failed on August 26, 1910, at his home in [[Chocorua, New Hampshire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capps |first=Donald |date=October 23, 2015 |title=The Religious Life: The Insights of William James |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxLsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |via=Google Books |isbn=978-1-4982-1994-5}}</ref>
He was buried in the family plot in Cambridge Cemetery, [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].

He was one of the strongest proponents of the school of [[Functional psychology|functionalism]] in psychology and of [[pragmatism]] in philosophy. He was a founder of the [[American Society for Psychical Research]], as well as a champion of alternative approaches to healing. In 1884 and 1885 he became president of the British Society for Psychical Research for which he wrote in ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'' and in the ''[[Psychological Review]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sommer |first=Andreas |date=April 1, 2012 |title=Psychical research and the origins of American psychology |journal=Hist Hum Sci |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.1177/0952695112439376 |pmc=3552602 |pmid=23355763}}</ref>
He challenged his professional colleagues not to let a narrow mindset prevent an honest appraisal of those beliefs.

In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. using six criteria such as citations and recognition, James was found to be the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Haggbloom, S. J. |year=2002 |display-authors=etal |title=The 100 Most Eminent Psychologists of the 20th Century |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=139–152 |url=http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000064/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429015400/http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000064/ |archive-date=April 29, 2006 |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139 |s2cid=145668721}}. Haggbloom ''et al.'' combined 3 quantitative variables: citations in professional journals, citations in textbooks, and nominations in a survey given to members of the [[Association for Psychological Science]], with 3 qualitative variables (converted to quantitative scores): [[National Academy of Sciences]] (NAS) membership, American Psychological Association (APA) President or recipient of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. Then the list was rank ordered.</ref>

== Family ==
William James was the son of Henry James (Senior) of Albany, and Mary Robertson Walsh. He had four siblings: [[Henry James|Henry]] (the novelist), Garth Wilkinson, Robertson, and [[Alice James|Alice]].<ref name=AMB>{{Cite AMB1920|wstitle=James, William}}</ref>
William became engaged to Alice Howe Gibbens on May 10, 1878; they were married on July 10. They had 5 children: [[Henry James (biographer)|Henry]] (May 18, 1879 – 1947), William (June 17, 1882 – 1961), Herman (1884, died in infancy), Margaret (March 1887 – 1950) and Alexander (December 22, 1890 – 1946).

Most of William James's ancestors arrived in America from Scotland or Ireland in the 18th century. Many of them settled in eastern New York or New Jersey. All of James's ancestors were Protestant, well educated, and of character. Within their communities, they worked as farmers, merchants, and traders who were all heavily involved with their church. The last ancestor to arrive in America was William James's paternal grandfather also named William James. He came to America from [[Ballyjamesduff]], County Cavan, Ireland in 1789 when he was 18 years old. There is suspicion that he fled to America because his family tried to force him into the ministry. After traveling to America with no money left, he found a job at a store as a clerk. After continuously working, he was able to own the store himself. As he traveled west to find more job opportunities, he was involved in various jobs such as the salt industry and the Erie Canal project. After being a significant worker in the Erie Canal project and helping Albany become a major center of trade, he then became the first vice-president of the Albany Savings Bank. William James (grandfather) went from being a poor Irish immigrant to one of the richest men in New York. After his death, his son Henry James inherited his fortune and lived in Europe and the United States searching for the meaning of life.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Of James' five children, two—Margaret and Alexander—are known to have had children. Descendants of Alexander are still living.

== Writings ==
William James wrote voluminously throughout his life. A non-exhaustive bibliography of his writings, compiled by [[John J. McDermott (philosopher)|John McDermott]], is 47 pages long.<ref>John J. McDermott, ''The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition'', University of Chicago Press, 1977 revised edition, {{ISBN|0-226-39188-4}}, pp. 812–58.</ref>

He gained widespread recognition with his monumental ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'' (1890), totaling twelve hundred pages in two volumes, which took twelve years to complete. ''Psychology: The Briefer Course'', was an 1892 abridgement designed as a less rigorous introduction to the field. These works criticized both the English [[associationist]] school and the [[Hegel]]ianism of his day as competing dogmatisms of little explanatory value, and sought to re-conceive the human mind as inherently purposive and selective.

[[President Jimmy Carter's Moral Equivalent of War Speech]], on April 17, 1977, equating the United States' [[1970s energy crisis]], oil crisis, and the changes and sacrifices Carter's proposed plans would require with the "moral equivalent of war", may have borrowed its title and much of its theme from James's classic essay "The Moral Equivalent of War" derived from his last speech, delivered at Stanford University in 1906, and published in 1910, in which "James considered one of the classic problems of politics: how to sustain political unity and civic virtue in the absence of war or a credible threat", and which "sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation".<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow_intro.htm William James' The Moral Equivalent of War Introduction by John Roland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216220326/https://www.constitution.org/wj/meow_intro.htm |date=December 16, 2019 }}. Constitution.org. Retrieved on August 28, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm William James' The Moral Equivalent of War – 1906] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526203149/https://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm |date=May 26, 2020 }}. Constitution.org. Retrieved on August 28, 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Harrison Ross Steeves |author2=Frank Humphrey Ristine |year=1913 |title=Representative essays in modern thought: a basis for composition |publisher=American Book Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/representativee01steegoog/page/n537 519]– |url=https://archive.org/details/representativee01steegoog |via=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Moral Equivalent of War |journal=McClure's Magazine |date=August 1910 |pages=463–468 |last1=James |first1=William }}</ref>

In simple terms, his philosophy and writings can be understood as an emphasis on "fruits over roots," a reflection of his pragmatist tendency to focus on the practical consequences of ideas rather than become mired in unproductive metaphysical arguments or fruitless attempts to ground truth in abstract ways. Ever the empiricist, James believes we are better off evaluating the fruitfulness of ideas by testing them in the common ground of lived experience.<ref>Howard, Jeffrey (June 24, 2020). "The Power of One Idea,"[https://erraticus.co/2020/06/24/john-kaag-sick-souls-healthy-minds-william-james-pragmatism/] ''Erraticus''. Retrieved March 8, 2023.</ref>

James was remembered as one of America's representative thinkers, psychologist, and philosopher. William James was also an influential writer on religion, psychical research, and self-help.

== Epistemology ==
[[File:William James - John La Farge.jpg|thumb|Portrait of William James by [[John La Farge]], {{Circa|1859}}]]
James defined [[truth|true]] beliefs as those that prove useful to the believer. His [[pragmatic theory of truth]] was a synthesis of [[correspondence theory of truth]] and [[coherence theory of truth]], with an added dimension. Truth is verifiable to the extent that thoughts and statements correspond with actual things, as well as the extent to which they "hang together", or cohere, as pieces of a puzzle might fit together; these are in turn verified by the observed results of the application of an idea to actual practice.<ref name="PragTruth">James, William. 1907. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060715031834/http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/James/James_1907/James_1907_06.html Pragmatism's Conception of Truth]" (lecture 6). pp. 76–91 in ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking''. New York: [[Longman]] Green and Co. Archived from the [http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/James/James_1907/James_1907_06.html original] July 15, 2006.</ref><ref>"[[Pragmatic theory of truth|Pragmatic Theory of Truth]]." pp. 427–428 in ''[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' 6. London: [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]. 1969.</ref>{{Blockquote|text=The most ancient parts of truth … also once were plastic. They also were called true for human reasons. They also mediated between still earlier truths and what in those days were novel observations. Purely objective truth, truth in whose establishment the function of giving human satisfaction in marrying previous parts of experience with newer parts played no role whatsoever, is nowhere to be found. The reasons why we call things true is the reason why they are true, for "to be true" means only to perform this marriage-function.|author=|title="[[Pragmatic theory of truth|Pragmatism's Conception of Truth]]," ''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 83.|source=}}

James held a world view in line with [[pragmatism]], declaring that the value of any truth was utterly dependent upon its use to the person who held it. Additional tenets of James's pragmatism include the view that the world is a mosaic of diverse experiences that can only be properly interpreted and understood through an application of "[[radical empiricism]]". ''Radical empiricism'', not related to the everyday [[Empiricism|scientific empiricism]], asserts that the world and experience can never be halted for an entirely objective analysis; the mind of the observer and the act of observation affect any empirical approach to truth. The mind, its experiences, and nature are inseparable. James's emphasis on diversity as the default human condition—over and against duality, especially [[Hegelianism|Hegelian]] dialectical duality—has maintained a strong influence in American culture. James's description of the [[Mind-world relation|mind-world]] connection, which he described in terms of a "[[stream of consciousness (psychology)|stream of consciousness]]", had a direct and significant impact on [[avant-garde]] and [[modernist]] literature and art, notably in the case of [[James Joyce]].

In "What Pragmatism Means" (1906), James writes that the central point of his own doctrine of truth is, in brief:<ref name=":2">William James. 1907 [1906]. "[https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1907/James_1907_02.html What Pragmatism Means]" (lecture 2). pp. 17–32 in ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking''. New York: [[Longman]] Green and Co. via The Mead Project, [[Brock University]] (2007). [https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm Available] via [[Marxists Internet Archive|Marxist Internet Archive]] (2005).</ref>
<blockquote>Truths emerge from facts, but they dip forward into facts again and add to them; which facts again create or reveal new truth (the word is indifferent) and so on indefinitely. The "facts" themselves meanwhile are not true. They simply are. Truth is the function of the beliefs that start and terminate among them.</blockquote>[[Richard Rorty]] made the contested claim that James did not mean to give a theory of truth with this statement and that we should not regard it as such. However, other pragmatism scholars such as [[Susan Haack]] and Howard Mounce do not share Rorty's [[Instrumentalism|instrumentalist]] interpretation of James.<ref>{{cite book |author=H. O. Mounce |year=1997 |title=The two pragmatisms: from Peirce to Rorty |publisher=Psychology Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5dQRUqk3QUC |isbn=978-0-415-15283-9}}</ref>

In ''The Meaning of Truth'' (1909), James seems to speak of truth in relativistic terms, in reference to critics of pragmatism: "The critic's trouble … seems to come from his taking the word 'true' irrelatively, whereas the pragmatist always means 'true for him who experiences the workings.'"<ref>James, William. 1909. ''The Meaning of Truth''. New York: [[Longman]]s, Green, & Co. p. 177.</ref>
However, James responded to critics accusing him of [[relativism]], [[skepticism]], or agnosticism, and of believing only in relative truths. To the contrary, he supported an [[epistemological realism]] position.{{efn-lr|See his ''Defense of a Pragmatic Notion of Truth'', written to counter criticisms of his ''Pragmatism's Conception of Truth'' (1907) lecture.}}

=== Pragmatism and "cash value" ===
''[[Pragmatism]]'' is a philosophical approach that seeks to both define truth and resolve metaphysical issues. William James demonstrates an application of his method in the form of a simple story:<ref name="auto3">{{Cite book |last=Gunn |first=Giles |year=2000 |title=William James: Pragmatism and Other Writings |publisher=Penguin Group |pages=24–40}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> <blockquote>A live squirrel supposed to be clinging on one side of a tree-trunk; while over against the tree's opposite side a human being was imagined to stand. This human witness tries to get sight of the squirrel by moving rapidly round the tree, but no matter how fast he goes, the squirrel moves as fast in the opposite direction, and always keeps the tree between himself and the man, so that never a glimpse of him is caught. The resultant metaphysical problem now is this: ''Does the man go round the squirrel or not?''</blockquote>James solves the issue by making a distinction between ''practical'' meaning. That is, the distinction between meanings of "round". ''Round'' in the sense that the man occupies the space north, east, south, and west of the squirrel; and ''round'' in the sense that the man occupies the space facing the squirrel's belly, back and sides. Depending on what the debaters meant by "going round", the answer would be clear. From this example James derives the definition of the ''pragmatic method'': to settle metaphysical disputes, one must simply make a distinction of practical consequences between notions, then, the answer is either clear, or the "dispute is idle".<ref name="auto3" />

Both James and his colleague, [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], coined the term "[[cash value]]":<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burch |first=Robert |date=June 22, 2001 |title=Charles Sanders Peirce |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107072647/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/ |access-date=December 9, 2019 |archive-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref>
<blockquote>When he said that the whole meaning of a (clear) conception consists in the entire set of its practical consequences, he had in mind that a meaningful conception must have some sort of experiential "cash value," must somehow be capable of being related to some sort of collection of possible empirical observations under specifiable conditions.</blockquote>A statement's truthfulness is verifiable through its correspondence to reality, and its observable effects of putting the idea to practice. For example, James extends his Pragmatism to the hypothesis of God: "On pragmatic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true. … The problem is to build it out and determine it so that it will combine satisfactorily with all the other working truths."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gunn |first=Giles |year=2000 |title=William James: Pragmatism and Other Writings |publisher=Penguin Group |pages=119–132}}</ref>
From this, we also know that "new" truths must also correspond to already existent truths as well.

From the introduction by [[Bruce Kuklick]] (1981, p. xiv) to James's ''Pragmatism'':

<blockquote>James went on to apply the pragmatic method to the epistemological problem of truth. He would seek the meaning of "true" by examining how the idea functioned in our lives. A belief was true, he said, if it worked for all of us, and guided us expeditiously through our semihospitable world. James was anxious to uncover what true beliefs amounted to in human life, what their "cash value" was, and what consequences they led to. A belief was not a mental entity which somehow mysteriously corresponded to an external reality if the belief were true. Beliefs were ways of acting with reference to a precarious environment, and to say they were true was to say they were efficacious in this environment. In this sense the pragmatic theory of truth applied Darwinian ideas in philosophy; it made survival the test of intellectual as well as [[fitness (biology)|biological fitness]].</blockquote>

James's book of lectures on pragmatism is arguably the most influential book of [[American philosophy]]. The lectures inside depict his position on the subject. In his sixth lecture, he begins by defining truth as "agreement with reality".<ref name="PragTruth" /> With this, James warns that there will be disagreements between pragmatics and intellectualists over the concepts of "agreement" and "reality", the last reasoning before thoughts settle and become autonomous for us. However, he contrasts this by supporting a more practical interpretation that: a true idea or belief is one that we can blend with our thinking so that it can be justified through experiences.<ref name="IEP">{{cite web |last=Pomerleau |first=Wayne |title=William James (1842–1910) |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=IEP |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/james-o/ |access-date=April 28, 2018}}</ref>{{blockquote|If theological ideas prove to have a value for concrete life, they will be true, for pragmatism, in the sense of being good for so much. For how much more they are true, will depend entirely on their relations to the other truths that also have to be acknowledged.|''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 29}}

Whereby the agreement of truths with "reality" results in useful outcomes, "the 'reality' with which truths must agree has three dimensions":<ref name="IEP" /><ref name="SEP" />

# "matters of fact";
# "relations of ideas"; and
# "the entire set of other truths to which we are committed".

According to James's pragmatic approach to belief, knowledge is commonly viewed as a justified and true belief. James will accept a view if its conception of truth is analyzed and justified through interpretation, pragmatically. As a matter of fact, James's whole philosophy is of productive beliefs.

Belief in anything involves conceiving of how it is real, but disbelief is the result when we dismiss something because it contradicts another thing we think of as real. In his "Sentiment of Rationality", saying that crucial beliefs are not known is to doubt their truth, even if it seems possible. James names four "postulates of rationality" as valuable but unknowable: God, immorality, freedom, and moral duty.<ref name="IEP" /><ref>James, William. 1897 [1882] "The Sentiment of Rationality." ''The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy''. New York: [[Longman]]s, Green & Co.</ref>

In contrast, the weak side to pragmatism is that the best justification for a claim is whether it works. However, a claim that does not have outcomes cannot be justified, or unjustified, because it will not make a difference.

{{blockquote|"There can be no difference that doesn't make a difference."|''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 45|title=|source=}}

When James moves on to then state that pragmatism's goal is ultimately "to try to interpret each notion by tracing its respective practical consequences", he does not clarify what he means by "practical consequences."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=James |first=William |date=2000 |title=Pragmatism and other writings |orig-year=1842–1910 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-043735-5 |oclc=943305535}}</ref>
On the other hand, his friend, colleague, and another key founder in establishing pragmatist beliefs, [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles S. Peirce]], dives deeper in defining these consequences. For Peirce, "the consequences we are concerned with are ''general'' and ''intelligible''."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Legg |first=Catherine |date=March 14, 2019 |title=Pragmatism |website=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pragmatism/ |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
He further explains this in his 1878 paper "How to Make Ideas Clear," when he introduces a maxim that allows one to interpret consequences as grades of clarity and conception.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Atkin |first=Albert |title=Charles Sanders Peirce: Pragmatism |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/peircepr/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710194332/https://www.iep.utm.edu/PeircePr/ |access-date=December 8, 2019 |archive-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref>
Describing how everything is derived from perception, Peirce uses the example of the [[Transubstantiation|doctrine of transubstantiation]] to show exactly how he defines practical consequences. [[Protestants]] interpret the bread and wine of the [[Eucharist]] is flesh and blood in only a subjective sense, while [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] would label them as actual, and divinely mystical properties of flesh via the "body, blood, soul, and divinity", even with the physical properties remaining as bread and wine in appearance. But to everyone, there can be no knowledge of the wine and bread of the Eucharist unless it is established that either wine and bread possesses certain properties or that anything that is interpreted as the blood and body of Christ is the blood and body of Christ. With this Peirce declares that "our action has exclusive reference to what affects the senses", and that we can mean nothing by transubstantiation than "what has certain effects, direct or indirect, upon our senses."<ref>Peirce, Charles S. 1878. "'How to Make Our Ideas Clear." ''[[Popular Science]] Monthly''. — (excerpt). pp. 212–218 in ''An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century American Science Writing'', edited by C. R. Resetarits. Anthem Press. 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-85728-651-2}}. {{doi|10.7135/upo9780857286512.037}}</ref>
In this sense, James's pragmatic influencer Peirce establishes that what counts as a practical consequence or effect is what can affect one's senses and what is comprehensible and fathomable in the natural world.

"Yet James never worked out his understanding of 'practical consequences' as fully as Peirce did", nor does he limit these consequences to the senses as Peirce does.<ref name=":1" /> This raises the question: what does it mean to be practical? Whether James means the greatest number of positive consequences (in light of [[utilitarianism]]), a consequence that considers other perspectives (such as his compromise of the tender and tough ways of thinking),<ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=William |date=May 1, 2002 |title=Pragmatism |website=The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pragmatism |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5116/5116-h/5116-h.htm |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
or a completely different take altogether, it is unclear what consequences truly fit the pragmatic standard. The closest James comes to explaining this idea is by telling his audience to weigh the difference it would "practically make to anyone" if one opinion over the other were true, and although he attempts to clarify this, he never specifies the method by which one would weigh the difference between one opinion over the other.<ref name=":0" /> Thus, the flaw in his argument appears in that it is difficult to fathom how he would determine these practical consequences, which he continually refers to throughout his work, to be measured or interpreted. He has said that an opinion is correct that works for us humans in practice.

=== Will to believe doctrine ===
{{Main|The Will to Believe}}

In William James's 1896 lecture titled "The Will to Believe", James defends the right to violate the principle of [[evidentialism]] in order to justify hypothesis venturing. This idea foresaw 20th century objections to evidentialism and sought to ground justified belief in an unwavering principle that would prove more beneficial. Through his philosophy of [[pragmatism]] William James justifies religious beliefs by using the results of his hypothetical venturing as evidence to support the hypothesis's truth. Therefore, this doctrine allows one to assume belief in a god and prove its existence by what the belief brings to one's life.

This was criticized by advocates of [[skeptic]]ism rationality, like [[Bertrand Russell]] in [[Free Thought and Official Propaganda]] and [[Alfred Henry Lloyd]] with [[The Will to Doubt]]. Both argued that one must always adhere to [[fallibilism]], recognizing of all human knowledge that "None of our beliefs are quite true; all have at least a penumbra of vagueness and error", and that the only means of progressing ever-closer to the truth is to never assume certainty, but always examine all sides and try to reach a conclusion objectively.

== Free will ==
In his search for truth and assorted principles of psychology, William James developed his two-stage model of free will. In his model, he tries to explain how it is people come to the making of a decision and what factors are involved in it. He firstly defines our basic ability to choose as free will. Then he specifies our two factors as chance and choice. "James's two-stage model effectively separates chance (the in-deterministic free element) from choice (an arguably determinate decision that follows causally from one's character, values, and especially feelings and desires at the moment of decision)."<ref name="Bob Doyle 2011">Doyle, Bob. 2011. ''Free Will: the Scandal in Philosophy''. I-Phi Press. The Information Philosopher.</ref>

James argues that the question of free will revolves around "chance." The idea of chance is that some events are possibilities, things that could happen but are not guaranteed. ''Chance'' is a neutral term (it is, in this case, neither inherently positive nor "intrinsically irrational and preposterous," connotations it usually has); the only information it gives about the events to which it applies is that they are disconnected from other things – they are "not controlled, secured, or necessitated by other things" before they happen.<ref name="auto2">{{Project Gutenburg|26659|title=The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy|bullet=none|chapter=The Will to Believe|chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P1 |publisher=[[Longmans, Green & Co.]]|location=New York|author=James, William. 2009 [1887]}}, produced by A. Haines. </ref>
Chance is made possible regarding our actions because our amount of effort is subject to change. If the amount of effort we put into something is predetermined, our actions are predetermined.<ref name="auto">{{Project Gutenburg|57634|title=The Principles of Psychology|bullet=none|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|location=New York|author=James, William. 2018 [1918]|others=vol. 2}}, produced by C. Graham and M. D'Hooghe.</ref>

Free will in relation to effort also balances "''ideals'' and ''propensities''—the things you see as best versus the things that are easiest to do". Without effort, "the propensity is stronger than the ideal." To act according to your ideals, you must resist the things that are easiest, and this can only be done with effort.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last=Viney |first=Donald Wayne |year=1986 |title=William James on Free Will and Determinism |journal=The Journal of Mind and Behavior |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=555–565 |jstor=43853234}}</ref>
James states that the free will question is therefore simple: "it relates solely to the amount of effort of attention or consent which we can at any time put forth."<ref name="auto" />

''Chance'' is the 'free element,' that part of the model we have no control over. James says that in the sequence of the model, chance comes before choice. In the moment of decision we are given the chance to make a decision and then the choice is what we do (or do not do) regarding the decision.

When it comes to choice, James says we make a choice based on different experiences. It comes from our own past experiences, the observations of others, or:<ref name="Bob Doyle 2011" /> <blockquote>A supply of ideas of the various movements that are … left in the memory by experiences of their involuntary performance is thus the first prerequisite of the voluntary life.</blockquote>What James describes is that once you've made a decision in the past, the experience is stockpiled into your memory where it can be referenced the next time a decision must be made and will be drawn from as a positive solution. However, in his development of the design, James also struggled with being able to prove that free will is actually free or predetermined.

People can make judgements of regret, moral approval and moral disapproval, and if those are absent, then that means our will is predetermined. An example of this is "James says the problem is a very 'personal' one and that he cannot personally conceive of the universe as a place where murder must happen."<ref name="Kenneth A. Shouler 2008">Shouler, Kenneth A. 2008. ''The Everything Guide to Understanding Philosophy: the Basic Concepts of the Greatest Thinkers of All Time – Made Easy!''. [[Adams Media]].</ref>
Essentially, if there were no regrets or judgments then all the bad stuff would not be considered bad, only as predetermined because there are no options of 'good' and 'bad'. "The free will option is pragmatically truer because it better accommodates the judgments of regret and morality."<ref name="Kenneth A. Shouler 2008" /> Overall, James uses this line of reasoning to prove that our will is indeed free: because of our morality codes, and the conceivable alternate universes where a decision has been regarded different from what we chose.

In "The Will to Believe", James simply asserted that his will was free. As his first act of freedom, he said, he chose to believe his will was free. He was encouraged to do this by reading [[Charles Renouvier]], whose work convinced James to convert from [[monism]] to [[pluralism (philosophy)|pluralism]]. In his diary entry of April 30, 1870, James wrote:<ref>[[Ralph Barton Perry|Perry, Ralph Barton]]. ''The Thought and Character of William James'' 1. p. 323.— ''Letters of William James'' 1. p. 147.</ref>

<blockquote>I think that yesterday was a crisis in my life. I finished the first part of Renouvier's second Essais and see no reason why his definition of free will—"the sustaining of a thought because I choose to when I might have other thoughts"—need be the definition of an illusion. At any rate, I will assume for the present—until next year—that it is no illusion. My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.</blockquote>

In 1884, James set the terms for all future discussions of [[determinism]] and [[compatibilism]] in the [[free will]] debates with his lecture to [[Harvard Divinity School]] students published as "The Dilemma of Determinism".<ref name=":3">{{Project Gutenburg|26659|title=The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy|bullet=none|chapter=The Dilemma of Determinism|chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P145 |publisher=[[Longmans, Green & Co.]]|location=New York|author=James, William. 2009 [c. 1884]}}, produced by A. Haines.</ref>
In this talk he defined the common terms ''hard determinism'' and ''soft determinism'' (now more commonly called ''[[compatibilism]]'').<ref name=":3" />

<blockquote>Old-fashioned determinism was what we may call hard determinism. It did not shrink from such words as fatality, bondage of the will, necessitation, and the like. Nowadays, we have a soft determinism which abhors harsh words, and, repudiating fatality, necessity, and even predetermination, says that its real name is freedom; for freedom is only necessity understood, and bondage to the highest is identical with true freedom.<ref name="will149">James, William. 1956 [1884]. "The Dilemma of Determinism." In ''The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy''. New York: [[Dover Publications|Dover]].</ref>{{Rp|149}}</blockquote>

James called compatibilism a "quagmire of evasion,"<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|149}} just as the ideas of [[Thomas Hobbes]] and [[David Hume]]—that free will was simply freedom from external coercion—were called a "wretched subterfuge" by [[Immanuel Kant]].

''Indeterminism'' is "the belief in freedom [which] holds that there is some degree of possibility that is not necessitated by the rest of reality."<ref>Pomerleau, Wayne P. "William James (1842–1910)." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, [http://www.iep.utm.edu/james-o/#H6 "William James" Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article].</ref>
The word "some" in this definition is crucial in James's argument because it leaves room for a higher power, as it does not require that all events be random. Specifically, indeterminism does not say that no events are guaranteed or connected to previous events; instead, it says that some events are not guaranteed – some events are up to chance.<ref name="auto1" /> In James's model of free will, choice is deterministic, determined by the person making it, and it "follows casually from one's character, values, and especially feelings and desires at the moment of decision."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Doyle |first=Bob |year=2010 |title=Jamesian Free Will, the Two-Stage Model of William James |journal=William James Studies |volume=5 |pages=1–28 |jstor=26203733}}</ref>
Chance, on the other hand, is indeterministic, and pertains to possibilities that could happen but are not guaranteed.<ref name="auto2" /> James described [[chance (philosophy)|chance]] as neither hard nor soft determinism, but "[[indeterminism]]":<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|153}}

<blockquote>The stronghold of the determinist argument is the antipathy to the idea of chance ... This notion of alternative possibility, this admission that any one of several things may come to pass is, after all, only a roundabout name for chance.</blockquote>

James asked the students to consider his choice for walking home from Lowell Lecture Hall after his talk:<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|155}}

<blockquote>What is meant by saying that my choice of which way to walk home after the lecture is ambiguous and matter of chance? ... It means that both Divinity Avenue and Oxford Street are called but only one, and that one either one, shall be chosen.</blockquote>

With this simple example, James laid out a two-stage decision process with chance in a present time of random alternatives, leading to a choice of one possibility that transforms an ambiguous future into a simple unalterable past. James's two-stage model separates chance (undetermined alternative possibilities) from [[choice]] (the free action of the individual, on which randomness has no effect). Subsequent thinkers using this model include [[Henri Poincaré]], [[Arthur Holly Compton]], and [[Karl Popper]].

== Philosophy of religion ==
[[File:WJ-Variety-Religious-Exp.png|thumb|right|Excerpt]]

James did important work in [[philosophy of religion]]. In his [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]] he provided a wide-ranging account of ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'' (1902) and interpreted them according to his pragmatic leanings. Some of the important claims he makes in this regard:
* Religious genius (experience) should be the primary topic in the study of religion, rather than religious institutions—since institutions are merely the social descendant of genius.
* The intense, even pathological varieties of experience (religious or otherwise) should be sought by psychologists, because they represent the closest thing to a microscope of the mind—that is, they show us in drastically enlarged form the normal processes of things.
* In order to usefully interpret the realm of common, shared experience and history, we must each make certain "[[overbelief|over-beliefs]]" in things which, while they cannot be proven on the basis of experience, help us to live fuller and better lives.
* A variety of characteristics can be seen within a single individual. There are subconscious elements that compose the scattered fragments of a personality. This is the reflection of a greater dissociation which is the separation between science and religion.
* Religious Mysticism is only one half of mysticism, the other half is composed of the insane and both of these are co-located in the "great subliminal or transmarginal region".<ref>{{Cite book |last=James |first=William |year=1985 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=Penguin Classics |location=New York |page=426}}</ref>

James investigated [[mysticism|mystical]] experiences throughout his life, leading him to experiment with [[chloral hydrate]] (1870), [[Alkyl nitrites|amyl nitrite]] (1875), [[nitrous oxide]] (1882), and [[peyote]] (1896).{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} James claimed that it was only when he was under the influence of nitrous oxide that he was able to understand [[Hegel]].<ref>William James, [http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/jnitrous.html "Subjective Effects of Nitrous Oxide"]</ref>
He concluded that while the revelations of the mystic hold true, they hold true only for the mystic; for others, they are certainly ideas to be considered, but can hold no claim to truth without personal experience of such. ''American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia'' classes him as one of several figures who "took a more [[Pantheism|pantheist]] or [[Pandeism|pandeist]] approach by rejecting views of God as separate from the world."<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[John Lachs]] and [[Robert Talisse]] |year=2007 |title=American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/americanphil_xxxx_2008_000_9069252 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanphil_xxxx_2008_000_9069252/page/n335 310] |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-93926-3}}</ref>

James was an advocate of [[theistic finitism]], which he used to explain the [[problem of evil]].<ref name="Barnard">Barnard, George William. (1997). ''Exploring Unseen Worlds: William James and the Philosophy of Mysticism''. State University of New York Press. p. 251. {{ISBN|0-7914-3223-8}} "James's theology answer to the problem of evil is strikingly simple, but theologically daring: God is ''not'' all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-pervasive, but rather, is finite."</ref><ref>Weidenbaum, Jonathan. (2013) ''William James’s Argument for a Finite Theism''. In Diller J., Kasher A. (eds) ''Models of God and Alternative Ultimate Realities''. Springer. pp. 323-331. {{ISBN|978-94-007-5218-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Stepanenko, Walter Scott|year=2018|title=Jamesian Finite Theism and the Problems of Suffering|journal=European Journal for Philosophy of Religion|url=https://philosophy-of-religion.eu/index.php/ejpr/article/view/1966|volume=10|issue=4|pages=1–25|doi=10.24204/ejpr.v10i4.1966}}</ref>

== Mysticism ==
William James devoted much of his career to the psychological investigation of mysticism. A significant influence on this undertaking was his own mystical experience under the influence of nitrous oxide. Inspired by a report by Benjamin Paul Blood in 1874,<ref>{{cite book |last=Blood |first=Benjamin Paul |date=1874 |title=The anaesthetic revelation and the gist of philosophy |publisher=Books on Demand|oclc= 11479610}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=James |first1=William |title=Review of "The Anaesthetic Revelation and the Gist of Philosophy" |journal=Atlantic Monthly |date=Nov 1874 |volume=33 |issue=205 |pages=627–628}}</ref> James experimented with inhaled nitrous oxide, upon which he experienced a "tremendously exciting sense of an intense metaphysical illumination" in which "every opposition ... vanished in a higher unity" and "the ego and its objects ... are one."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1896 |title=On some Hegelisms. In W. James, ''The will to believe and other essays in popular philosophy'' |publisher=Longmans, Green, & Co. |pages=297–298}}</ref> For so ardent an anti-Hegelian, this was a particularly novel and confusing experience for James. He was powerfully affected by the event and struggled greatly to interpret it. His journey of self discovery instigated by the experience is largely what inspired his later in-depth investigations of mysticism.

William James provided a description of mystical experience in his famous collection of lectures published in 1902 as ''The Varieties of Religious Experience''.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=379–429|isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He posits four criteria as "sufficient to mark out a group of states of consciousness" which may be called the "mystical group."

These criteria are as follows:
* Ineffability – no adequate report of the contents of the experience can be given by words. This was the "handiest" of descriptors for James, and illustrates the necessity of direct, first-hand experience to actually understand a mystical state of consciousness.
* Noetic quality – "...mystical states seem to those who experience them to be also states of knowledge." Mystical consciousness generates a feeling of insight into truths inaccessible to ordinary reasoning. These intuitions or insights are often felt as authoritative both during and after they are experienced, but are necessarily confined by the first criterion of ineffability, and are thus inexpressible in words.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=380–381|isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>
* Transiency – the mystical state is unable to be sustained for long periods of time. They are, however, recognizable upon re-experience, and can be further developed over multiple occasions.
* Passivity – a feeling of suspension of control of one's personal will, occasionally as if grasped by a superior power.

For James, the first two attributes, ineffability and the noetic quality, "will entitle any state to be called mystical, in the sense in which I use the word." The qualities of transiency and passivity are "less sharply marked, but are usually found."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=380–382 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He uses a number of historical examples to illustrate the presence of these attributes in geographically and temporally disparate instances, concluding that the mystical experience "''is on the whole pantheistic and optimistic, or at least the opposite of pessimistic. It is anti-naturalistic, and harmonizes best with twice-bornness and so-called other-worldly states of mind''" (original italics).<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=422 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

In line with his pragmatism, he asserted that the epistemological authority of mystical consciousness for the individual who experiences it is may be rightfully justified, but that others are under no obligation to accept that authority uncritically. Importantly, however, the mere existence of mystical states necessarily indicates an incompleteness in the epistemological authority of the non-mystical.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=427–429 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He would continue to advocate for the acceptance of mystical states as a fruitful subject of psychological research and source of knowledge. In his book ''The Pluralistic Universe'' (1909), he would expand upon his notion of "radical empiricism" in arguing for the possible association of empiricism and religion in the study of human spirituality <ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1977 |title=The Pluralistic Universe |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn= 9780674673915}}</ref> In viewing mysticism from a psychological perspective, he acknowledged that the limits of our being extend far beyond what is ordinarily accessible by our sense perception, and that our finite beings are affected by unconscious forces. "But that which produces effects within another reality must be termed a reality itself, so I feel as if we had no philosophic excuse for calling the unseen or mystical world unreal."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |page=516 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

James viewed mysticism as the most foundational aspect of religion. While he grants that religious experience reveals the possibility of union with something greater than oneself, he clarifies that mysticism (and philosophy) identify that something as an "all inclusive soul of the world" that he does not deem wholly necessary for a practical and fulfilling religious life. As always, James is averse to any dogmatic or absolutist doctrines, within religion and without, and thus values mysticism as a unique method of personal acquaintance with a larger reality.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=525–527 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

== Instincts ==
{{See also|Instinct}}
Like [[Sigmund Freud]], James was influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.<ref name="Buss 1" /> At the core of James's theory of psychology, as defined in ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'' (1890), was a system of "instincts". James wrote that humans had many instincts, even more than other animals.<ref name="Buss 1" /> These instincts, he said, could be overridden by experience and by each other, as many of the instincts were actually in conflict with each other.<ref name="Buss 1">Buss, David M. 2008. "Chapter 1." pp. 2–35 in ''Evolutionary psychology: the new science of the mind''. [[Pearson Education|Pearson]].</ref>
In the 1920s, however, psychology turned away from evolutionary theory and embraced radical behaviorism.<ref name="Buss 1" />

== Theory of emotion ==
James is one of the two namesakes of the [[James–Lange theory]] of [[emotion]], which he formulated independently of [[Carl Lange (physician)|Carl Lange]] in the 1880s. The theory holds that emotion is the mind's perception of physiological conditions that result from some stimulus. In James's oft-cited example, it is not that we see a bear, fear it, and run; we see a bear and run; consequently, we fear the bear. Our mind's [[perception]] of the higher adrenaline level, heartbeat, etc. is the emotion.

This way of thinking about emotion has great consequences for the philosophy of [[aesthetics]] as well as to the philosophy and practice of education.<ref name="reconstructing" /> Here is a passage from his work, ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', that spells out those consequences:

{{blockquote|[W]e must immediately insist that aesthetic emotion, pure and simple, the pleasure given us by certain lines and masses, and combinations of colors and sounds, is an absolutely sensational experience, an optical or auricular feeling that is primary, and not due to the repercussion backwards of other sensations elsewhere consecutively aroused. To this simple primary and immediate [[pleasure]] in certain pure sensations and harmonious combinations of them, there may, it is true, be added secondary pleasures; and in the practical enjoyment of works of art by the masses of mankind these secondary pleasures play a great part. The more classic one's taste is, however, the less relatively important are the secondary pleasures felt to be, in comparison with those of the primary sensation as it comes in. [[Classicism]] and [[romanticism]] have their battles over this point.}}

The theory of emotion was also independently developed in Italy by the anthropologist [[Giuseppe Sergi]].<ref>[[Giuseppe Sergi|Sergi, Giuseppe]]. 1858. ''L'origine dei fenomeni psichici e loro significazione biologica''. Milano: Fratelli Dumolard. {{ISBN|1271529408}}.</ref><ref>[[Giuseppe Sergi|Sergi, Giuseppe]]. 1894. "Storia Naturale dei Sentimenti." ''Principi di Psicologie: Dolore e Piacere''. Milano: Fratelli Dumolard. {{ISBN|1147667462}}.</ref>

=== William James' bear ===
From [[Joseph LeDoux]]'s description of William James' ''Emotion'':<ref>[[Joseph E. LeDoux|LeDoux, Joseph E.]] 1996. ''The Emotional Brain: the Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life''. {{ISBN|0-684-83659-9}}. p. 43.</ref>
<blockquote>
Why do we run away if we notice that we are in danger? Because we are afraid of what will happen if we don't. This obvious answer to a seemingly trivial question has been the central concern of a century-old debate about the nature of our emotions.</blockquote>It all began in 1884 when William James published an article titled "What Is an Emotion?"<ref>James, William. 1884. "[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/emotion.htm What is an Emotion?]" ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'' 9:188–205.</ref>
The article appeared in a philosophy journal called ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'', as there were no psychology journals yet. It was important, not because it definitively answered the question it raised, but because of the way in which James phrased his response. He conceived of an emotion in terms of a sequence of events that starts with the occurrence of an arousing stimulus (the [[sympathetic nervous system]] or the [[parasympathetic nervous system]]); and ends with a passionate feeling, a conscious emotional experience. A major goal of emotion research is still to elucidate this stimulus-to-feeling sequence—to figure out what processes come between the stimulus and the feeling.

James set out to answer his question by asking another: do we run from a bear because we are afraid or are we afraid because we run? He proposed that the obvious answer, that we run because we are afraid, was '''wrong''', and instead argued that we are afraid because we run:

<blockquote>Our natural way of thinking about … emotions is that the mental perception of some fact excites the mental affection called emotion, and that this latter state of mind gives rise to the bodily expression. My theory, on the contrary, is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur IS the emotion (called 'feeling' by [[Damasio#Looking for Spinoza|Damasio]]).</blockquote>

The essence of James's proposal was simple. It was premised on the fact that emotions are often accompanied by bodily responses (racing heart, tight stomach, sweaty palms, tense muscles, and so on; [[sympathetic nervous system]]) and that we can sense what is going on inside our body much the same as we can sense what is going on in the outside world. According to James, emotions feel different from other states of mind because they have these bodily responses that give rise to internal sensations, and different emotions feel different from one another because they are accompanied by different bodily responses and sensations. For example, when we see James's bear, we run away. During this act of escape, the body goes through a physiological upheaval: blood pressure rises, heart rate increases, pupils dilate, palms sweat, muscles contract in certain ways (evolutionary, innate defense mechanisms). Other kinds of emotional situations will result in different bodily upheavals. In each case, the physiological responses return to the brain in the form of bodily sensations, and the unique pattern of sensory feedback gives each emotion its unique quality. Fear feels different from anger or love because it has a different physiological signature (the [[parasympathetic nervous system]] for love). The mental aspect of emotion, the feeling, is a slave to its physiology, not vice versa: we do not tremble because we are afraid or cry because we feel sad; we are afraid because we tremble and are sad because we cry.

== Philosophy of history ==
One of the long-standing schisms in the [[philosophy of history]] concerns the role of individuals in social change.

One faction sees individuals (as seen in [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]]' ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' and [[Thomas Carlyle]]'s ''[[The French Revolution, A History]]'') as the motive power of history, and the broader society as the page on which they write their acts. The other sees society as moving according to [[holistic]] principles or laws, and sees individuals as its more-or-less willing pawns. In 1880, James waded into this controversy with "Great Men, Great Thoughts, and the Environment", an essay published in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]''. He took Carlyle's side, but without Carlyle's one-sided emphasis on the political/military sphere, upon heroes as the founders or overthrowers of states and empires.

A philosopher, according to James, must accept [[genius]]es as a given entity the same way as a biologist accepts as an entity Darwin's "spontaneous variations". The role of an individual will depend on the degree of its [[conformity]] with the social environment, epoch, moment, etc.<ref>Grinin L. E. 2010. "[http://www.socionauki.ru/journal/articles/129622/ The Role of an Individual in History: A Reconsideration]." ''[[Social Evolution & History]]'' 9(2):95–136. p. 103.</ref>

James introduces a notion of receptivities of the moment. The societal mutations from generation to [[generation]] are determined (directly or indirectly) mainly by the acts or examples of individuals whose genius was so adapted to the receptivities of the moment or whose accidental position of authority was so critical that they became ferments, initiators of movements, setters of precedent or fashion, centers of corruption, or destroyers of other persons, whose gifts, had they had free play, would have led society in another direction.<ref>William James. 2007 [1880]. "[https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1880.html Great Men, Great Thoughts and the Environment]." ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' 46:441–459.</ref>

== View on Social Darwinism ==

While James accepted Darwin's theories of biological evolution, he regarded [[Social Darwinism]] as propagated by philosophers such as [[Herbert Spencer]] as a sham. He was highly skeptical of applying Darwin's formula of natural selection to human societies in a way that put the Anglo-Saxons on top of the chain. James' rejection of Social Darwinism was a minority opinion at Harvard in the 1870s and 1880s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |title=The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 |year= 2010 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-08798-8 |pages=77–78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Yw4AQAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>

== View on spiritualism and associationism ==
[[File:Houghton MS Am 1092 (1185) - William James.jpg|thumb|James in a séance with a spiritualist medium]]
James studied closely the schools of thought known as [[associationism]] and [[Spiritualism (philosophy)|spiritualism]]. The view of an associationist is that each experience that one has leads to another, creating a chain of events. The association does not tie together two ideas, but rather physical objects.<ref name="James, 1892">James, William. 1985 [1892]. ''Psychology (Briefer Course)''. [[University of Notre Dame Press]]. {{ISBN|0-268-01557-0}}.</ref>
This association occurs on an atomic level. Small physical changes occur in the brain which eventually form complex ideas or associations. Thoughts are formed as these complex ideas work together and lead to new experiences. [[Isaac Newton]] and [[David Hartley (philosopher)|David Hartley]] both were precursors to this school of thought, proposing such ideas as "physical vibrations in the brain, spinal cord, and nerves are the basis of all sensations, all ideas, and all motions …"<ref name=":4">[[Robert D. Richardson|Richardson, Robert D.]] 2006. ''William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism''. [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]]. {{ISBN|0-618-43325-2}}.</ref>
James disagreed with associationism in that he believed it to be too simple. He referred to associationism as "psychology without a soul"<ref name="j1890">James, William. 1890. ''The Principles of Psychology''.</ref>
because there is nothing from within creating ideas; they just arise by associating objects with one another.

On the other hand, a spiritualist believes that mental events are attributed to the soul. Whereas in associationism, ideas and behaviors are separate, in spiritualism, they are connected. Spiritualism encompasses the term [[innatism]], which suggests that ideas cause behavior. Ideas of past behavior influence the way a person will act in the future; these ideas are all tied together by the soul. Therefore, an inner soul causes one to have a thought, which leads them to perform a behavior, and memory of past behaviors determine how one will act in the future.<ref name=j1890 />

James had a strong opinion about these schools of thought. He was, by nature, a [[Pragmatism#A list of pragmatists|pragmatist]] and thus took the view that one should use whatever parts of theories make the most sense and can be proven.<ref name=":4" /> Therefore, he recommended breaking apart spiritualism and associationism and using the parts of them that make the most sense. James believed that each person has a soul, which exists in a spiritual universe, and leads a person to perform the behaviors they do in the physical world.<ref name=":4" /> James was influenced by [[Emanuel Swedenborg]], who first introduced him to this idea. James stated that, although it does appear that humans use associations to move from one event to the next, this cannot be done without this soul tying everything together. For, after an association has been made, it is the person who decides which part of it to focus on, and therefore determines in which direction following associations will lead.<ref name="James, 1892" /> Associationism is too simple in that it does not account for decision-making of future behaviors, and memory of what worked well and what did not. Spiritualism, however, does not demonstrate actual physical representations for how associations occur. James combined the views of spiritualism and associationism to create his own way of thinking. James discussed tender-minded thinkers as religious, optimistic, dogmatic, and monistic. Tough-minded thinkers were irreligious, pessimistic, pluralists, and skeptical. Healthy-minded individuals were seen as natural believers by having faith in God and universal order. People who focused on human miseries and suffering were noted as sick souls.

James was a founding member and vice president of the [[American Society for Psychical Research]].<ref>Eugene Taylor. (2009). ''The Mystery of Personality: A History of Psychodynamic Theories''. Springer. p. 30. {{ISBN|978-0387981031}}</ref>
The lending of his name made [[Leonora Piper]] a famous medium. In 1885, the year after the death of his young son, James had his first sitting with Piper at the suggestion of his mother-in-law.<ref>[[Deborah Blum]]. (2007). ''Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life''. Penguin Group. p. 98. {{ISBN|978-0-14-303895-5}}.</ref>
He was soon convinced that Piper knew things she could only have discovered by supernatural means. He expressed his belief in Piper by saying, "If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, it is enough if you prove that one crow is white. My white crow is Mrs. Piper."<ref>[[Gardner Murphy]], [[Robert O. Ballou]]. (1960). ''William James on Psychical Research''. Viking Press. p. 41</ref>
However, James did not believe that Piper was in contact with spirits. After evaluating sixty-nine reports of Piper's mediumship he considered the hypothesis of [[telepathy]] as well as Piper obtaining information about her sitters by natural means such as her memory recalling information. According to James the "spirit-control" hypothesis of her mediumship was incoherent, irrelevant and in cases demonstrably false.<ref>Francesca Bordogna. (2008). ''William James at the Boundaries: Philosophy, Science, and the Geography of Knowledge''. University Of Chicago Press. p. 127. {{ISBN|978-0226066523}}</ref>

James held séances with Piper and was impressed by some of the details he was given; however, according to [[Massimo Polidoro]] a maid in the household of James was friendly with a maid in Piper's house and this may have been a source of information that Piper used for private details about James.<ref>[[Massimo Polidoro]]. (2001). ''Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle''. Prometheus Books. p. 36. {{ISBN|978-1573928960}}</ref>
Bibliographers [[Frederick Burkhardt]] and [[Fredson Bowers]] who compiled the works of James wrote "It is thus possible that Mrs. Piper's knowledge of the James family was acquired from the gossip of servants and that the whole mystery rests on the failure of the people upstairs to realize that servants [downstairs] also have ears."<ref>[[Frederick Burkhardt]] and [[Fredson Bowers]]. (1986). ''Essays in Psychical Research''. Harvard University Press. p. 397 in William James. [http://www.nlx.com/collections/66 ''The Works of William James'']. Edited by Frederick H. Burkhardt, Fredson Bowers, and Ignas K. Skrupskelis. 19 vols. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press. 1975–1988.</ref>

James was convinced that the "future will corroborate" the existence of [[telepathy]].<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnfjc6;view=1up;seq=441 About the Shadow World]. ''Everybody's Magazine''. v. 20 (1909).</ref>
Psychologists such as [[James McKeen Cattell]] and [[Edward B. Titchener]] took issue with James's support for [[Parapsychology|psychical research]] and considered his statements unscientific.<ref>Lamont, Peter. (2013). ''Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–188.</ref><ref>Kimble, Gregory A; Wertheimer, Michael; White, Charlotte. (2013). ''Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology''. Psychology Press. p. 23. {{ISBN|0-8058-0620-2}}</ref>
Cattell in a letter to James wrote that the "Society for Psychical Research is doing much to injure psychology".<ref>Goodwin, C. James. (2015). ''A History of Modern Psychology''. Wiley. p. 154. {{ISBN|978-1-118-83375-9}}</ref>

== James' theory of the self ==
'''James' theory of the self''' divided a person's mental picture of self into two categories: the "Me" and the "I". The "Me" can be thought of as a separate object or individual a person refers to when describing their personal experiences; while the "I" is the self that knows who they are and what they have done in their life.<ref name=IEP /> Both concepts are depicted in the statement; "''I'' know it was ''me'' who ate the cookie." He called the "Me" part of self the "empirical me" and the "I" part "the pure Ego".<ref name="cooper1992" /> For James, the "I" part of self was the thinking self, which could not be further divided. He linked this part of the self to the soul of a person, or what is now thought of as the mind.<ref name=psychclassics /> Educational theorists have been inspired in various ways by James's theory of self, and have developed various applications to curricular and pedagogical theory and practice.<ref name="reconstructing">{{cite book |last=Ergas |first=Oren |date=2017 |title=Reconstructing 'education' through mindful attention |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-1-137-58781-7}}</ref>

James further divided the "Me" part of self into: a material, a social, and a spiritual self, as below.<ref name=cooper1992>Cooper, W. E. (1992). "William James's theory of the self". ''Monist'' 75(4), 504.</ref>

=== Material self ===
The material self consists of things that belong to a person or entities that a person belongs to. Thus, things like the body, family, clothes, money, and such make up the material self. For James, the core of the material self was the body.<ref name=psychclassics>{{cite web |title=Classics in the History of Psychology (archived copy) |url=http://psychclassics.asu.edu/James/Principles/prin10.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206021129/http://psychclassics.asu.edu/James/Principles/prin10.htm |access-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-date=December 6, 2013}}</ref>
Second to the body, James felt a person's clothes were important to the material self. He believed a person's clothes were one way they expressed who they felt they were; or clothes were a way to show status, thus contributing to forming and maintaining one's self-image.<ref name=psychclassics /> Money and family are critical parts of the material self. James felt that if one lost a family member, a part of who they are was lost also. Money figured in one's material self in a similar way. If a person had significant money then lost it, who they were as a person changed as well.<ref name=psychclassics />

=== Social self ===
Our social selves are who we are in a given social situation. For James, people change how they act depending on the social situation that they are in. James believed that people had as many social selves as they did social situations they participated in.<ref name=psychclassics /> For example, a person may act in a different way at work when compared to how that same person may act when they are out with a group of friends. James also believed that in a given social group, an individual's social self may be divided even further.<ref name=psychclassics /> An example of this would be, in the social context of an individual's work environment, the difference in behavior when that individual is interacting with their boss versus their behavior when interacting with a co-worker.

=== Spiritual self ===
For James, the spiritual self was who we are at our core. It is more concrete or permanent than the other two selves. The spiritual self is our subjective and most intimate self. Aspects of a spiritual self include things like personality, core values, and conscience that do not typically change throughout an individual's lifetime. The spiritual self involves introspection, or looking inward to deeper spiritual, moral, or intellectual questions without the influence of objective thoughts.<ref name=psychclassics /> For James, achieving a high level of understanding of who we are at our core, or understanding our spiritual selves is more rewarding than satisfying the needs of the social and material selves.

=== Pure ego ===
What James refers to as the "I" self. For James, the pure ego is what provides the thread of continuity between our past, present, and future selves. The pure ego's perception of consistent individual identity arises from a continuous stream of consciousness.<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to William James |website=www.uky.edu |date=July 31, 2013 |url=http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/hunt.html}}</ref>
James believed that the pure ego was similar to what we think of as the soul, or the mind. The pure ego was not a substance and therefore could not be examined by science.<ref name=IEP />

== Notable works ==
* ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', 2 vols. (1890), [[Dover Publications]] 1950, vol. 1: {{ISBN|0-486-20381-6}}, vol. 2: {{ISBN|0-486-20382-4}}
* ''Psychology (Briefer Course)'' (1892), University of Notre Dame Press 1985: {{ISBN|0-268-01557-0}}, Dover Publications 2001: {{ISBN|0-486-41604-6}}
* ''[https://www.themantle.com/philosophy/life-worth-living-william-james Is Life Worth Living?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114115524/https://www.themantle.com/philosophy/life-worth-living-william-james |date=January 14, 2020 }}'' (1895), the seminal lecture delivered at Harvard on April 15, 1895
* ''[[Will to believe doctrine|The Will to Believe]], and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy'' (1897)
* ''Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine'' (the [[Ingersoll Lecture]], 1897)
** ''The Will to Believe, Human Immortality'' (1956) Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-20291-7}}
* ''Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals'' (1899), Dover Publications 2001: {{ISBN|0-486-41964-9}}, IndyPublish.com 2005: {{ISBN|1-4219-5806-6}}
* ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]: A Study in Human Nature'' (1902), {{ISBN|0-14-039034-0}}
* ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking'' (1907), Hackett Publishing 1981: {{ISBN|0-915145-05-7}}, Dover 1995: {{ISBN|0-486-28270-8}}
* ''A Pluralistic Universe'' (1909), [[Hibbert Lectures]], University of Nebraska Press 1996: {{ISBN|0-8032-7591-9}}
* ''The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to "Pragmatism"'' (1909), Prometheus Books, 1997: {{ISBN|1-57392-138-6}}
* ''Some Problems of Philosophy: A Beginning of an Introduction to Philosophy'' (1911), University of Nebraska Press 1996: {{ISBN|0-8032-7587-0}}
* ''Memories and Studies'' (1911), Reprint Services Corp: 1992: {{ISBN|0-7812-3481-6}}
* ''[[Essays in Radical Empiricism]]'' (1912), Dover Publications 2003, {{ISBN|0-486-43094-4}}
** critical edition, Frederick Burkhardt and Fredson Bowers, editors. Harvard University Press 1976: {{ISBN|0-674-26717-6}} (includes commentary, notes, enumerated emendations, appendices with English translation of "La Notion de Conscience")
* ''Letters of William James'', 2 vols. (1920)
* ''Collected Essays and Reviews'' (1920)
* Ralph Barton Perry, ''The Thought and Character of William James'', 2 vols. (1935), Vanderbilt University Press 1996 reprint: {{ISBN|0-8265-1279-8}} (contains some 500 letters by William James not found in the earlier edition of the ''Letters of William James'')
* ''William James on Psychical Research'' (1960)
* ''The Correspondence of William James'', 12 vols. (1992–2004) University of Virginia Press, {{ISBN|0-8139-2318-2}}
* [https://gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P145 "The Dilemma of Determinism"]
* ''William James on Habit, Will, Truth, and the Meaning of Life'', James Sloan Allen, ed. Frederic C. Beil, Publisher, {{ISBN|978-1-929490-45-5}}

=== Collections ===
* ''William James: Writings 1878–1899'' (1992). [[Library of America]], 1212 p., {{ISBN|978-0-940450-72-1}}
::Psychology: Briefer Course (rev. and condensed Principles of Psychology), The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, Talks to Teachers and Students, Essays (nine others)
* ''William James: Writings 1902–1910'' (1987). [[Library of America]], 1379 p., {{ISBN|978-0-940450-38-7}}
::The Varieties of Religious Experience, Pragmatism, A Pluralistic Universe, The Meaning of Truth, Some Problems of Philosophy, Essays
* ''The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition'' (1978). University of Chicago Press, 912 pp., {{ISBN|0-226-39188-4}}
::Pragmatism, Essays in Radical Empiricism, and A Pluralistic Universe complete; plus selections from other works
* In 1975, Harvard University Press began publication of a standard edition of ''The Works of William James''.
* ''William James: Essays in Pragmatism'' (1966). [[The Hafner Library of Classics]]
:: Edited with an Introduction by Alburey Castell Professor of Philosophy, University of Minnesota

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Philosophy|Psychology}}
* "[[The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life]]"
* [[Psychology of religion]]
* [[American philosophy]]
* [[List of American philosophers]]
* [[William James Lectures]]
* [[William James Society]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-roman}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* ''Essays Philosophical and Psychological in Honor of William James, by his Colleagues at Columbia University'' (London, 1908)

== Further reading ==
* James Sloan Allen, ed., ''William James on Habit, Will, Truth, and the Meaning of Life'' (2014). Frederic C. Beil, Publisher, {{ISBN|978-1-929490-45-5}}
* Margo Bistis, "Remnant of the Future: William James' Automated Utopia", in Norman M. Klein and Margo Bistis, ''The Imaginary 20th Century'' (Karlsruhe: ZKM, 2016). {{ISBN?}}
* [[Émile Boutroux]], [https://archive.org/details/williamjames00boutiala ''William James''] (New York, 1912)
* [[Werner Bloch]], ''Der Pragmatismus von James und Schiller nebst Exkursen über Weltanschauung und über die Hypothese'' (Leipzig, 1913)
* K. A. Busch, ''William James als Religionsphilosoph'' (Göttingen, 1911)
* [[Jacques Barzun]]. ''A Stroll with William James'' (1983). Harper and Row: {{ISBN|0-226-03869-6}}
* [[Deborah Blum]]. ''Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death'' (2006). [[Penguin Press]], {{ISBN|1-59420-090-4}}
* Wesley Cooper. ''The Unity of William James's Thought'' (2002). Vanderbilt University Press, {{ISBN|0-8265-1387-5}}
* Howard M. Feinstein. ''Becoming William James'' (1984). Cornell University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8014-8642-5}}
* [[Théodore Flournoy]], ''La Philosophie de William James'' (Saint-Blaise, 1911)
* Sergio Franzese, ''The Ethics of Energy. William James's Moral Philosophy in Focus'', Ontos Verlag, 2008 {{ISBN?}}
* Sergio Franzese & Felicitas Krämer (eds.), ''[https://www.academia.edu/6075221/_Jamess_Mystical_Body_in_the_Light_of_the_Transmarginal_Field_of_Consciousness_2007_ Fringes of Religious Experience. Cross-perspectives on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience]'', Frankfurt / Lancaster, ontos verlag, Process Thought XII, 2007
* Peter Hare, [[Michel Weber]], James K. Swindler, Oana-Maria Pastae, Cerasel Cuteanu (eds.), ''[https://www.academia.edu/280925/International_Perspectives_on_Pragmatism International Perspectives on Pragmatism]'', Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009
* [[James Huneker]], "A Philosophy for Philistines" in ''The Pathos of Distance'' (New York, 1913).
* [[Henry James]], ''A Small Boy and Others'' (1913) and ''Notes of a Son and Brother'' (1914).
* Amy Kittelstrom, ''The Religion of Democracy: Seven Liberals and the American Moral Tradition.'' New York: Penguin, 2015. {{ISBN?}}
* H. V. Knox, ''Philosophy of William James'' (London, 1914).
* [[R. W. B. Lewis]] ''The Jameses: A Family Narrative'' (1991) Farrar, Straus & Giroux. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Louis Menand]]. ''[[The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America]]'' (2001). Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, {{ISBN|0-374-52849-7}}.
* Ménard, ''Analyse et critique des principes de la psychologie de W. James'' (Paris, 1911) analyzes the lives and relationship between James, [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.]], [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], and [[John Dewey]].
* Gerald E. Myers. ''William James: His Life and Thought'' (1986). Yale University Press, 2001, paperback: {{ISBN|0-300-08917-1}}. Focuses on his psychology; includes 230 pages of notes.
* [[Giuseppe Sergi]] L'origine dei fenomeni psichici e loro significazione biologica, Milano, Fratelli Dumolard, 1885.
* [[Giuseppe Sergi]] Principi di Psicologie: Dolore e Piacere; Storia Naturale dei Sentimenti, Milano, Fratelli Dumolard, 1894.
* James Pawelski. ''The Dynamic Individualism of William James'' (2007). SUNY press, {{ISBN|0-7914-7239-6}}.
* [[Ralph Barton Perry|R. B. Perry]], ''Present Philosophical Tendencies'' (New York, 1912)
* [[Robert D. Richardson]]. ''William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism'' (2006). Houghton Mifflin, {{ISBN|0-618-43325-2}}
* Robert D. Richardson, ed. ''The Heart of William James'' (2010). Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-674-05561-2}}
* Robert D. Richardson. ''Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives'' (2023). {{ISBN|978-0691224305}}
* [[Jane Roberts]]. ''The Afterdeath Journal of an American Philosopher: The View of William James'' (1978. Prentice-Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-018515-9}}.)
* Barbara Ross, chapter "William James: A Prime Mover of the Psychoanalytic Movement in America", in ''Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, and the New England Medical Scene: 1894–1944'' (Science History Publications, New York, 1978) {{ISBN|9780882021690}}
* [[Josiah Royce]], ''William James and Other Essays on the Philosophy of Life'' (New York, 1911)
* J. Michael Tilley, "William James: Living Forward and the Development of Radical Empiricism," In ''Kierkegaard's Influence on Philosophy: Anglophone Philosophy,'' edited by Jon Stewart, 2012, Ashgate Publishing, 87–98.
* [[Linda Simon]]. ''Genuine Reality: A Life of William James'' (1998). Harcourt Brace & Company, {{ISBN|0-226-75859-1}}
* Emma K. Sutton. ''William James, MD: Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician'' (2023). {{ISBN|978-0226828985}}
* [[Michel Weber]]. ''[https://www.academia.edu/392183/Whiteheads_Pancreativism._Jamesian_Applications Whitehead's Pancreativism. Jamesian Applications]''. Ontos Verlag, 2011, {{ISBN|978-386838-103-0}}
* Michel Weber, "[https://www.academia.edu/3268912/_On_Religiousness_and_Religion._Huxley_s_Reading_of_Whitehead_s_Religion_in_the_Making_in_the_Light_of_James_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience_2005_ On Religiousness and Religion. Huxley's Reading of Whitehead's Religion in the Making in the Light of James' Varieties of Religious Experience]", Jerome Meckier and Bernfried Nugel (eds.), ''[[Aldous Huxley]] Annual. A Journal of Twentieth-Century Thought and Beyond'', Volume 5, Münster, LIT Verlag, March 2005, pp. 117–132.
* Michel Weber, "[https://www.academia.edu/6075221/_James_s_Mystical_Body_in_the_Light_of_the_Transmarginal_Field_of_Consciousness_2007_ James's Mystical Body in the Light of the Transmarginal Field of Consciousness]", in Sergio Franzese & Felicitas Krämer (eds.), ''Fringes of Religious Experience. Cross-perspectives on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience'', Frankfurt / Lancaster, Ontos Verlag, Process Thought XII, 2007, pp. 7–37. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Richard Wiseman]] (2012). ''Rip it Up: The Radically New Approach to Changing Your Life''. London: Macmillan {{ISBN?}}

== External links ==
{{External links|section|date=May 2024}}
{{Sister project links|n=no|mw=no|m=no|v=no|voy=no|species=no|wikt=no|s=Author:William James (1842-1910)|commons=category:William James (psychologist)|d=Q125249|b=no}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-james}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/325 Works by William James] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=William James|sopt=t}}
* {{Librivox author|id=942}}
* [http://wjsociety.org/ William James Society]
* [http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/james.html Emory University: William James] – major collection of essays and works online
* [http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223277 William James correspondence from the Historic Psychiatry Collection, Menninger Archives, Kansas Historical Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171205150720/http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/exhibits/james/ Harvard University: Life is in the Transitions: William James, 1842–1910] – online exhibition from Houghton Library
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: William James]
* [http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/philosophers/james/ William James on Information Philosopher]
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?106581-1/genuine-reality-life-william-james ''Booknotes'' interview with Linda Simon on ''Genuine Reality: A Life of William James'', June 7, 1998]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928105956/http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/BALLAST/WmJames.html William James: Looking for a Way Out]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0111.html New York Times obituary]
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{William James|state=expanded}}
{{APA Presidents}}
{{Psychology}}
{{Existentialism}}
{{philosophy of religion}}
{{Authority control}}

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William James

2024-10-20T05:38:49Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added remaining notable students to inbox from text

{{Short description|American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist (1842–1910)}}
{{About|the philosopher and psychologist|other people with the same name}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| era = [[19th-century philosophy|19th-]]/[[20th-century philosophy]]
| image = William James b1842c.jpg
| caption = James in 1903
| alt = A black and white photograph of James
| name = William James
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1842|1|11}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1910|8|26|1842|1|11}}
| death_place = [[Tamworth, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| relatives = [[Henry James Sr.]] (father) [[Henry James]] (brother) [[Alice James]] (sister)
| alma_mater = [[Harvard University]] ([[Doctor of Medicine|MD]])
| institutions = Harvard University
| school_tradition = {{hlist | [[Pragmatism]] | [[functional psychology]] | [[radical empiricism]]}}
| main_interests = {{hlist | [[Pragmatism]] | [[psychology]] | [[philosophy of religion]] | [[epistemology]] | [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]]}}
| notable_ideas = {{hlist | [[Will to believe doctrine]] | [[crisis of self-surrender]] | [[pragmatic theory of truth]] | [[radical empiricism]] | [[James–Lange theory]] of emotion | [[psychologist's fallacy]] | [[ten percent of the brain myth|brain usage theory]] | [[soft determinism]] | dilemma of determinism | [[stream of consciousness]] | [[#James' theory of the self|James's theory of the self]] | the term ''[[multiverse]]''}}
| notable_students = {{hlist | [[Mary Whiton Calkins]] | [[Morris Raphael Cohen]] | [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] | [[G. Stanley Hall]] | [[Edwin Holt]] | [[Learned Hand]] | [[Horace Kallen]] | [[Walter Lippmann]] | [[Alain Locke]] | [[C. I. Lewis]] | [[Ralph Barton Perry]] | [[Theodore Roosevelt]] | [[George Santayana]] | [[Boris Sidis]] | [[Gertrude Stein]]}}

'''William James''' (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a [[psychology]] course in the United States.<ref>T. L. Brink (2008). ''Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach''. [http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/TLBrink_PSYCH01.pdf "Unit One: The Definition and History of Psychology"]. p. 10.</ref> James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers of the [[United States]], and the "Father of American psychology."<ref>{{cite web |title=William James: Writings 1878–1899 |publisher=[[The Library of America]] |url=http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=65 |date=June 1, 1992 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=William James: Writings 1902–1910 |publisher=The Library of America |url=http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=66 |date=February 1, 1987 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Dr. Megan E. Bradley |title=William James |work=PSYography |publisher=Faculty.frostburg.edu |url=http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/williamjames.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124184737/http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/williamjames.html |access-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-date=November 24, 2014}}</ref>

Along with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], James established the philosophical school known as [[pragmatism]], and is also cited as one of the founders of [[functional psychology]]. A ''[[Review of General Psychology]]'' analysis, published in 2002, ranked James as the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haggbloom |first1=Steven J. |last2=Warnick |first2=Renee |last3=Warnick |first3=Jason E. |last4=Jones |first4=Vinessa K. |last5=Yarbrough |first5=Gary L. |last6=Russell |first6=Tenea M. |last7=Borecky |first7=Chris M. |last8=McGahhey |first8=Reagan |last9=Powell III |first9=John L. |last10=Beavers |first10=Jamie |last11=Monte |first11=Emmanuelle |year=2002 |display-authors=4 |title=The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=139–152 |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/eminent.aspx |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139 |s2cid=145668721}}</ref> A survey published in ''[[American Psychologist]]'' in 1991 ranked James's reputation in second place,<ref>J. H. Korn, R. Davis, S. F. Davis: "Historians' and chairpersons' judgements of eminence among psychologists". ''American Psychologist'', 1991, Volume 46, pp. 789–792.</ref> after [[Wilhelm Wundt]], who is widely regarded as the founder of experimental psychology.<ref name="plato.stanford.edu">[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-wundt/ "Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt"] in ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''.</ref><ref>Tom Butler-Bowdon: [https://books.google.com/books?id=wfjB9Blnk8kC ''50 Psychology Classics'']. Nicholas Brealey Publishing 2007. {{ISBN|1857884736}}. p. 2.</ref> James also developed the philosophical perspective known as [[radical empiricism]]. James's work has influenced philosophers and academics such as [[Alan Watts]],<ref>https://alanwatts.org/transcripts/turning-the-head-or-turning-on/</ref> [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], [[Edmund Husserl]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[Hilary Putnam]], and [[Richard Rorty]]. <ref name=SEP>{{cite encyclopedia |title=William James |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=[[Center for the Study of Language and Information]] (CSLI), [[Stanford University]] |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/ |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref>

Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the [[Swedenborgian]] theologian [[Henry James Sr.]] and the brother of both the prominent novelist [[Henry James]] and the diarist [[Alice James]]. James trained as a physician and taught anatomy at Harvard, but never practiced medicine. Instead, he pursued his interests in psychology and then philosophy. He wrote widely on many topics, including [[epistemology]], education, [[metaphysics]], [[psychology]], religion, and [[mysticism]]. Among his most influential books are ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology; ''[[Essays in Radical Empiricism]]'', an important text in philosophy; and ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'', an investigation of different forms of [[religious experience]], including theories on [[mind-cure]].<ref name=James>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=2009 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=74–120 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

== Early life ==
[[File:Houghton MS Am 1092 (1185) - William James in Brazil, 1865.jpg|thumb|upright|right|William James in Brazil, 1865]]

William James was born at the [[Astor House]] in New York City on January 11, 1842. He was the son of [[Henry James Sr.]], a noted and independently wealthy [[Swedenborgian]] theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable [[Epistolary novel|epistolary]] talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics.

William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged [[cosmopolitanism]]. The family made two trips to Europe while William James was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. James wished to pursue painting, his early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of [[William Morris Hunt]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], but his father urged him to become a physician instead. Since this did not align with James's interests, he stated that he wanted to specialize in physiology. Once he figured this was also not what he wanted to do, he then announced he was going to specialize in the nervous system and psychology. James then switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the [[Lawrence Scientific School]] of [[Harvard College]].

In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also [[tone deafness|tone deaf]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sacks |first=Oliver |year=2008 |title=Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |pages=xiii |isbn=978-1-4000-3353-9}}</ref>
He was subject to a variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as [[neurasthenia]], and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson ([[Wilkie James|Wilkie]]) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the American [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. James himself was an advocate of peace. He suggested that instead of youth serving in the military that they serve the public in a term of service, "to get the childishness knocked out of them." The other three siblings (William,{{explain|reason=William James had a sibling named William James???|date=April 2024}} Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of [[invalidism]].{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

He took up medical studies at [[Harvard Medical School]] in 1864 (according to his brother [[Henry James]], the author). He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist [[Louis Agassiz]] on a scientific expedition up the [[Amazon River]], but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe [[seasickness]] and mild [[smallpox]]. His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he began to publish; reviews of his works appeared in literary periodicals such as the ''[[North American Review]]''.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

James finally earned his [[Medical Doctor|MD]] degree in June 1869 but he never practiced medicine. What he called his "soul-sickness" would only be resolved in 1872, after an extended period of philosophical searching. He married Alice Gibbens in 1878. In 1882 he joined the [[Theosophical Society]].<ref>Antony Lysy, "William James, Theosophist", ''The Quest'' Volume 88, number 6, November–December 2000.</ref>

James's time in Germany proved intellectually fertile, helping him find that his true interests lay not in medicine but in philosophy and psychology. Later, in 1902 he would write: "I originally studied medicine in order to be a physiologist, but I drifted into psychology and philosophy from a sort of fatality. I never had any philosophic instruction, the first lecture on psychology I ever heard being the first I ever gave".<ref>[[Ralph Barton Perry]], ''The Thought and Character of William James'', vol. 1, (1935), 1996 edition: {{ISBN|0-8265-1279-8}}, p. 228.</ref>

== Career ==
He interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], his godson [[William James Sidis]], as well as [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Josiah Royce]], [[Ernst Mach]], [[John Dewey]], [[Macedonio Fernández]], [[Walter Lippmann]], [[Mark Twain]], [[Horatio Alger]], [[G. Stanley Hall]], [[Henri Bergson]], [[Carl Jung]], [[Jane Addams]] and [[Sigmund Freud]].

James spent almost all of his academic career at Harvard. He was appointed instructor in [[physiology]] for the spring 1873 term, instructor in [[anatomy]] and physiology in 1873, assistant professor of psychology in 1876, assistant [[Harvard University Department of Philosophy|professor of philosophy]] in 1881, full professor in 1885, endowed chair in psychology in 1889, return to philosophy in 1897, and emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907.

James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology was constituting itself as a science. James's acquaintance with the work of figures like [[Hermann Helmholtz]] in Germany and [[Pierre Janet]] in France facilitated his introduction of courses in scientific psychology at [[Harvard University]]. He taught his first [[experimental psychology]] course at Harvard in the 1875–1876 academic year.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Duane P. Schultz |author2=Sydney Ellen Schultz |date=March 22, 2007 |title=A History of Modern Psychology |publisher=Cengage Learning |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ge36EniJWwQC&pg=PA185 |pages=185– |isbn=978-0-495-09799-0}}</ref>

During his Harvard years, James joined in philosophical discussions and debates with [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles Peirce]], [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]], and [[Chauncey Wright]] that evolved into a lively group informally known as [[The Metaphysical Club]] in 1872. [[Louis Menand]] (2001) suggested that this Club provided a foundation for American intellectual thought for decades to come. James joined the [[American Anti-Imperialist League|Anti-Imperialist League]] in 1898, in opposition to the United States annexation of the Philippines.

[[File:WilliamJames JosiahRoyce ca1910 Harvard.png|thumb|William James and [[Josiah Royce]], near James's country home in Chocorua, New Hampshire in September 1903. James's daughter Peggy took the picture. On hearing the camera click, James cried out: "Royce, you're being photographed! Look out! I say ''Damn the Absolute!"'']]

Among James's students at Harvard University were [[Boris Sidis]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[George Santayana]], [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], [[G. Stanley Hall]], [[Ralph Barton Perry]], [[Gertrude Stein]], [[Horace Kallen]], [[Morris Raphael Cohen]], [[Walter Lippmann]], [[Alain Locke]], [[C. I. Lewis]], and [[Mary Whiton Calkins]]. Antiquarian bookseller [[Gabriel Wells]] tutored under him at Harvard in the late 1890s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Barbara |title=A History of and Guide to Uniform Editions of Mark Twain's Works |publisher=twainquotes.com |url=http://www.twainquotes.com/UniformEds/UniformEdsCh29.html |access-date=October 1, 2014}}</ref>

His students enjoyed his brilliance and his manner of teaching was free of personal arrogance. They remember him for his kindness and humble attitude. His respectful attitude towards them speaks well of his character.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thorndike |first=Edward |year=1910 |title=Communications and discussions: William James |journal=Journal of Educational Psychology |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=473–474 |doi=10.1037/h0075718}}</ref>

Following his January 1907 retirement from Harvard, James continued to write and lecture, publishing ''Pragmatism'', ''A Pluralistic Universe'', and ''The Meaning of Truth''. James was increasingly afflicted with cardiac pain during his last years. It worsened in 1909 while he worked on a philosophy text (unfinished but posthumously published as ''Some Problems in Philosophy'').

James sailed to Europe in the spring of 1910 to take experimental treatments for his heart ailment that proved unsuccessful, and returned home on August 18. His heart failed on August 26, 1910, at his home in [[Chocorua, New Hampshire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capps |first=Donald |date=October 23, 2015 |title=The Religious Life: The Insights of William James |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxLsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |via=Google Books |isbn=978-1-4982-1994-5}}</ref>
He was buried in the family plot in Cambridge Cemetery, [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].

He was one of the strongest proponents of the school of [[Functional psychology|functionalism]] in psychology and of [[pragmatism]] in philosophy. He was a founder of the [[American Society for Psychical Research]], as well as a champion of alternative approaches to healing. In 1884 and 1885 he became president of the British Society for Psychical Research for which he wrote in ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'' and in the ''[[Psychological Review]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sommer |first=Andreas |date=April 1, 2012 |title=Psychical research and the origins of American psychology |journal=Hist Hum Sci |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.1177/0952695112439376 |pmc=3552602 |pmid=23355763}}</ref>
He challenged his professional colleagues not to let a narrow mindset prevent an honest appraisal of those beliefs.

In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. using six criteria such as citations and recognition, James was found to be the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Haggbloom, S. J. |year=2002 |display-authors=etal |title=The 100 Most Eminent Psychologists of the 20th Century |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=139–152 |url=http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000064/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429015400/http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000064/ |archive-date=April 29, 2006 |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139 |s2cid=145668721}}. Haggbloom ''et al.'' combined 3 quantitative variables: citations in professional journals, citations in textbooks, and nominations in a survey given to members of the [[Association for Psychological Science]], with 3 qualitative variables (converted to quantitative scores): [[National Academy of Sciences]] (NAS) membership, American Psychological Association (APA) President or recipient of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. Then the list was rank ordered.</ref>

== Family ==
William James was the son of Henry James (Senior) of Albany, and Mary Robertson Walsh. He had four siblings: [[Henry James|Henry]] (the novelist), Garth Wilkinson, Robertson, and [[Alice James|Alice]].<ref name=AMB>{{Cite AMB1920|wstitle=James, William}}</ref>
William became engaged to Alice Howe Gibbens on May 10, 1878; they were married on July 10. They had 5 children: [[Henry James (biographer)|Henry]] (May 18, 1879 – 1947), William (June 17, 1882 – 1961), Herman (1884, died in infancy), Margaret (March 1887 – 1950) and Alexander (December 22, 1890 – 1946).

Most of William James's ancestors arrived in America from Scotland or Ireland in the 18th century. Many of them settled in eastern New York or New Jersey. All of James's ancestors were Protestant, well educated, and of character. Within their communities, they worked as farmers, merchants, and traders who were all heavily involved with their church. The last ancestor to arrive in America was William James's paternal grandfather also named William James. He came to America from [[Ballyjamesduff]], County Cavan, Ireland in 1789 when he was 18 years old. There is suspicion that he fled to America because his family tried to force him into the ministry. After traveling to America with no money left, he found a job at a store as a clerk. After continuously working, he was able to own the store himself. As he traveled west to find more job opportunities, he was involved in various jobs such as the salt industry and the Erie Canal project. After being a significant worker in the Erie Canal project and helping Albany become a major center of trade, he then became the first vice-president of the Albany Savings Bank. William James (grandfather) went from being a poor Irish immigrant to one of the richest men in New York. After his death, his son Henry James inherited his fortune and lived in Europe and the United States searching for the meaning of life.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Of James' five children, two—Margaret and Alexander—are known to have had children. Descendants of Alexander are still living.

== Writings ==
William James wrote voluminously throughout his life. A non-exhaustive bibliography of his writings, compiled by [[John J. McDermott (philosopher)|John McDermott]], is 47 pages long.<ref>John J. McDermott, ''The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition'', University of Chicago Press, 1977 revised edition, {{ISBN|0-226-39188-4}}, pp. 812–58.</ref>

He gained widespread recognition with his monumental ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'' (1890), totaling twelve hundred pages in two volumes, which took twelve years to complete. ''Psychology: The Briefer Course'', was an 1892 abridgement designed as a less rigorous introduction to the field. These works criticized both the English [[associationist]] school and the [[Hegel]]ianism of his day as competing dogmatisms of little explanatory value, and sought to re-conceive the human mind as inherently purposive and selective.

[[President Jimmy Carter's Moral Equivalent of War Speech]], on April 17, 1977, equating the United States' [[1970s energy crisis]], oil crisis, and the changes and sacrifices Carter's proposed plans would require with the "moral equivalent of war", may have borrowed its title and much of its theme from James's classic essay "The Moral Equivalent of War" derived from his last speech, delivered at Stanford University in 1906, and published in 1910, in which "James considered one of the classic problems of politics: how to sustain political unity and civic virtue in the absence of war or a credible threat", and which "sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation".<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow_intro.htm William James' The Moral Equivalent of War Introduction by John Roland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216220326/https://www.constitution.org/wj/meow_intro.htm |date=December 16, 2019 }}. Constitution.org. Retrieved on August 28, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm William James' The Moral Equivalent of War – 1906] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526203149/https://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm |date=May 26, 2020 }}. Constitution.org. Retrieved on August 28, 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Harrison Ross Steeves |author2=Frank Humphrey Ristine |year=1913 |title=Representative essays in modern thought: a basis for composition |publisher=American Book Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/representativee01steegoog/page/n537 519]– |url=https://archive.org/details/representativee01steegoog |via=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Moral Equivalent of War |journal=McClure's Magazine |date=August 1910 |pages=463–468 |last1=James |first1=William }}</ref>

In simple terms, his philosophy and writings can be understood as an emphasis on "fruits over roots," a reflection of his pragmatist tendency to focus on the practical consequences of ideas rather than become mired in unproductive metaphysical arguments or fruitless attempts to ground truth in abstract ways. Ever the empiricist, James believes we are better off evaluating the fruitfulness of ideas by testing them in the common ground of lived experience.<ref>Howard, Jeffrey (June 24, 2020). "The Power of One Idea,"[https://erraticus.co/2020/06/24/john-kaag-sick-souls-healthy-minds-william-james-pragmatism/] ''Erraticus''. Retrieved March 8, 2023.</ref>

James was remembered as one of America's representative thinkers, psychologist, and philosopher. William James was also an influential writer on religion, psychical research, and self-help.

== Epistemology ==
[[File:William James - John La Farge.jpg|thumb|Portrait of William James by [[John La Farge]], {{Circa|1859}}]]
James defined [[truth|true]] beliefs as those that prove useful to the believer. His [[pragmatic theory of truth]] was a synthesis of [[correspondence theory of truth]] and [[coherence theory of truth]], with an added dimension. Truth is verifiable to the extent that thoughts and statements correspond with actual things, as well as the extent to which they "hang together", or cohere, as pieces of a puzzle might fit together; these are in turn verified by the observed results of the application of an idea to actual practice.<ref name="PragTruth">James, William. 1907. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060715031834/http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/James/James_1907/James_1907_06.html Pragmatism's Conception of Truth]" (lecture 6). pp. 76–91 in ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking''. New York: [[Longman]] Green and Co. Archived from the [http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/James/James_1907/James_1907_06.html original] July 15, 2006.</ref><ref>"[[Pragmatic theory of truth|Pragmatic Theory of Truth]]." pp. 427–428 in ''[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' 6. London: [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]. 1969.</ref>{{Blockquote|text=The most ancient parts of truth … also once were plastic. They also were called true for human reasons. They also mediated between still earlier truths and what in those days were novel observations. Purely objective truth, truth in whose establishment the function of giving human satisfaction in marrying previous parts of experience with newer parts played no role whatsoever, is nowhere to be found. The reasons why we call things true is the reason why they are true, for "to be true" means only to perform this marriage-function.|author=|title="[[Pragmatic theory of truth|Pragmatism's Conception of Truth]]," ''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 83.|source=}}

James held a world view in line with [[pragmatism]], declaring that the value of any truth was utterly dependent upon its use to the person who held it. Additional tenets of James's pragmatism include the view that the world is a mosaic of diverse experiences that can only be properly interpreted and understood through an application of "[[radical empiricism]]". ''Radical empiricism'', not related to the everyday [[Empiricism|scientific empiricism]], asserts that the world and experience can never be halted for an entirely objective analysis; the mind of the observer and the act of observation affect any empirical approach to truth. The mind, its experiences, and nature are inseparable. James's emphasis on diversity as the default human condition—over and against duality, especially [[Hegelianism|Hegelian]] dialectical duality—has maintained a strong influence in American culture. James's description of the [[Mind-world relation|mind-world]] connection, which he described in terms of a "[[stream of consciousness (psychology)|stream of consciousness]]", had a direct and significant impact on [[avant-garde]] and [[modernist]] literature and art, notably in the case of [[James Joyce]].

In "What Pragmatism Means" (1906), James writes that the central point of his own doctrine of truth is, in brief:<ref name=":2">William James. 1907 [1906]. "[https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1907/James_1907_02.html What Pragmatism Means]" (lecture 2). pp. 17–32 in ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking''. New York: [[Longman]] Green and Co. via The Mead Project, [[Brock University]] (2007). [https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm Available] via [[Marxists Internet Archive|Marxist Internet Archive]] (2005).</ref>
<blockquote>Truths emerge from facts, but they dip forward into facts again and add to them; which facts again create or reveal new truth (the word is indifferent) and so on indefinitely. The "facts" themselves meanwhile are not true. They simply are. Truth is the function of the beliefs that start and terminate among them.</blockquote>[[Richard Rorty]] made the contested claim that James did not mean to give a theory of truth with this statement and that we should not regard it as such. However, other pragmatism scholars such as [[Susan Haack]] and Howard Mounce do not share Rorty's [[Instrumentalism|instrumentalist]] interpretation of James.<ref>{{cite book |author=H. O. Mounce |year=1997 |title=The two pragmatisms: from Peirce to Rorty |publisher=Psychology Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5dQRUqk3QUC |isbn=978-0-415-15283-9}}</ref>

In ''The Meaning of Truth'' (1909), James seems to speak of truth in relativistic terms, in reference to critics of pragmatism: "The critic's trouble … seems to come from his taking the word 'true' irrelatively, whereas the pragmatist always means 'true for him who experiences the workings.'"<ref>James, William. 1909. ''The Meaning of Truth''. New York: [[Longman]]s, Green, & Co. p. 177.</ref>
However, James responded to critics accusing him of [[relativism]], [[skepticism]], or agnosticism, and of believing only in relative truths. To the contrary, he supported an [[epistemological realism]] position.{{efn-lr|See his ''Defense of a Pragmatic Notion of Truth'', written to counter criticisms of his ''Pragmatism's Conception of Truth'' (1907) lecture.}}

=== Pragmatism and "cash value" ===
''[[Pragmatism]]'' is a philosophical approach that seeks to both define truth and resolve metaphysical issues. William James demonstrates an application of his method in the form of a simple story:<ref name="auto3">{{Cite book |last=Gunn |first=Giles |year=2000 |title=William James: Pragmatism and Other Writings |publisher=Penguin Group |pages=24–40}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> <blockquote>A live squirrel supposed to be clinging on one side of a tree-trunk; while over against the tree's opposite side a human being was imagined to stand. This human witness tries to get sight of the squirrel by moving rapidly round the tree, but no matter how fast he goes, the squirrel moves as fast in the opposite direction, and always keeps the tree between himself and the man, so that never a glimpse of him is caught. The resultant metaphysical problem now is this: ''Does the man go round the squirrel or not?''</blockquote>James solves the issue by making a distinction between ''practical'' meaning. That is, the distinction between meanings of "round". ''Round'' in the sense that the man occupies the space north, east, south, and west of the squirrel; and ''round'' in the sense that the man occupies the space facing the squirrel's belly, back and sides. Depending on what the debaters meant by "going round", the answer would be clear. From this example James derives the definition of the ''pragmatic method'': to settle metaphysical disputes, one must simply make a distinction of practical consequences between notions, then, the answer is either clear, or the "dispute is idle".<ref name="auto3" />

Both James and his colleague, [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], coined the term "[[cash value]]":<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burch |first=Robert |date=June 22, 2001 |title=Charles Sanders Peirce |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107072647/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/ |access-date=December 9, 2019 |archive-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref>
<blockquote>When he said that the whole meaning of a (clear) conception consists in the entire set of its practical consequences, he had in mind that a meaningful conception must have some sort of experiential "cash value," must somehow be capable of being related to some sort of collection of possible empirical observations under specifiable conditions.</blockquote>A statement's truthfulness is verifiable through its correspondence to reality, and its observable effects of putting the idea to practice. For example, James extends his Pragmatism to the hypothesis of God: "On pragmatic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true. … The problem is to build it out and determine it so that it will combine satisfactorily with all the other working truths."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gunn |first=Giles |year=2000 |title=William James: Pragmatism and Other Writings |publisher=Penguin Group |pages=119–132}}</ref>
From this, we also know that "new" truths must also correspond to already existent truths as well.

From the introduction by [[Bruce Kuklick]] (1981, p. xiv) to James's ''Pragmatism'':

<blockquote>James went on to apply the pragmatic method to the epistemological problem of truth. He would seek the meaning of "true" by examining how the idea functioned in our lives. A belief was true, he said, if it worked for all of us, and guided us expeditiously through our semihospitable world. James was anxious to uncover what true beliefs amounted to in human life, what their "cash value" was, and what consequences they led to. A belief was not a mental entity which somehow mysteriously corresponded to an external reality if the belief were true. Beliefs were ways of acting with reference to a precarious environment, and to say they were true was to say they were efficacious in this environment. In this sense the pragmatic theory of truth applied Darwinian ideas in philosophy; it made survival the test of intellectual as well as [[fitness (biology)|biological fitness]].</blockquote>

James's book of lectures on pragmatism is arguably the most influential book of [[American philosophy]]. The lectures inside depict his position on the subject. In his sixth lecture, he begins by defining truth as "agreement with reality".<ref name="PragTruth" /> With this, James warns that there will be disagreements between pragmatics and intellectualists over the concepts of "agreement" and "reality", the last reasoning before thoughts settle and become autonomous for us. However, he contrasts this by supporting a more practical interpretation that: a true idea or belief is one that we can blend with our thinking so that it can be justified through experiences.<ref name="IEP">{{cite web |last=Pomerleau |first=Wayne |title=William James (1842–1910) |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=IEP |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/james-o/ |access-date=April 28, 2018}}</ref>{{blockquote|If theological ideas prove to have a value for concrete life, they will be true, for pragmatism, in the sense of being good for so much. For how much more they are true, will depend entirely on their relations to the other truths that also have to be acknowledged.|''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 29}}

Whereby the agreement of truths with "reality" results in useful outcomes, "the 'reality' with which truths must agree has three dimensions":<ref name="IEP" /><ref name="SEP" />

# "matters of fact";
# "relations of ideas"; and
# "the entire set of other truths to which we are committed".

According to James's pragmatic approach to belief, knowledge is commonly viewed as a justified and true belief. James will accept a view if its conception of truth is analyzed and justified through interpretation, pragmatically. As a matter of fact, James's whole philosophy is of productive beliefs.

Belief in anything involves conceiving of how it is real, but disbelief is the result when we dismiss something because it contradicts another thing we think of as real. In his "Sentiment of Rationality", saying that crucial beliefs are not known is to doubt their truth, even if it seems possible. James names four "postulates of rationality" as valuable but unknowable: God, immorality, freedom, and moral duty.<ref name="IEP" /><ref>James, William. 1897 [1882] "The Sentiment of Rationality." ''The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy''. New York: [[Longman]]s, Green & Co.</ref>

In contrast, the weak side to pragmatism is that the best justification for a claim is whether it works. However, a claim that does not have outcomes cannot be justified, or unjustified, because it will not make a difference.

{{blockquote|"There can be no difference that doesn't make a difference."|''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 45|title=|source=}}

When James moves on to then state that pragmatism's goal is ultimately "to try to interpret each notion by tracing its respective practical consequences", he does not clarify what he means by "practical consequences."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=James |first=William |date=2000 |title=Pragmatism and other writings |orig-year=1842–1910 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-043735-5 |oclc=943305535}}</ref>
On the other hand, his friend, colleague, and another key founder in establishing pragmatist beliefs, [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles S. Peirce]], dives deeper in defining these consequences. For Peirce, "the consequences we are concerned with are ''general'' and ''intelligible''."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Legg |first=Catherine |date=March 14, 2019 |title=Pragmatism |website=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pragmatism/ |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
He further explains this in his 1878 paper "How to Make Ideas Clear," when he introduces a maxim that allows one to interpret consequences as grades of clarity and conception.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Atkin |first=Albert |title=Charles Sanders Peirce: Pragmatism |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/peircepr/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710194332/https://www.iep.utm.edu/PeircePr/ |access-date=December 8, 2019 |archive-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref>
Describing how everything is derived from perception, Peirce uses the example of the [[Transubstantiation|doctrine of transubstantiation]] to show exactly how he defines practical consequences. [[Protestants]] interpret the bread and wine of the [[Eucharist]] is flesh and blood in only a subjective sense, while [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] would label them as actual, and divinely mystical properties of flesh via the "body, blood, soul, and divinity", even with the physical properties remaining as bread and wine in appearance. But to everyone, there can be no knowledge of the wine and bread of the Eucharist unless it is established that either wine and bread possesses certain properties or that anything that is interpreted as the blood and body of Christ is the blood and body of Christ. With this Peirce declares that "our action has exclusive reference to what affects the senses", and that we can mean nothing by transubstantiation than "what has certain effects, direct or indirect, upon our senses."<ref>Peirce, Charles S. 1878. "'How to Make Our Ideas Clear." ''[[Popular Science]] Monthly''. — (excerpt). pp. 212–218 in ''An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century American Science Writing'', edited by C. R. Resetarits. Anthem Press. 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-85728-651-2}}. {{doi|10.7135/upo9780857286512.037}}</ref>
In this sense, James's pragmatic influencer Peirce establishes that what counts as a practical consequence or effect is what can affect one's senses and what is comprehensible and fathomable in the natural world.

"Yet James never worked out his understanding of 'practical consequences' as fully as Peirce did", nor does he limit these consequences to the senses as Peirce does.<ref name=":1" /> This raises the question: what does it mean to be practical? Whether James means the greatest number of positive consequences (in light of [[utilitarianism]]), a consequence that considers other perspectives (such as his compromise of the tender and tough ways of thinking),<ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=William |date=May 1, 2002 |title=Pragmatism |website=The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pragmatism |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5116/5116-h/5116-h.htm |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
or a completely different take altogether, it is unclear what consequences truly fit the pragmatic standard. The closest James comes to explaining this idea is by telling his audience to weigh the difference it would "practically make to anyone" if one opinion over the other were true, and although he attempts to clarify this, he never specifies the method by which one would weigh the difference between one opinion over the other.<ref name=":0" /> Thus, the flaw in his argument appears in that it is difficult to fathom how he would determine these practical consequences, which he continually refers to throughout his work, to be measured or interpreted. He has said that an opinion is correct that works for us humans in practice.

=== Will to believe doctrine ===
{{Main|The Will to Believe}}

In William James's 1896 lecture titled "The Will to Believe", James defends the right to violate the principle of [[evidentialism]] in order to justify hypothesis venturing. This idea foresaw 20th century objections to evidentialism and sought to ground justified belief in an unwavering principle that would prove more beneficial. Through his philosophy of [[pragmatism]] William James justifies religious beliefs by using the results of his hypothetical venturing as evidence to support the hypothesis's truth. Therefore, this doctrine allows one to assume belief in a god and prove its existence by what the belief brings to one's life.

This was criticized by advocates of [[skeptic]]ism rationality, like [[Bertrand Russell]] in [[Free Thought and Official Propaganda]] and [[Alfred Henry Lloyd]] with [[The Will to Doubt]]. Both argued that one must always adhere to [[fallibilism]], recognizing of all human knowledge that "None of our beliefs are quite true; all have at least a penumbra of vagueness and error", and that the only means of progressing ever-closer to the truth is to never assume certainty, but always examine all sides and try to reach a conclusion objectively.

== Free will ==
In his search for truth and assorted principles of psychology, William James developed his two-stage model of free will. In his model, he tries to explain how it is people come to the making of a decision and what factors are involved in it. He firstly defines our basic ability to choose as free will. Then he specifies our two factors as chance and choice. "James's two-stage model effectively separates chance (the in-deterministic free element) from choice (an arguably determinate decision that follows causally from one's character, values, and especially feelings and desires at the moment of decision)."<ref name="Bob Doyle 2011">Doyle, Bob. 2011. ''Free Will: the Scandal in Philosophy''. I-Phi Press. The Information Philosopher.</ref>

James argues that the question of free will revolves around "chance." The idea of chance is that some events are possibilities, things that could happen but are not guaranteed. ''Chance'' is a neutral term (it is, in this case, neither inherently positive nor "intrinsically irrational and preposterous," connotations it usually has); the only information it gives about the events to which it applies is that they are disconnected from other things – they are "not controlled, secured, or necessitated by other things" before they happen.<ref name="auto2">{{Project Gutenburg|26659|title=The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy|bullet=none|chapter=The Will to Believe|chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P1 |publisher=[[Longmans, Green & Co.]]|location=New York|author=James, William. 2009 [1887]}}, produced by A. Haines. </ref>
Chance is made possible regarding our actions because our amount of effort is subject to change. If the amount of effort we put into something is predetermined, our actions are predetermined.<ref name="auto">{{Project Gutenburg|57634|title=The Principles of Psychology|bullet=none|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|location=New York|author=James, William. 2018 [1918]|others=vol. 2}}, produced by C. Graham and M. D'Hooghe.</ref>

Free will in relation to effort also balances "''ideals'' and ''propensities''—the things you see as best versus the things that are easiest to do". Without effort, "the propensity is stronger than the ideal." To act according to your ideals, you must resist the things that are easiest, and this can only be done with effort.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last=Viney |first=Donald Wayne |year=1986 |title=William James on Free Will and Determinism |journal=The Journal of Mind and Behavior |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=555–565 |jstor=43853234}}</ref>
James states that the free will question is therefore simple: "it relates solely to the amount of effort of attention or consent which we can at any time put forth."<ref name="auto" />

''Chance'' is the 'free element,' that part of the model we have no control over. James says that in the sequence of the model, chance comes before choice. In the moment of decision we are given the chance to make a decision and then the choice is what we do (or do not do) regarding the decision.

When it comes to choice, James says we make a choice based on different experiences. It comes from our own past experiences, the observations of others, or:<ref name="Bob Doyle 2011" /> <blockquote>A supply of ideas of the various movements that are … left in the memory by experiences of their involuntary performance is thus the first prerequisite of the voluntary life.</blockquote>What James describes is that once you've made a decision in the past, the experience is stockpiled into your memory where it can be referenced the next time a decision must be made and will be drawn from as a positive solution. However, in his development of the design, James also struggled with being able to prove that free will is actually free or predetermined.

People can make judgements of regret, moral approval and moral disapproval, and if those are absent, then that means our will is predetermined. An example of this is "James says the problem is a very 'personal' one and that he cannot personally conceive of the universe as a place where murder must happen."<ref name="Kenneth A. Shouler 2008">Shouler, Kenneth A. 2008. ''The Everything Guide to Understanding Philosophy: the Basic Concepts of the Greatest Thinkers of All Time – Made Easy!''. [[Adams Media]].</ref>
Essentially, if there were no regrets or judgments then all the bad stuff would not be considered bad, only as predetermined because there are no options of 'good' and 'bad'. "The free will option is pragmatically truer because it better accommodates the judgments of regret and morality."<ref name="Kenneth A. Shouler 2008" /> Overall, James uses this line of reasoning to prove that our will is indeed free: because of our morality codes, and the conceivable alternate universes where a decision has been regarded different from what we chose.

In "The Will to Believe", James simply asserted that his will was free. As his first act of freedom, he said, he chose to believe his will was free. He was encouraged to do this by reading [[Charles Renouvier]], whose work convinced James to convert from [[monism]] to [[pluralism (philosophy)|pluralism]]. In his diary entry of April 30, 1870, James wrote:<ref>[[Ralph Barton Perry|Perry, Ralph Barton]]. ''The Thought and Character of William James'' 1. p. 323.— ''Letters of William James'' 1. p. 147.</ref>

<blockquote>I think that yesterday was a crisis in my life. I finished the first part of Renouvier's second Essais and see no reason why his definition of free will—"the sustaining of a thought because I choose to when I might have other thoughts"—need be the definition of an illusion. At any rate, I will assume for the present—until next year—that it is no illusion. My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.</blockquote>

In 1884, James set the terms for all future discussions of [[determinism]] and [[compatibilism]] in the [[free will]] debates with his lecture to [[Harvard Divinity School]] students published as "The Dilemma of Determinism".<ref name=":3">{{Project Gutenburg|26659|title=The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy|bullet=none|chapter=The Dilemma of Determinism|chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P145 |publisher=[[Longmans, Green & Co.]]|location=New York|author=James, William. 2009 [c. 1884]}}, produced by A. Haines.</ref>
In this talk he defined the common terms ''hard determinism'' and ''soft determinism'' (now more commonly called ''[[compatibilism]]'').<ref name=":3" />

<blockquote>Old-fashioned determinism was what we may call hard determinism. It did not shrink from such words as fatality, bondage of the will, necessitation, and the like. Nowadays, we have a soft determinism which abhors harsh words, and, repudiating fatality, necessity, and even predetermination, says that its real name is freedom; for freedom is only necessity understood, and bondage to the highest is identical with true freedom.<ref name="will149">James, William. 1956 [1884]. "The Dilemma of Determinism." In ''The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy''. New York: [[Dover Publications|Dover]].</ref>{{Rp|149}}</blockquote>

James called compatibilism a "quagmire of evasion,"<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|149}} just as the ideas of [[Thomas Hobbes]] and [[David Hume]]—that free will was simply freedom from external coercion—were called a "wretched subterfuge" by [[Immanuel Kant]].

''Indeterminism'' is "the belief in freedom [which] holds that there is some degree of possibility that is not necessitated by the rest of reality."<ref>Pomerleau, Wayne P. "William James (1842–1910)." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, [http://www.iep.utm.edu/james-o/#H6 "William James" Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article].</ref>
The word "some" in this definition is crucial in James's argument because it leaves room for a higher power, as it does not require that all events be random. Specifically, indeterminism does not say that no events are guaranteed or connected to previous events; instead, it says that some events are not guaranteed – some events are up to chance.<ref name="auto1" /> In James's model of free will, choice is deterministic, determined by the person making it, and it "follows casually from one's character, values, and especially feelings and desires at the moment of decision."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Doyle |first=Bob |year=2010 |title=Jamesian Free Will, the Two-Stage Model of William James |journal=William James Studies |volume=5 |pages=1–28 |jstor=26203733}}</ref>
Chance, on the other hand, is indeterministic, and pertains to possibilities that could happen but are not guaranteed.<ref name="auto2" /> James described [[chance (philosophy)|chance]] as neither hard nor soft determinism, but "[[indeterminism]]":<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|153}}

<blockquote>The stronghold of the determinist argument is the antipathy to the idea of chance ... This notion of alternative possibility, this admission that any one of several things may come to pass is, after all, only a roundabout name for chance.</blockquote>

James asked the students to consider his choice for walking home from Lowell Lecture Hall after his talk:<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|155}}

<blockquote>What is meant by saying that my choice of which way to walk home after the lecture is ambiguous and matter of chance? ... It means that both Divinity Avenue and Oxford Street are called but only one, and that one either one, shall be chosen.</blockquote>

With this simple example, James laid out a two-stage decision process with chance in a present time of random alternatives, leading to a choice of one possibility that transforms an ambiguous future into a simple unalterable past. James's two-stage model separates chance (undetermined alternative possibilities) from [[choice]] (the free action of the individual, on which randomness has no effect). Subsequent thinkers using this model include [[Henri Poincaré]], [[Arthur Holly Compton]], and [[Karl Popper]].

== Philosophy of religion ==
[[File:WJ-Variety-Religious-Exp.png|thumb|right|Excerpt]]

James did important work in [[philosophy of religion]]. In his [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]] he provided a wide-ranging account of ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'' (1902) and interpreted them according to his pragmatic leanings. Some of the important claims he makes in this regard:
* Religious genius (experience) should be the primary topic in the study of religion, rather than religious institutions—since institutions are merely the social descendant of genius.
* The intense, even pathological varieties of experience (religious or otherwise) should be sought by psychologists, because they represent the closest thing to a microscope of the mind—that is, they show us in drastically enlarged form the normal processes of things.
* In order to usefully interpret the realm of common, shared experience and history, we must each make certain "[[overbelief|over-beliefs]]" in things which, while they cannot be proven on the basis of experience, help us to live fuller and better lives.
* A variety of characteristics can be seen within a single individual. There are subconscious elements that compose the scattered fragments of a personality. This is the reflection of a greater dissociation which is the separation between science and religion.
* Religious Mysticism is only one half of mysticism, the other half is composed of the insane and both of these are co-located in the "great subliminal or transmarginal region".<ref>{{Cite book |last=James |first=William |year=1985 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=Penguin Classics |location=New York |page=426}}</ref>

James investigated [[mysticism|mystical]] experiences throughout his life, leading him to experiment with [[chloral hydrate]] (1870), [[Alkyl nitrites|amyl nitrite]] (1875), [[nitrous oxide]] (1882), and [[peyote]] (1896).{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} James claimed that it was only when he was under the influence of nitrous oxide that he was able to understand [[Hegel]].<ref>William James, [http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/jnitrous.html "Subjective Effects of Nitrous Oxide"]</ref>
He concluded that while the revelations of the mystic hold true, they hold true only for the mystic; for others, they are certainly ideas to be considered, but can hold no claim to truth without personal experience of such. ''American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia'' classes him as one of several figures who "took a more [[Pantheism|pantheist]] or [[Pandeism|pandeist]] approach by rejecting views of God as separate from the world."<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[John Lachs]] and [[Robert Talisse]] |year=2007 |title=American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/americanphil_xxxx_2008_000_9069252 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanphil_xxxx_2008_000_9069252/page/n335 310] |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-93926-3}}</ref>

James was an advocate of [[theistic finitism]], which he used to explain the [[problem of evil]].<ref name="Barnard">Barnard, George William. (1997). ''Exploring Unseen Worlds: William James and the Philosophy of Mysticism''. State University of New York Press. p. 251. {{ISBN|0-7914-3223-8}} "James's theology answer to the problem of evil is strikingly simple, but theologically daring: God is ''not'' all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-pervasive, but rather, is finite."</ref><ref>Weidenbaum, Jonathan. (2013) ''William James’s Argument for a Finite Theism''. In Diller J., Kasher A. (eds) ''Models of God and Alternative Ultimate Realities''. Springer. pp. 323-331. {{ISBN|978-94-007-5218-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Stepanenko, Walter Scott|year=2018|title=Jamesian Finite Theism and the Problems of Suffering|journal=European Journal for Philosophy of Religion|url=https://philosophy-of-religion.eu/index.php/ejpr/article/view/1966|volume=10|issue=4|pages=1–25|doi=10.24204/ejpr.v10i4.1966}}</ref>

== Mysticism ==
William James devoted much of his career to the psychological investigation of mysticism. A significant influence on this undertaking was his own mystical experience under the influence of nitrous oxide. Inspired by a report by Benjamin Paul Blood in 1874,<ref>{{cite book |last=Blood |first=Benjamin Paul |date=1874 |title=The anaesthetic revelation and the gist of philosophy |publisher=Books on Demand|oclc= 11479610}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=James |first1=William |title=Review of "The Anaesthetic Revelation and the Gist of Philosophy" |journal=Atlantic Monthly |date=Nov 1874 |volume=33 |issue=205 |pages=627–628}}</ref> James experimented with inhaled nitrous oxide, upon which he experienced a "tremendously exciting sense of an intense metaphysical illumination" in which "every opposition ... vanished in a higher unity" and "the ego and its objects ... are one."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1896 |title=On some Hegelisms. In W. James, ''The will to believe and other essays in popular philosophy'' |publisher=Longmans, Green, & Co. |pages=297–298}}</ref> For so ardent an anti-Hegelian, this was a particularly novel and confusing experience for James. He was powerfully affected by the event and struggled greatly to interpret it. His journey of self discovery instigated by the experience is largely what inspired his later in-depth investigations of mysticism.

William James provided a description of mystical experience in his famous collection of lectures published in 1902 as ''The Varieties of Religious Experience''.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=379–429|isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He posits four criteria as "sufficient to mark out a group of states of consciousness" which may be called the "mystical group."

These criteria are as follows:
* Ineffability – no adequate report of the contents of the experience can be given by words. This was the "handiest" of descriptors for James, and illustrates the necessity of direct, first-hand experience to actually understand a mystical state of consciousness.
* Noetic quality – "...mystical states seem to those who experience them to be also states of knowledge." Mystical consciousness generates a feeling of insight into truths inaccessible to ordinary reasoning. These intuitions or insights are often felt as authoritative both during and after they are experienced, but are necessarily confined by the first criterion of ineffability, and are thus inexpressible in words.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=380–381|isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>
* Transiency – the mystical state is unable to be sustained for long periods of time. They are, however, recognizable upon re-experience, and can be further developed over multiple occasions.
* Passivity – a feeling of suspension of control of one's personal will, occasionally as if grasped by a superior power.

For James, the first two attributes, ineffability and the noetic quality, "will entitle any state to be called mystical, in the sense in which I use the word." The qualities of transiency and passivity are "less sharply marked, but are usually found."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=380–382 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He uses a number of historical examples to illustrate the presence of these attributes in geographically and temporally disparate instances, concluding that the mystical experience "''is on the whole pantheistic and optimistic, or at least the opposite of pessimistic. It is anti-naturalistic, and harmonizes best with twice-bornness and so-called other-worldly states of mind''" (original italics).<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=422 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

In line with his pragmatism, he asserted that the epistemological authority of mystical consciousness for the individual who experiences it is may be rightfully justified, but that others are under no obligation to accept that authority uncritically. Importantly, however, the mere existence of mystical states necessarily indicates an incompleteness in the epistemological authority of the non-mystical.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=427–429 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He would continue to advocate for the acceptance of mystical states as a fruitful subject of psychological research and source of knowledge. In his book ''The Pluralistic Universe'' (1909), he would expand upon his notion of "radical empiricism" in arguing for the possible association of empiricism and religion in the study of human spirituality <ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1977 |title=The Pluralistic Universe |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn= 9780674673915}}</ref> In viewing mysticism from a psychological perspective, he acknowledged that the limits of our being extend far beyond what is ordinarily accessible by our sense perception, and that our finite beings are affected by unconscious forces. "But that which produces effects within another reality must be termed a reality itself, so I feel as if we had no philosophic excuse for calling the unseen or mystical world unreal."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |page=516 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

James viewed mysticism as the most foundational aspect of religion. While he grants that religious experience reveals the possibility of union with something greater than oneself, he clarifies that mysticism (and philosophy) identify that something as an "all inclusive soul of the world" that he does not deem wholly necessary for a practical and fulfilling religious life. As always, James is averse to any dogmatic or absolutist doctrines, within religion and without, and thus values mysticism as a unique method of personal acquaintance with a larger reality.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=525–527 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

== Instincts ==
{{See also|Instinct}}
Like [[Sigmund Freud]], James was influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.<ref name="Buss 1" /> At the core of James's theory of psychology, as defined in ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'' (1890), was a system of "instincts". James wrote that humans had many instincts, even more than other animals.<ref name="Buss 1" /> These instincts, he said, could be overridden by experience and by each other, as many of the instincts were actually in conflict with each other.<ref name="Buss 1">Buss, David M. 2008. "Chapter 1." pp. 2–35 in ''Evolutionary psychology: the new science of the mind''. [[Pearson Education|Pearson]].</ref>
In the 1920s, however, psychology turned away from evolutionary theory and embraced radical behaviorism.<ref name="Buss 1" />

== Theory of emotion ==
James is one of the two namesakes of the [[James–Lange theory]] of [[emotion]], which he formulated independently of [[Carl Lange (physician)|Carl Lange]] in the 1880s. The theory holds that emotion is the mind's perception of physiological conditions that result from some stimulus. In James's oft-cited example, it is not that we see a bear, fear it, and run; we see a bear and run; consequently, we fear the bear. Our mind's [[perception]] of the higher adrenaline level, heartbeat, etc. is the emotion.

This way of thinking about emotion has great consequences for the philosophy of [[aesthetics]] as well as to the philosophy and practice of education.<ref name="reconstructing" /> Here is a passage from his work, ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', that spells out those consequences:

{{blockquote|[W]e must immediately insist that aesthetic emotion, pure and simple, the pleasure given us by certain lines and masses, and combinations of colors and sounds, is an absolutely sensational experience, an optical or auricular feeling that is primary, and not due to the repercussion backwards of other sensations elsewhere consecutively aroused. To this simple primary and immediate [[pleasure]] in certain pure sensations and harmonious combinations of them, there may, it is true, be added secondary pleasures; and in the practical enjoyment of works of art by the masses of mankind these secondary pleasures play a great part. The more classic one's taste is, however, the less relatively important are the secondary pleasures felt to be, in comparison with those of the primary sensation as it comes in. [[Classicism]] and [[romanticism]] have their battles over this point.}}

The theory of emotion was also independently developed in Italy by the anthropologist [[Giuseppe Sergi]].<ref>[[Giuseppe Sergi|Sergi, Giuseppe]]. 1858. ''L'origine dei fenomeni psichici e loro significazione biologica''. Milano: Fratelli Dumolard. {{ISBN|1271529408}}.</ref><ref>[[Giuseppe Sergi|Sergi, Giuseppe]]. 1894. "Storia Naturale dei Sentimenti." ''Principi di Psicologie: Dolore e Piacere''. Milano: Fratelli Dumolard. {{ISBN|1147667462}}.</ref>

=== William James' bear ===
From [[Joseph LeDoux]]'s description of William James' ''Emotion'':<ref>[[Joseph E. LeDoux|LeDoux, Joseph E.]] 1996. ''The Emotional Brain: the Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life''. {{ISBN|0-684-83659-9}}. p. 43.</ref>
<blockquote>
Why do we run away if we notice that we are in danger? Because we are afraid of what will happen if we don't. This obvious answer to a seemingly trivial question has been the central concern of a century-old debate about the nature of our emotions.</blockquote>It all began in 1884 when William James published an article titled "What Is an Emotion?"<ref>James, William. 1884. "[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/emotion.htm What is an Emotion?]" ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'' 9:188–205.</ref>
The article appeared in a philosophy journal called ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'', as there were no psychology journals yet. It was important, not because it definitively answered the question it raised, but because of the way in which James phrased his response. He conceived of an emotion in terms of a sequence of events that starts with the occurrence of an arousing stimulus (the [[sympathetic nervous system]] or the [[parasympathetic nervous system]]); and ends with a passionate feeling, a conscious emotional experience. A major goal of emotion research is still to elucidate this stimulus-to-feeling sequence—to figure out what processes come between the stimulus and the feeling.

James set out to answer his question by asking another: do we run from a bear because we are afraid or are we afraid because we run? He proposed that the obvious answer, that we run because we are afraid, was '''wrong''', and instead argued that we are afraid because we run:

<blockquote>Our natural way of thinking about … emotions is that the mental perception of some fact excites the mental affection called emotion, and that this latter state of mind gives rise to the bodily expression. My theory, on the contrary, is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur IS the emotion (called 'feeling' by [[Damasio#Looking for Spinoza|Damasio]]).</blockquote>

The essence of James's proposal was simple. It was premised on the fact that emotions are often accompanied by bodily responses (racing heart, tight stomach, sweaty palms, tense muscles, and so on; [[sympathetic nervous system]]) and that we can sense what is going on inside our body much the same as we can sense what is going on in the outside world. According to James, emotions feel different from other states of mind because they have these bodily responses that give rise to internal sensations, and different emotions feel different from one another because they are accompanied by different bodily responses and sensations. For example, when we see James's bear, we run away. During this act of escape, the body goes through a physiological upheaval: blood pressure rises, heart rate increases, pupils dilate, palms sweat, muscles contract in certain ways (evolutionary, innate defense mechanisms). Other kinds of emotional situations will result in different bodily upheavals. In each case, the physiological responses return to the brain in the form of bodily sensations, and the unique pattern of sensory feedback gives each emotion its unique quality. Fear feels different from anger or love because it has a different physiological signature (the [[parasympathetic nervous system]] for love). The mental aspect of emotion, the feeling, is a slave to its physiology, not vice versa: we do not tremble because we are afraid or cry because we feel sad; we are afraid because we tremble and are sad because we cry.

== Philosophy of history ==
One of the long-standing schisms in the [[philosophy of history]] concerns the role of individuals in social change.

One faction sees individuals (as seen in [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]]' ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' and [[Thomas Carlyle]]'s ''[[The French Revolution, A History]]'') as the motive power of history, and the broader society as the page on which they write their acts. The other sees society as moving according to [[holistic]] principles or laws, and sees individuals as its more-or-less willing pawns. In 1880, James waded into this controversy with "Great Men, Great Thoughts, and the Environment", an essay published in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]''. He took Carlyle's side, but without Carlyle's one-sided emphasis on the political/military sphere, upon heroes as the founders or overthrowers of states and empires.

A philosopher, according to James, must accept [[genius]]es as a given entity the same way as a biologist accepts as an entity Darwin's "spontaneous variations". The role of an individual will depend on the degree of its [[conformity]] with the social environment, epoch, moment, etc.<ref>Grinin L. E. 2010. "[http://www.socionauki.ru/journal/articles/129622/ The Role of an Individual in History: A Reconsideration]." ''[[Social Evolution & History]]'' 9(2):95–136. p. 103.</ref>

James introduces a notion of receptivities of the moment. The societal mutations from generation to [[generation]] are determined (directly or indirectly) mainly by the acts or examples of individuals whose genius was so adapted to the receptivities of the moment or whose accidental position of authority was so critical that they became ferments, initiators of movements, setters of precedent or fashion, centers of corruption, or destroyers of other persons, whose gifts, had they had free play, would have led society in another direction.<ref>William James. 2007 [1880]. "[https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1880.html Great Men, Great Thoughts and the Environment]." ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' 46:441–459.</ref>

== View on Social Darwinism ==

While James accepted Darwin's theories of biological evolution, he regarded [[Social Darwinism]] as propagated by philosophers such as [[Herbert Spencer]] as a sham. He was highly skeptical of applying Darwin's formula of natural selection to human societies in a way that put the Anglo-Saxons on top of the chain. James' rejection of Social Darwinism was a minority opinion at Harvard in the 1870s and 1880s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |title=The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 |year= 2010 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-08798-8 |pages=77–78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Yw4AQAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>

== View on spiritualism and associationism ==
[[File:Houghton MS Am 1092 (1185) - William James.jpg|thumb|James in a séance with a spiritualist medium]]
James studied closely the schools of thought known as [[associationism]] and [[Spiritualism (philosophy)|spiritualism]]. The view of an associationist is that each experience that one has leads to another, creating a chain of events. The association does not tie together two ideas, but rather physical objects.<ref name="James, 1892">James, William. 1985 [1892]. ''Psychology (Briefer Course)''. [[University of Notre Dame Press]]. {{ISBN|0-268-01557-0}}.</ref>
This association occurs on an atomic level. Small physical changes occur in the brain which eventually form complex ideas or associations. Thoughts are formed as these complex ideas work together and lead to new experiences. [[Isaac Newton]] and [[David Hartley (philosopher)|David Hartley]] both were precursors to this school of thought, proposing such ideas as "physical vibrations in the brain, spinal cord, and nerves are the basis of all sensations, all ideas, and all motions …"<ref name=":4">[[Robert D. Richardson|Richardson, Robert D.]] 2006. ''William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism''. [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]]. {{ISBN|0-618-43325-2}}.</ref>
James disagreed with associationism in that he believed it to be too simple. He referred to associationism as "psychology without a soul"<ref name="j1890">James, William. 1890. ''The Principles of Psychology''.</ref>
because there is nothing from within creating ideas; they just arise by associating objects with one another.

On the other hand, a spiritualist believes that mental events are attributed to the soul. Whereas in associationism, ideas and behaviors are separate, in spiritualism, they are connected. Spiritualism encompasses the term [[innatism]], which suggests that ideas cause behavior. Ideas of past behavior influence the way a person will act in the future; these ideas are all tied together by the soul. Therefore, an inner soul causes one to have a thought, which leads them to perform a behavior, and memory of past behaviors determine how one will act in the future.<ref name=j1890 />

James had a strong opinion about these schools of thought. He was, by nature, a [[Pragmatism#A list of pragmatists|pragmatist]] and thus took the view that one should use whatever parts of theories make the most sense and can be proven.<ref name=":4" /> Therefore, he recommended breaking apart spiritualism and associationism and using the parts of them that make the most sense. James believed that each person has a soul, which exists in a spiritual universe, and leads a person to perform the behaviors they do in the physical world.<ref name=":4" /> James was influenced by [[Emanuel Swedenborg]], who first introduced him to this idea. James stated that, although it does appear that humans use associations to move from one event to the next, this cannot be done without this soul tying everything together. For, after an association has been made, it is the person who decides which part of it to focus on, and therefore determines in which direction following associations will lead.<ref name="James, 1892" /> Associationism is too simple in that it does not account for decision-making of future behaviors, and memory of what worked well and what did not. Spiritualism, however, does not demonstrate actual physical representations for how associations occur. James combined the views of spiritualism and associationism to create his own way of thinking. James discussed tender-minded thinkers as religious, optimistic, dogmatic, and monistic. Tough-minded thinkers were irreligious, pessimistic, pluralists, and skeptical. Healthy-minded individuals were seen as natural believers by having faith in God and universal order. People who focused on human miseries and suffering were noted as sick souls.

James was a founding member and vice president of the [[American Society for Psychical Research]].<ref>Eugene Taylor. (2009). ''The Mystery of Personality: A History of Psychodynamic Theories''. Springer. p. 30. {{ISBN|978-0387981031}}</ref>
The lending of his name made [[Leonora Piper]] a famous medium. In 1885, the year after the death of his young son, James had his first sitting with Piper at the suggestion of his mother-in-law.<ref>[[Deborah Blum]]. (2007). ''Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life''. Penguin Group. p. 98. {{ISBN|978-0-14-303895-5}}.</ref>
He was soon convinced that Piper knew things she could only have discovered by supernatural means. He expressed his belief in Piper by saying, "If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, it is enough if you prove that one crow is white. My white crow is Mrs. Piper."<ref>[[Gardner Murphy]], [[Robert O. Ballou]]. (1960). ''William James on Psychical Research''. Viking Press. p. 41</ref>
However, James did not believe that Piper was in contact with spirits. After evaluating sixty-nine reports of Piper's mediumship he considered the hypothesis of [[telepathy]] as well as Piper obtaining information about her sitters by natural means such as her memory recalling information. According to James the "spirit-control" hypothesis of her mediumship was incoherent, irrelevant and in cases demonstrably false.<ref>Francesca Bordogna. (2008). ''William James at the Boundaries: Philosophy, Science, and the Geography of Knowledge''. University Of Chicago Press. p. 127. {{ISBN|978-0226066523}}</ref>

James held séances with Piper and was impressed by some of the details he was given; however, according to [[Massimo Polidoro]] a maid in the household of James was friendly with a maid in Piper's house and this may have been a source of information that Piper used for private details about James.<ref>[[Massimo Polidoro]]. (2001). ''Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle''. Prometheus Books. p. 36. {{ISBN|978-1573928960}}</ref>
Bibliographers [[Frederick Burkhardt]] and [[Fredson Bowers]] who compiled the works of James wrote "It is thus possible that Mrs. Piper's knowledge of the James family was acquired from the gossip of servants and that the whole mystery rests on the failure of the people upstairs to realize that servants [downstairs] also have ears."<ref>[[Frederick Burkhardt]] and [[Fredson Bowers]]. (1986). ''Essays in Psychical Research''. Harvard University Press. p. 397 in William James. [http://www.nlx.com/collections/66 ''The Works of William James'']. Edited by Frederick H. Burkhardt, Fredson Bowers, and Ignas K. Skrupskelis. 19 vols. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press. 1975–1988.</ref>

James was convinced that the "future will corroborate" the existence of [[telepathy]].<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnfjc6;view=1up;seq=441 About the Shadow World]. ''Everybody's Magazine''. v. 20 (1909).</ref>
Psychologists such as [[James McKeen Cattell]] and [[Edward B. Titchener]] took issue with James's support for [[Parapsychology|psychical research]] and considered his statements unscientific.<ref>Lamont, Peter. (2013). ''Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–188.</ref><ref>Kimble, Gregory A; Wertheimer, Michael; White, Charlotte. (2013). ''Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology''. Psychology Press. p. 23. {{ISBN|0-8058-0620-2}}</ref>
Cattell in a letter to James wrote that the "Society for Psychical Research is doing much to injure psychology".<ref>Goodwin, C. James. (2015). ''A History of Modern Psychology''. Wiley. p. 154. {{ISBN|978-1-118-83375-9}}</ref>

== James' theory of the self ==
'''James' theory of the self''' divided a person's mental picture of self into two categories: the "Me" and the "I". The "Me" can be thought of as a separate object or individual a person refers to when describing their personal experiences; while the "I" is the self that knows who they are and what they have done in their life.<ref name=IEP /> Both concepts are depicted in the statement; "''I'' know it was ''me'' who ate the cookie." He called the "Me" part of self the "empirical me" and the "I" part "the pure Ego".<ref name="cooper1992" /> For James, the "I" part of self was the thinking self, which could not be further divided. He linked this part of the self to the soul of a person, or what is now thought of as the mind.<ref name=psychclassics /> Educational theorists have been inspired in various ways by James's theory of self, and have developed various applications to curricular and pedagogical theory and practice.<ref name="reconstructing">{{cite book |last=Ergas |first=Oren |date=2017 |title=Reconstructing 'education' through mindful attention |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-1-137-58781-7}}</ref>

James further divided the "Me" part of self into: a material, a social, and a spiritual self, as below.<ref name=cooper1992>Cooper, W. E. (1992). "William James's theory of the self". ''Monist'' 75(4), 504.</ref>

=== Material self ===
The material self consists of things that belong to a person or entities that a person belongs to. Thus, things like the body, family, clothes, money, and such make up the material self. For James, the core of the material self was the body.<ref name=psychclassics>{{cite web |title=Classics in the History of Psychology (archived copy) |url=http://psychclassics.asu.edu/James/Principles/prin10.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206021129/http://psychclassics.asu.edu/James/Principles/prin10.htm |access-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-date=December 6, 2013}}</ref>
Second to the body, James felt a person's clothes were important to the material self. He believed a person's clothes were one way they expressed who they felt they were; or clothes were a way to show status, thus contributing to forming and maintaining one's self-image.<ref name=psychclassics /> Money and family are critical parts of the material self. James felt that if one lost a family member, a part of who they are was lost also. Money figured in one's material self in a similar way. If a person had significant money then lost it, who they were as a person changed as well.<ref name=psychclassics />

=== Social self ===
Our social selves are who we are in a given social situation. For James, people change how they act depending on the social situation that they are in. James believed that people had as many social selves as they did social situations they participated in.<ref name=psychclassics /> For example, a person may act in a different way at work when compared to how that same person may act when they are out with a group of friends. James also believed that in a given social group, an individual's social self may be divided even further.<ref name=psychclassics /> An example of this would be, in the social context of an individual's work environment, the difference in behavior when that individual is interacting with their boss versus their behavior when interacting with a co-worker.

=== Spiritual self ===
For James, the spiritual self was who we are at our core. It is more concrete or permanent than the other two selves. The spiritual self is our subjective and most intimate self. Aspects of a spiritual self include things like personality, core values, and conscience that do not typically change throughout an individual's lifetime. The spiritual self involves introspection, or looking inward to deeper spiritual, moral, or intellectual questions without the influence of objective thoughts.<ref name=psychclassics /> For James, achieving a high level of understanding of who we are at our core, or understanding our spiritual selves is more rewarding than satisfying the needs of the social and material selves.

=== Pure ego ===
What James refers to as the "I" self. For James, the pure ego is what provides the thread of continuity between our past, present, and future selves. The pure ego's perception of consistent individual identity arises from a continuous stream of consciousness.<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to William James |website=www.uky.edu |date=July 31, 2013 |url=http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/hunt.html}}</ref>
James believed that the pure ego was similar to what we think of as the soul, or the mind. The pure ego was not a substance and therefore could not be examined by science.<ref name=IEP />

== Notable works ==
* ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', 2 vols. (1890), [[Dover Publications]] 1950, vol. 1: {{ISBN|0-486-20381-6}}, vol. 2: {{ISBN|0-486-20382-4}}
* ''Psychology (Briefer Course)'' (1892), University of Notre Dame Press 1985: {{ISBN|0-268-01557-0}}, Dover Publications 2001: {{ISBN|0-486-41604-6}}
* ''[https://www.themantle.com/philosophy/life-worth-living-william-james Is Life Worth Living?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114115524/https://www.themantle.com/philosophy/life-worth-living-william-james |date=January 14, 2020 }}'' (1895), the seminal lecture delivered at Harvard on April 15, 1895
* ''[[Will to believe doctrine|The Will to Believe]], and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy'' (1897)
* ''Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine'' (the [[Ingersoll Lecture]], 1897)
** ''The Will to Believe, Human Immortality'' (1956) Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-20291-7}}
* ''Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals'' (1899), Dover Publications 2001: {{ISBN|0-486-41964-9}}, IndyPublish.com 2005: {{ISBN|1-4219-5806-6}}
* ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]: A Study in Human Nature'' (1902), {{ISBN|0-14-039034-0}}
* ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking'' (1907), Hackett Publishing 1981: {{ISBN|0-915145-05-7}}, Dover 1995: {{ISBN|0-486-28270-8}}
* ''A Pluralistic Universe'' (1909), [[Hibbert Lectures]], University of Nebraska Press 1996: {{ISBN|0-8032-7591-9}}
* ''The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to "Pragmatism"'' (1909), Prometheus Books, 1997: {{ISBN|1-57392-138-6}}
* ''Some Problems of Philosophy: A Beginning of an Introduction to Philosophy'' (1911), University of Nebraska Press 1996: {{ISBN|0-8032-7587-0}}
* ''Memories and Studies'' (1911), Reprint Services Corp: 1992: {{ISBN|0-7812-3481-6}}
* ''[[Essays in Radical Empiricism]]'' (1912), Dover Publications 2003, {{ISBN|0-486-43094-4}}
** critical edition, Frederick Burkhardt and Fredson Bowers, editors. Harvard University Press 1976: {{ISBN|0-674-26717-6}} (includes commentary, notes, enumerated emendations, appendices with English translation of "La Notion de Conscience")
* ''Letters of William James'', 2 vols. (1920)
* ''Collected Essays and Reviews'' (1920)
* Ralph Barton Perry, ''The Thought and Character of William James'', 2 vols. (1935), Vanderbilt University Press 1996 reprint: {{ISBN|0-8265-1279-8}} (contains some 500 letters by William James not found in the earlier edition of the ''Letters of William James'')
* ''William James on Psychical Research'' (1960)
* ''The Correspondence of William James'', 12 vols. (1992–2004) University of Virginia Press, {{ISBN|0-8139-2318-2}}
* [https://gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P145 "The Dilemma of Determinism"]
* ''William James on Habit, Will, Truth, and the Meaning of Life'', James Sloan Allen, ed. Frederic C. Beil, Publisher, {{ISBN|978-1-929490-45-5}}

=== Collections ===
* ''William James: Writings 1878–1899'' (1992). [[Library of America]], 1212 p., {{ISBN|978-0-940450-72-1}}
::Psychology: Briefer Course (rev. and condensed Principles of Psychology), The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, Talks to Teachers and Students, Essays (nine others)
* ''William James: Writings 1902–1910'' (1987). [[Library of America]], 1379 p., {{ISBN|978-0-940450-38-7}}
::The Varieties of Religious Experience, Pragmatism, A Pluralistic Universe, The Meaning of Truth, Some Problems of Philosophy, Essays
* ''The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition'' (1978). University of Chicago Press, 912 pp., {{ISBN|0-226-39188-4}}
::Pragmatism, Essays in Radical Empiricism, and A Pluralistic Universe complete; plus selections from other works
* In 1975, Harvard University Press began publication of a standard edition of ''The Works of William James''.
* ''William James: Essays in Pragmatism'' (1966). [[The Hafner Library of Classics]]
:: Edited with an Introduction by Alburey Castell Professor of Philosophy, University of Minnesota

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Philosophy|Psychology}}
* "[[The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life]]"
* [[Psychology of religion]]
* [[American philosophy]]
* [[List of American philosophers]]
* [[William James Lectures]]
* [[William James Society]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-roman}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* ''Essays Philosophical and Psychological in Honor of William James, by his Colleagues at Columbia University'' (London, 1908)

== Further reading ==
* James Sloan Allen, ed., ''William James on Habit, Will, Truth, and the Meaning of Life'' (2014). Frederic C. Beil, Publisher, {{ISBN|978-1-929490-45-5}}
* Margo Bistis, "Remnant of the Future: William James' Automated Utopia", in Norman M. Klein and Margo Bistis, ''The Imaginary 20th Century'' (Karlsruhe: ZKM, 2016). {{ISBN?}}
* [[Émile Boutroux]], [https://archive.org/details/williamjames00boutiala ''William James''] (New York, 1912)
* [[Werner Bloch]], ''Der Pragmatismus von James und Schiller nebst Exkursen über Weltanschauung und über die Hypothese'' (Leipzig, 1913)
* K. A. Busch, ''William James als Religionsphilosoph'' (Göttingen, 1911)
* [[Jacques Barzun]]. ''A Stroll with William James'' (1983). Harper and Row: {{ISBN|0-226-03869-6}}
* [[Deborah Blum]]. ''Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death'' (2006). [[Penguin Press]], {{ISBN|1-59420-090-4}}
* Wesley Cooper. ''The Unity of William James's Thought'' (2002). Vanderbilt University Press, {{ISBN|0-8265-1387-5}}
* Howard M. Feinstein. ''Becoming William James'' (1984). Cornell University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8014-8642-5}}
* [[Théodore Flournoy]], ''La Philosophie de William James'' (Saint-Blaise, 1911)
* Sergio Franzese, ''The Ethics of Energy. William James's Moral Philosophy in Focus'', Ontos Verlag, 2008 {{ISBN?}}
* Sergio Franzese & Felicitas Krämer (eds.), ''[https://www.academia.edu/6075221/_Jamess_Mystical_Body_in_the_Light_of_the_Transmarginal_Field_of_Consciousness_2007_ Fringes of Religious Experience. Cross-perspectives on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience]'', Frankfurt / Lancaster, ontos verlag, Process Thought XII, 2007
* Peter Hare, [[Michel Weber]], James K. Swindler, Oana-Maria Pastae, Cerasel Cuteanu (eds.), ''[https://www.academia.edu/280925/International_Perspectives_on_Pragmatism International Perspectives on Pragmatism]'', Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009
* [[James Huneker]], "A Philosophy for Philistines" in ''The Pathos of Distance'' (New York, 1913).
* [[Henry James]], ''A Small Boy and Others'' (1913) and ''Notes of a Son and Brother'' (1914).
* Amy Kittelstrom, ''The Religion of Democracy: Seven Liberals and the American Moral Tradition.'' New York: Penguin, 2015. {{ISBN?}}
* H. V. Knox, ''Philosophy of William James'' (London, 1914).
* [[R. W. B. Lewis]] ''The Jameses: A Family Narrative'' (1991) Farrar, Straus & Giroux. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Louis Menand]]. ''[[The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America]]'' (2001). Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, {{ISBN|0-374-52849-7}}.
* Ménard, ''Analyse et critique des principes de la psychologie de W. James'' (Paris, 1911) analyzes the lives and relationship between James, [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.]], [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], and [[John Dewey]].
* Gerald E. Myers. ''William James: His Life and Thought'' (1986). Yale University Press, 2001, paperback: {{ISBN|0-300-08917-1}}. Focuses on his psychology; includes 230 pages of notes.
* [[Giuseppe Sergi]] L'origine dei fenomeni psichici e loro significazione biologica, Milano, Fratelli Dumolard, 1885.
* [[Giuseppe Sergi]] Principi di Psicologie: Dolore e Piacere; Storia Naturale dei Sentimenti, Milano, Fratelli Dumolard, 1894.
* James Pawelski. ''The Dynamic Individualism of William James'' (2007). SUNY press, {{ISBN|0-7914-7239-6}}.
* [[Ralph Barton Perry|R. B. Perry]], ''Present Philosophical Tendencies'' (New York, 1912)
* [[Robert D. Richardson]]. ''William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism'' (2006). Houghton Mifflin, {{ISBN|0-618-43325-2}}
* Robert D. Richardson, ed. ''The Heart of William James'' (2010). Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-674-05561-2}}
* Robert D. Richardson. ''Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives'' (2023). {{ISBN|978-0691224305}}
* [[Jane Roberts]]. ''The Afterdeath Journal of an American Philosopher: The View of William James'' (1978. Prentice-Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-018515-9}}.)
* Barbara Ross, chapter "William James: A Prime Mover of the Psychoanalytic Movement in America", in ''Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, and the New England Medical Scene: 1894–1944'' (Science History Publications, New York, 1978) {{ISBN|9780882021690}}
* [[Josiah Royce]], ''William James and Other Essays on the Philosophy of Life'' (New York, 1911)
* J. Michael Tilley, "William James: Living Forward and the Development of Radical Empiricism," In ''Kierkegaard's Influence on Philosophy: Anglophone Philosophy,'' edited by Jon Stewart, 2012, Ashgate Publishing, 87–98.
* [[Linda Simon]]. ''Genuine Reality: A Life of William James'' (1998). Harcourt Brace & Company, {{ISBN|0-226-75859-1}}
* Emma K. Sutton. ''William James, MD: Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician'' (2023). {{ISBN|978-0226828985}}
* [[Michel Weber]]. ''[https://www.academia.edu/392183/Whiteheads_Pancreativism._Jamesian_Applications Whitehead's Pancreativism. Jamesian Applications]''. Ontos Verlag, 2011, {{ISBN|978-386838-103-0}}
* Michel Weber, "[https://www.academia.edu/3268912/_On_Religiousness_and_Religion._Huxley_s_Reading_of_Whitehead_s_Religion_in_the_Making_in_the_Light_of_James_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience_2005_ On Religiousness and Religion. Huxley's Reading of Whitehead's Religion in the Making in the Light of James' Varieties of Religious Experience]", Jerome Meckier and Bernfried Nugel (eds.), ''[[Aldous Huxley]] Annual. A Journal of Twentieth-Century Thought and Beyond'', Volume 5, Münster, LIT Verlag, March 2005, pp. 117–132.
* Michel Weber, "[https://www.academia.edu/6075221/_James_s_Mystical_Body_in_the_Light_of_the_Transmarginal_Field_of_Consciousness_2007_ James's Mystical Body in the Light of the Transmarginal Field of Consciousness]", in Sergio Franzese & Felicitas Krämer (eds.), ''Fringes of Religious Experience. Cross-perspectives on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience'', Frankfurt / Lancaster, Ontos Verlag, Process Thought XII, 2007, pp. 7–37. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Richard Wiseman]] (2012). ''Rip it Up: The Radically New Approach to Changing Your Life''. London: Macmillan {{ISBN?}}

== External links ==
{{External links|section|date=May 2024}}
{{Sister project links|n=no|mw=no|m=no|v=no|voy=no|species=no|wikt=no|s=Author:William James (1842-1910)|commons=category:William James (psychologist)|d=Q125249|b=no}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-james}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/325 Works by William James] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=William James|sopt=t}}
* {{Librivox author|id=942}}
* [http://wjsociety.org/ William James Society]
* [http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/james.html Emory University: William James] – major collection of essays and works online
* [http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223277 William James correspondence from the Historic Psychiatry Collection, Menninger Archives, Kansas Historical Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171205150720/http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/exhibits/james/ Harvard University: Life is in the Transitions: William James, 1842–1910] – online exhibition from Houghton Library
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: William James]
* [http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/philosophers/james/ William James on Information Philosopher]
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?106581-1/genuine-reality-life-william-james ''Booknotes'' interview with Linda Simon on ''Genuine Reality: A Life of William James'', June 7, 1998]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928105956/http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/BALLAST/WmJames.html William James: Looking for a Way Out]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0111.html New York Times obituary]
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{William James|state=expanded}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:James, William}}
[[Category:William James| ]]
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William James

2024-10-20T05:24:44Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added Mary Whiton Calkins as a notable student

{{Short description|American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist (1842–1910)}}
{{About|the philosopher and psychologist|other people with the same name}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| era = [[19th-century philosophy|19th-]]/[[20th-century philosophy]]
| image = William James b1842c.jpg
| caption = James in 1903
| alt = A black and white photograph of James
| name = William James
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1842|1|11}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1910|8|26|1842|1|11}}
| death_place = [[Tamworth, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| relatives = [[Henry James Sr.]] (father) [[Henry James]] (brother) [[Alice James]] (sister)
| alma_mater = [[Harvard University]] ([[Doctor of Medicine|MD]])
| institutions = Harvard University
| school_tradition = {{hlist | [[Pragmatism]] | [[functional psychology]] | [[radical empiricism]]}}
| main_interests = {{hlist | [[Pragmatism]] | [[psychology]] | [[philosophy of religion]] | [[epistemology]] | [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]]}}
| notable_ideas = {{hlist | [[Will to believe doctrine]] | [[crisis of self-surrender]] | [[pragmatic theory of truth]] | [[radical empiricism]] | [[James–Lange theory]] of emotion | [[psychologist's fallacy]] | [[ten percent of the brain myth|brain usage theory]] | [[soft determinism]] | dilemma of determinism | [[stream of consciousness]] | [[#James' theory of the self|James's theory of the self]] | the term ''[[multiverse]]''}}
| notable_students = {{hlist | [[Mary Whiton Calkins]] | [[Edwin Holt]] | [[Learned Hand]] | [[Ralph Barton Perry]] | [[Boris Sidis]]}}
}}

'''William James''' (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a [[psychology]] course in the United States.<ref>T. L. Brink (2008). ''Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach''. [http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/TLBrink_PSYCH01.pdf "Unit One: The Definition and History of Psychology"]. p. 10.</ref> James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers of the [[United States]], and the "Father of American psychology."<ref>{{cite web |title=William James: Writings 1878–1899 |publisher=[[The Library of America]] |url=http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=65 |date=June 1, 1992 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=William James: Writings 1902–1910 |publisher=The Library of America |url=http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=66 |date=February 1, 1987 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Dr. Megan E. Bradley |title=William James |work=PSYography |publisher=Faculty.frostburg.edu |url=http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/williamjames.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124184737/http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/williamjames.html |access-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-date=November 24, 2014}}</ref>

Along with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], James established the philosophical school known as [[pragmatism]], and is also cited as one of the founders of [[functional psychology]]. A ''[[Review of General Psychology]]'' analysis, published in 2002, ranked James as the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haggbloom |first1=Steven J. |last2=Warnick |first2=Renee |last3=Warnick |first3=Jason E. |last4=Jones |first4=Vinessa K. |last5=Yarbrough |first5=Gary L. |last6=Russell |first6=Tenea M. |last7=Borecky |first7=Chris M. |last8=McGahhey |first8=Reagan |last9=Powell III |first9=John L. |last10=Beavers |first10=Jamie |last11=Monte |first11=Emmanuelle |year=2002 |display-authors=4 |title=The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=139–152 |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/eminent.aspx |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139 |s2cid=145668721}}</ref> A survey published in ''[[American Psychologist]]'' in 1991 ranked James's reputation in second place,<ref>J. H. Korn, R. Davis, S. F. Davis: "Historians' and chairpersons' judgements of eminence among psychologists". ''American Psychologist'', 1991, Volume 46, pp. 789–792.</ref> after [[Wilhelm Wundt]], who is widely regarded as the founder of experimental psychology.<ref name="plato.stanford.edu">[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-wundt/ "Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt"] in ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''.</ref><ref>Tom Butler-Bowdon: [https://books.google.com/books?id=wfjB9Blnk8kC ''50 Psychology Classics'']. Nicholas Brealey Publishing 2007. {{ISBN|1857884736}}. p. 2.</ref> James also developed the philosophical perspective known as [[radical empiricism]]. James's work has influenced philosophers and academics such as [[Alan Watts]],<ref>https://alanwatts.org/transcripts/turning-the-head-or-turning-on/</ref> [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], [[Edmund Husserl]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[Hilary Putnam]], and [[Richard Rorty]]. <ref name=SEP>{{cite encyclopedia |title=William James |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=[[Center for the Study of Language and Information]] (CSLI), [[Stanford University]] |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/ |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref>

Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the [[Swedenborgian]] theologian [[Henry James Sr.]] and the brother of both the prominent novelist [[Henry James]] and the diarist [[Alice James]]. James trained as a physician and taught anatomy at Harvard, but never practiced medicine. Instead, he pursued his interests in psychology and then philosophy. He wrote widely on many topics, including [[epistemology]], education, [[metaphysics]], [[psychology]], religion, and [[mysticism]]. Among his most influential books are ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology; ''[[Essays in Radical Empiricism]]'', an important text in philosophy; and ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'', an investigation of different forms of [[religious experience]], including theories on [[mind-cure]].<ref name=James>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=2009 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=74–120 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

== Early life ==
[[File:Houghton MS Am 1092 (1185) - William James in Brazil, 1865.jpg|thumb|upright|right|William James in Brazil, 1865]]

William James was born at the [[Astor House]] in New York City on January 11, 1842. He was the son of [[Henry James Sr.]], a noted and independently wealthy [[Swedenborgian]] theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable [[Epistolary novel|epistolary]] talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics.

William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged [[cosmopolitanism]]. The family made two trips to Europe while William James was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. James wished to pursue painting, his early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of [[William Morris Hunt]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], but his father urged him to become a physician instead. Since this did not align with James's interests, he stated that he wanted to specialize in physiology. Once he figured this was also not what he wanted to do, he then announced he was going to specialize in the nervous system and psychology. James then switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the [[Lawrence Scientific School]] of [[Harvard College]].

In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also [[tone deafness|tone deaf]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sacks |first=Oliver |year=2008 |title=Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |pages=xiii |isbn=978-1-4000-3353-9}}</ref>
He was subject to a variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as [[neurasthenia]], and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson ([[Wilkie James|Wilkie]]) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the American [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. James himself was an advocate of peace. He suggested that instead of youth serving in the military that they serve the public in a term of service, "to get the childishness knocked out of them." The other three siblings (William,{{explain|reason=William James had a sibling named William James???|date=April 2024}} Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of [[invalidism]].{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

He took up medical studies at [[Harvard Medical School]] in 1864 (according to his brother [[Henry James]], the author). He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist [[Louis Agassiz]] on a scientific expedition up the [[Amazon River]], but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe [[seasickness]] and mild [[smallpox]]. His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he began to publish; reviews of his works appeared in literary periodicals such as the ''[[North American Review]]''.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

James finally earned his [[Medical Doctor|MD]] degree in June 1869 but he never practiced medicine. What he called his "soul-sickness" would only be resolved in 1872, after an extended period of philosophical searching. He married Alice Gibbens in 1878. In 1882 he joined the [[Theosophical Society]].<ref>Antony Lysy, "William James, Theosophist", ''The Quest'' Volume 88, number 6, November–December 2000.</ref>

James's time in Germany proved intellectually fertile, helping him find that his true interests lay not in medicine but in philosophy and psychology. Later, in 1902 he would write: "I originally studied medicine in order to be a physiologist, but I drifted into psychology and philosophy from a sort of fatality. I never had any philosophic instruction, the first lecture on psychology I ever heard being the first I ever gave".<ref>[[Ralph Barton Perry]], ''The Thought and Character of William James'', vol. 1, (1935), 1996 edition: {{ISBN|0-8265-1279-8}}, p. 228.</ref>

== Career ==
He interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], his godson [[William James Sidis]], as well as [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Josiah Royce]], [[Ernst Mach]], [[John Dewey]], [[Macedonio Fernández]], [[Walter Lippmann]], [[Mark Twain]], [[Horatio Alger]], [[G. Stanley Hall]], [[Henri Bergson]], [[Carl Jung]], [[Jane Addams]] and [[Sigmund Freud]].

James spent almost all of his academic career at Harvard. He was appointed instructor in [[physiology]] for the spring 1873 term, instructor in [[anatomy]] and physiology in 1873, assistant professor of psychology in 1876, assistant [[Harvard University Department of Philosophy|professor of philosophy]] in 1881, full professor in 1885, endowed chair in psychology in 1889, return to philosophy in 1897, and emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907.

James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology was constituting itself as a science. James's acquaintance with the work of figures like [[Hermann Helmholtz]] in Germany and [[Pierre Janet]] in France facilitated his introduction of courses in scientific psychology at [[Harvard University]]. He taught his first [[experimental psychology]] course at Harvard in the 1875–1876 academic year.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Duane P. Schultz |author2=Sydney Ellen Schultz |date=March 22, 2007 |title=A History of Modern Psychology |publisher=Cengage Learning |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ge36EniJWwQC&pg=PA185 |pages=185– |isbn=978-0-495-09799-0}}</ref>

During his Harvard years, James joined in philosophical discussions and debates with [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles Peirce]], [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]], and [[Chauncey Wright]] that evolved into a lively group informally known as [[The Metaphysical Club]] in 1872. [[Louis Menand]] (2001) suggested that this Club provided a foundation for American intellectual thought for decades to come. James joined the [[American Anti-Imperialist League|Anti-Imperialist League]] in 1898, in opposition to the United States annexation of the Philippines.

[[File:WilliamJames JosiahRoyce ca1910 Harvard.png|thumb|William James and [[Josiah Royce]], near James's country home in Chocorua, New Hampshire in September 1903. James's daughter Peggy took the picture. On hearing the camera click, James cried out: "Royce, you're being photographed! Look out! I say ''Damn the Absolute!"'']]

Among James's students at Harvard University were [[Boris Sidis]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[George Santayana]], [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], [[G. Stanley Hall]], [[Ralph Barton Perry]], [[Gertrude Stein]], [[Horace Kallen]], [[Morris Raphael Cohen]], [[Walter Lippmann]], [[Alain Locke]], [[C. I. Lewis]], and [[Mary Whiton Calkins]]. Antiquarian bookseller [[Gabriel Wells]] tutored under him at Harvard in the late 1890s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Barbara |title=A History of and Guide to Uniform Editions of Mark Twain's Works |publisher=twainquotes.com |url=http://www.twainquotes.com/UniformEds/UniformEdsCh29.html |access-date=October 1, 2014}}</ref>

His students enjoyed his brilliance and his manner of teaching was free of personal arrogance. They remember him for his kindness and humble attitude. His respectful attitude towards them speaks well of his character.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thorndike |first=Edward |year=1910 |title=Communications and discussions: William James |journal=Journal of Educational Psychology |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=473–474 |doi=10.1037/h0075718}}</ref>

Following his January 1907 retirement from Harvard, James continued to write and lecture, publishing ''Pragmatism'', ''A Pluralistic Universe'', and ''The Meaning of Truth''. James was increasingly afflicted with cardiac pain during his last years. It worsened in 1909 while he worked on a philosophy text (unfinished but posthumously published as ''Some Problems in Philosophy'').

James sailed to Europe in the spring of 1910 to take experimental treatments for his heart ailment that proved unsuccessful, and returned home on August 18. His heart failed on August 26, 1910, at his home in [[Chocorua, New Hampshire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capps |first=Donald |date=October 23, 2015 |title=The Religious Life: The Insights of William James |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxLsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |via=Google Books |isbn=978-1-4982-1994-5}}</ref>
He was buried in the family plot in Cambridge Cemetery, [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].

He was one of the strongest proponents of the school of [[Functional psychology|functionalism]] in psychology and of [[pragmatism]] in philosophy. He was a founder of the [[American Society for Psychical Research]], as well as a champion of alternative approaches to healing. In 1884 and 1885 he became president of the British Society for Psychical Research for which he wrote in ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'' and in the ''[[Psychological Review]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sommer |first=Andreas |date=April 1, 2012 |title=Psychical research and the origins of American psychology |journal=Hist Hum Sci |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.1177/0952695112439376 |pmc=3552602 |pmid=23355763}}</ref>
He challenged his professional colleagues not to let a narrow mindset prevent an honest appraisal of those beliefs.

In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. using six criteria such as citations and recognition, James was found to be the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Haggbloom, S. J. |year=2002 |display-authors=etal |title=The 100 Most Eminent Psychologists of the 20th Century |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=139–152 |url=http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000064/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429015400/http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000064/ |archive-date=April 29, 2006 |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139 |s2cid=145668721}}. Haggbloom ''et al.'' combined 3 quantitative variables: citations in professional journals, citations in textbooks, and nominations in a survey given to members of the [[Association for Psychological Science]], with 3 qualitative variables (converted to quantitative scores): [[National Academy of Sciences]] (NAS) membership, American Psychological Association (APA) President or recipient of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. Then the list was rank ordered.</ref>

== Family ==
William James was the son of Henry James (Senior) of Albany, and Mary Robertson Walsh. He had four siblings: [[Henry James|Henry]] (the novelist), Garth Wilkinson, Robertson, and [[Alice James|Alice]].<ref name=AMB>{{Cite AMB1920|wstitle=James, William}}</ref>
William became engaged to Alice Howe Gibbens on May 10, 1878; they were married on July 10. They had 5 children: [[Henry James (biographer)|Henry]] (May 18, 1879 – 1947), William (June 17, 1882 – 1961), Herman (1884, died in infancy), Margaret (March 1887 – 1950) and Alexander (December 22, 1890 – 1946).

Most of William James's ancestors arrived in America from Scotland or Ireland in the 18th century. Many of them settled in eastern New York or New Jersey. All of James's ancestors were Protestant, well educated, and of character. Within their communities, they worked as farmers, merchants, and traders who were all heavily involved with their church. The last ancestor to arrive in America was William James's paternal grandfather also named William James. He came to America from [[Ballyjamesduff]], County Cavan, Ireland in 1789 when he was 18 years old. There is suspicion that he fled to America because his family tried to force him into the ministry. After traveling to America with no money left, he found a job at a store as a clerk. After continuously working, he was able to own the store himself. As he traveled west to find more job opportunities, he was involved in various jobs such as the salt industry and the Erie Canal project. After being a significant worker in the Erie Canal project and helping Albany become a major center of trade, he then became the first vice-president of the Albany Savings Bank. William James (grandfather) went from being a poor Irish immigrant to one of the richest men in New York. After his death, his son Henry James inherited his fortune and lived in Europe and the United States searching for the meaning of life.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Of James' five children, two—Margaret and Alexander—are known to have had children. Descendants of Alexander are still living.

== Writings ==
William James wrote voluminously throughout his life. A non-exhaustive bibliography of his writings, compiled by [[John J. McDermott (philosopher)|John McDermott]], is 47 pages long.<ref>John J. McDermott, ''The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition'', University of Chicago Press, 1977 revised edition, {{ISBN|0-226-39188-4}}, pp. 812–58.</ref>

He gained widespread recognition with his monumental ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'' (1890), totaling twelve hundred pages in two volumes, which took twelve years to complete. ''Psychology: The Briefer Course'', was an 1892 abridgement designed as a less rigorous introduction to the field. These works criticized both the English [[associationist]] school and the [[Hegel]]ianism of his day as competing dogmatisms of little explanatory value, and sought to re-conceive the human mind as inherently purposive and selective.

[[President Jimmy Carter's Moral Equivalent of War Speech]], on April 17, 1977, equating the United States' [[1970s energy crisis]], oil crisis, and the changes and sacrifices Carter's proposed plans would require with the "moral equivalent of war", may have borrowed its title and much of its theme from James's classic essay "The Moral Equivalent of War" derived from his last speech, delivered at Stanford University in 1906, and published in 1910, in which "James considered one of the classic problems of politics: how to sustain political unity and civic virtue in the absence of war or a credible threat", and which "sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation".<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow_intro.htm William James' The Moral Equivalent of War Introduction by John Roland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216220326/https://www.constitution.org/wj/meow_intro.htm |date=December 16, 2019 }}. Constitution.org. Retrieved on August 28, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm William James' The Moral Equivalent of War – 1906] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526203149/https://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm |date=May 26, 2020 }}. Constitution.org. Retrieved on August 28, 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Harrison Ross Steeves |author2=Frank Humphrey Ristine |year=1913 |title=Representative essays in modern thought: a basis for composition |publisher=American Book Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/representativee01steegoog/page/n537 519]– |url=https://archive.org/details/representativee01steegoog |via=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Moral Equivalent of War |journal=McClure's Magazine |date=August 1910 |pages=463–468 |last1=James |first1=William }}</ref>

In simple terms, his philosophy and writings can be understood as an emphasis on "fruits over roots," a reflection of his pragmatist tendency to focus on the practical consequences of ideas rather than become mired in unproductive metaphysical arguments or fruitless attempts to ground truth in abstract ways. Ever the empiricist, James believes we are better off evaluating the fruitfulness of ideas by testing them in the common ground of lived experience.<ref>Howard, Jeffrey (June 24, 2020). "The Power of One Idea,"[https://erraticus.co/2020/06/24/john-kaag-sick-souls-healthy-minds-william-james-pragmatism/] ''Erraticus''. Retrieved March 8, 2023.</ref>

James was remembered as one of America's representative thinkers, psychologist, and philosopher. William James was also an influential writer on religion, psychical research, and self-help.

== Epistemology ==
[[File:William James - John La Farge.jpg|thumb|Portrait of William James by [[John La Farge]], {{Circa|1859}}]]
James defined [[truth|true]] beliefs as those that prove useful to the believer. His [[pragmatic theory of truth]] was a synthesis of [[correspondence theory of truth]] and [[coherence theory of truth]], with an added dimension. Truth is verifiable to the extent that thoughts and statements correspond with actual things, as well as the extent to which they "hang together", or cohere, as pieces of a puzzle might fit together; these are in turn verified by the observed results of the application of an idea to actual practice.<ref name="PragTruth">James, William. 1907. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060715031834/http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/James/James_1907/James_1907_06.html Pragmatism's Conception of Truth]" (lecture 6). pp. 76–91 in ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking''. New York: [[Longman]] Green and Co. Archived from the [http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/James/James_1907/James_1907_06.html original] July 15, 2006.</ref><ref>"[[Pragmatic theory of truth|Pragmatic Theory of Truth]]." pp. 427–428 in ''[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' 6. London: [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]. 1969.</ref>{{Blockquote|text=The most ancient parts of truth … also once were plastic. They also were called true for human reasons. They also mediated between still earlier truths and what in those days were novel observations. Purely objective truth, truth in whose establishment the function of giving human satisfaction in marrying previous parts of experience with newer parts played no role whatsoever, is nowhere to be found. The reasons why we call things true is the reason why they are true, for "to be true" means only to perform this marriage-function.|author=|title="[[Pragmatic theory of truth|Pragmatism's Conception of Truth]]," ''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 83.|source=}}

James held a world view in line with [[pragmatism]], declaring that the value of any truth was utterly dependent upon its use to the person who held it. Additional tenets of James's pragmatism include the view that the world is a mosaic of diverse experiences that can only be properly interpreted and understood through an application of "[[radical empiricism]]". ''Radical empiricism'', not related to the everyday [[Empiricism|scientific empiricism]], asserts that the world and experience can never be halted for an entirely objective analysis; the mind of the observer and the act of observation affect any empirical approach to truth. The mind, its experiences, and nature are inseparable. James's emphasis on diversity as the default human condition—over and against duality, especially [[Hegelianism|Hegelian]] dialectical duality—has maintained a strong influence in American culture. James's description of the [[Mind-world relation|mind-world]] connection, which he described in terms of a "[[stream of consciousness (psychology)|stream of consciousness]]", had a direct and significant impact on [[avant-garde]] and [[modernist]] literature and art, notably in the case of [[James Joyce]].

In "What Pragmatism Means" (1906), James writes that the central point of his own doctrine of truth is, in brief:<ref name=":2">William James. 1907 [1906]. "[https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1907/James_1907_02.html What Pragmatism Means]" (lecture 2). pp. 17–32 in ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking''. New York: [[Longman]] Green and Co. via The Mead Project, [[Brock University]] (2007). [https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm Available] via [[Marxists Internet Archive|Marxist Internet Archive]] (2005).</ref>
<blockquote>Truths emerge from facts, but they dip forward into facts again and add to them; which facts again create or reveal new truth (the word is indifferent) and so on indefinitely. The "facts" themselves meanwhile are not true. They simply are. Truth is the function of the beliefs that start and terminate among them.</blockquote>[[Richard Rorty]] made the contested claim that James did not mean to give a theory of truth with this statement and that we should not regard it as such. However, other pragmatism scholars such as [[Susan Haack]] and Howard Mounce do not share Rorty's [[Instrumentalism|instrumentalist]] interpretation of James.<ref>{{cite book |author=H. O. Mounce |year=1997 |title=The two pragmatisms: from Peirce to Rorty |publisher=Psychology Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5dQRUqk3QUC |isbn=978-0-415-15283-9}}</ref>

In ''The Meaning of Truth'' (1909), James seems to speak of truth in relativistic terms, in reference to critics of pragmatism: "The critic's trouble … seems to come from his taking the word 'true' irrelatively, whereas the pragmatist always means 'true for him who experiences the workings.'"<ref>James, William. 1909. ''The Meaning of Truth''. New York: [[Longman]]s, Green, & Co. p. 177.</ref>
However, James responded to critics accusing him of [[relativism]], [[skepticism]], or agnosticism, and of believing only in relative truths. To the contrary, he supported an [[epistemological realism]] position.{{efn-lr|See his ''Defense of a Pragmatic Notion of Truth'', written to counter criticisms of his ''Pragmatism's Conception of Truth'' (1907) lecture.}}

=== Pragmatism and "cash value" ===
''[[Pragmatism]]'' is a philosophical approach that seeks to both define truth and resolve metaphysical issues. William James demonstrates an application of his method in the form of a simple story:<ref name="auto3">{{Cite book |last=Gunn |first=Giles |year=2000 |title=William James: Pragmatism and Other Writings |publisher=Penguin Group |pages=24–40}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> <blockquote>A live squirrel supposed to be clinging on one side of a tree-trunk; while over against the tree's opposite side a human being was imagined to stand. This human witness tries to get sight of the squirrel by moving rapidly round the tree, but no matter how fast he goes, the squirrel moves as fast in the opposite direction, and always keeps the tree between himself and the man, so that never a glimpse of him is caught. The resultant metaphysical problem now is this: ''Does the man go round the squirrel or not?''</blockquote>James solves the issue by making a distinction between ''practical'' meaning. That is, the distinction between meanings of "round". ''Round'' in the sense that the man occupies the space north, east, south, and west of the squirrel; and ''round'' in the sense that the man occupies the space facing the squirrel's belly, back and sides. Depending on what the debaters meant by "going round", the answer would be clear. From this example James derives the definition of the ''pragmatic method'': to settle metaphysical disputes, one must simply make a distinction of practical consequences between notions, then, the answer is either clear, or the "dispute is idle".<ref name="auto3" />

Both James and his colleague, [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], coined the term "[[cash value]]":<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burch |first=Robert |date=June 22, 2001 |title=Charles Sanders Peirce |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107072647/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/ |access-date=December 9, 2019 |archive-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref>
<blockquote>When he said that the whole meaning of a (clear) conception consists in the entire set of its practical consequences, he had in mind that a meaningful conception must have some sort of experiential "cash value," must somehow be capable of being related to some sort of collection of possible empirical observations under specifiable conditions.</blockquote>A statement's truthfulness is verifiable through its correspondence to reality, and its observable effects of putting the idea to practice. For example, James extends his Pragmatism to the hypothesis of God: "On pragmatic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true. … The problem is to build it out and determine it so that it will combine satisfactorily with all the other working truths."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gunn |first=Giles |year=2000 |title=William James: Pragmatism and Other Writings |publisher=Penguin Group |pages=119–132}}</ref>
From this, we also know that "new" truths must also correspond to already existent truths as well.

From the introduction by [[Bruce Kuklick]] (1981, p. xiv) to James's ''Pragmatism'':

<blockquote>James went on to apply the pragmatic method to the epistemological problem of truth. He would seek the meaning of "true" by examining how the idea functioned in our lives. A belief was true, he said, if it worked for all of us, and guided us expeditiously through our semihospitable world. James was anxious to uncover what true beliefs amounted to in human life, what their "cash value" was, and what consequences they led to. A belief was not a mental entity which somehow mysteriously corresponded to an external reality if the belief were true. Beliefs were ways of acting with reference to a precarious environment, and to say they were true was to say they were efficacious in this environment. In this sense the pragmatic theory of truth applied Darwinian ideas in philosophy; it made survival the test of intellectual as well as [[fitness (biology)|biological fitness]].</blockquote>

James's book of lectures on pragmatism is arguably the most influential book of [[American philosophy]]. The lectures inside depict his position on the subject. In his sixth lecture, he begins by defining truth as "agreement with reality".<ref name="PragTruth" /> With this, James warns that there will be disagreements between pragmatics and intellectualists over the concepts of "agreement" and "reality", the last reasoning before thoughts settle and become autonomous for us. However, he contrasts this by supporting a more practical interpretation that: a true idea or belief is one that we can blend with our thinking so that it can be justified through experiences.<ref name="IEP">{{cite web |last=Pomerleau |first=Wayne |title=William James (1842–1910) |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=IEP |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/james-o/ |access-date=April 28, 2018}}</ref>{{blockquote|If theological ideas prove to have a value for concrete life, they will be true, for pragmatism, in the sense of being good for so much. For how much more they are true, will depend entirely on their relations to the other truths that also have to be acknowledged.|''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 29}}

Whereby the agreement of truths with "reality" results in useful outcomes, "the 'reality' with which truths must agree has three dimensions":<ref name="IEP" /><ref name="SEP" />

# "matters of fact";
# "relations of ideas"; and
# "the entire set of other truths to which we are committed".

According to James's pragmatic approach to belief, knowledge is commonly viewed as a justified and true belief. James will accept a view if its conception of truth is analyzed and justified through interpretation, pragmatically. As a matter of fact, James's whole philosophy is of productive beliefs.

Belief in anything involves conceiving of how it is real, but disbelief is the result when we dismiss something because it contradicts another thing we think of as real. In his "Sentiment of Rationality", saying that crucial beliefs are not known is to doubt their truth, even if it seems possible. James names four "postulates of rationality" as valuable but unknowable: God, immorality, freedom, and moral duty.<ref name="IEP" /><ref>James, William. 1897 [1882] "The Sentiment of Rationality." ''The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy''. New York: [[Longman]]s, Green & Co.</ref>

In contrast, the weak side to pragmatism is that the best justification for a claim is whether it works. However, a claim that does not have outcomes cannot be justified, or unjustified, because it will not make a difference.

{{blockquote|"There can be no difference that doesn't make a difference."|''Pragmatism'' (1907), p. 45|title=|source=}}

When James moves on to then state that pragmatism's goal is ultimately "to try to interpret each notion by tracing its respective practical consequences", he does not clarify what he means by "practical consequences."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=James |first=William |date=2000 |title=Pragmatism and other writings |orig-year=1842–1910 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-043735-5 |oclc=943305535}}</ref>
On the other hand, his friend, colleague, and another key founder in establishing pragmatist beliefs, [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles S. Peirce]], dives deeper in defining these consequences. For Peirce, "the consequences we are concerned with are ''general'' and ''intelligible''."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Legg |first=Catherine |date=March 14, 2019 |title=Pragmatism |website=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pragmatism/ |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
He further explains this in his 1878 paper "How to Make Ideas Clear," when he introduces a maxim that allows one to interpret consequences as grades of clarity and conception.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Atkin |first=Albert |title=Charles Sanders Peirce: Pragmatism |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/peircepr/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710194332/https://www.iep.utm.edu/PeircePr/ |access-date=December 8, 2019 |archive-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref>
Describing how everything is derived from perception, Peirce uses the example of the [[Transubstantiation|doctrine of transubstantiation]] to show exactly how he defines practical consequences. [[Protestants]] interpret the bread and wine of the [[Eucharist]] is flesh and blood in only a subjective sense, while [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] would label them as actual, and divinely mystical properties of flesh via the "body, blood, soul, and divinity", even with the physical properties remaining as bread and wine in appearance. But to everyone, there can be no knowledge of the wine and bread of the Eucharist unless it is established that either wine and bread possesses certain properties or that anything that is interpreted as the blood and body of Christ is the blood and body of Christ. With this Peirce declares that "our action has exclusive reference to what affects the senses", and that we can mean nothing by transubstantiation than "what has certain effects, direct or indirect, upon our senses."<ref>Peirce, Charles S. 1878. "'How to Make Our Ideas Clear." ''[[Popular Science]] Monthly''. — (excerpt). pp. 212–218 in ''An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century American Science Writing'', edited by C. R. Resetarits. Anthem Press. 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-85728-651-2}}. {{doi|10.7135/upo9780857286512.037}}</ref>
In this sense, James's pragmatic influencer Peirce establishes that what counts as a practical consequence or effect is what can affect one's senses and what is comprehensible and fathomable in the natural world.

"Yet James never worked out his understanding of 'practical consequences' as fully as Peirce did", nor does he limit these consequences to the senses as Peirce does.<ref name=":1" /> This raises the question: what does it mean to be practical? Whether James means the greatest number of positive consequences (in light of [[utilitarianism]]), a consequence that considers other perspectives (such as his compromise of the tender and tough ways of thinking),<ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=William |date=May 1, 2002 |title=Pragmatism |website=The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pragmatism |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5116/5116-h/5116-h.htm |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
or a completely different take altogether, it is unclear what consequences truly fit the pragmatic standard. The closest James comes to explaining this idea is by telling his audience to weigh the difference it would "practically make to anyone" if one opinion over the other were true, and although he attempts to clarify this, he never specifies the method by which one would weigh the difference between one opinion over the other.<ref name=":0" /> Thus, the flaw in his argument appears in that it is difficult to fathom how he would determine these practical consequences, which he continually refers to throughout his work, to be measured or interpreted. He has said that an opinion is correct that works for us humans in practice.

=== Will to believe doctrine ===
{{Main|The Will to Believe}}

In William James's 1896 lecture titled "The Will to Believe", James defends the right to violate the principle of [[evidentialism]] in order to justify hypothesis venturing. This idea foresaw 20th century objections to evidentialism and sought to ground justified belief in an unwavering principle that would prove more beneficial. Through his philosophy of [[pragmatism]] William James justifies religious beliefs by using the results of his hypothetical venturing as evidence to support the hypothesis's truth. Therefore, this doctrine allows one to assume belief in a god and prove its existence by what the belief brings to one's life.

This was criticized by advocates of [[skeptic]]ism rationality, like [[Bertrand Russell]] in [[Free Thought and Official Propaganda]] and [[Alfred Henry Lloyd]] with [[The Will to Doubt]]. Both argued that one must always adhere to [[fallibilism]], recognizing of all human knowledge that "None of our beliefs are quite true; all have at least a penumbra of vagueness and error", and that the only means of progressing ever-closer to the truth is to never assume certainty, but always examine all sides and try to reach a conclusion objectively.

== Free will ==
In his search for truth and assorted principles of psychology, William James developed his two-stage model of free will. In his model, he tries to explain how it is people come to the making of a decision and what factors are involved in it. He firstly defines our basic ability to choose as free will. Then he specifies our two factors as chance and choice. "James's two-stage model effectively separates chance (the in-deterministic free element) from choice (an arguably determinate decision that follows causally from one's character, values, and especially feelings and desires at the moment of decision)."<ref name="Bob Doyle 2011">Doyle, Bob. 2011. ''Free Will: the Scandal in Philosophy''. I-Phi Press. The Information Philosopher.</ref>

James argues that the question of free will revolves around "chance." The idea of chance is that some events are possibilities, things that could happen but are not guaranteed. ''Chance'' is a neutral term (it is, in this case, neither inherently positive nor "intrinsically irrational and preposterous," connotations it usually has); the only information it gives about the events to which it applies is that they are disconnected from other things – they are "not controlled, secured, or necessitated by other things" before they happen.<ref name="auto2">{{Project Gutenburg|26659|title=The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy|bullet=none|chapter=The Will to Believe|chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P1 |publisher=[[Longmans, Green & Co.]]|location=New York|author=James, William. 2009 [1887]}}, produced by A. Haines. </ref>
Chance is made possible regarding our actions because our amount of effort is subject to change. If the amount of effort we put into something is predetermined, our actions are predetermined.<ref name="auto">{{Project Gutenburg|57634|title=The Principles of Psychology|bullet=none|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|location=New York|author=James, William. 2018 [1918]|others=vol. 2}}, produced by C. Graham and M. D'Hooghe.</ref>

Free will in relation to effort also balances "''ideals'' and ''propensities''—the things you see as best versus the things that are easiest to do". Without effort, "the propensity is stronger than the ideal." To act according to your ideals, you must resist the things that are easiest, and this can only be done with effort.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last=Viney |first=Donald Wayne |year=1986 |title=William James on Free Will and Determinism |journal=The Journal of Mind and Behavior |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=555–565 |jstor=43853234}}</ref>
James states that the free will question is therefore simple: "it relates solely to the amount of effort of attention or consent which we can at any time put forth."<ref name="auto" />

''Chance'' is the 'free element,' that part of the model we have no control over. James says that in the sequence of the model, chance comes before choice. In the moment of decision we are given the chance to make a decision and then the choice is what we do (or do not do) regarding the decision.

When it comes to choice, James says we make a choice based on different experiences. It comes from our own past experiences, the observations of others, or:<ref name="Bob Doyle 2011" /> <blockquote>A supply of ideas of the various movements that are … left in the memory by experiences of their involuntary performance is thus the first prerequisite of the voluntary life.</blockquote>What James describes is that once you've made a decision in the past, the experience is stockpiled into your memory where it can be referenced the next time a decision must be made and will be drawn from as a positive solution. However, in his development of the design, James also struggled with being able to prove that free will is actually free or predetermined.

People can make judgements of regret, moral approval and moral disapproval, and if those are absent, then that means our will is predetermined. An example of this is "James says the problem is a very 'personal' one and that he cannot personally conceive of the universe as a place where murder must happen."<ref name="Kenneth A. Shouler 2008">Shouler, Kenneth A. 2008. ''The Everything Guide to Understanding Philosophy: the Basic Concepts of the Greatest Thinkers of All Time – Made Easy!''. [[Adams Media]].</ref>
Essentially, if there were no regrets or judgments then all the bad stuff would not be considered bad, only as predetermined because there are no options of 'good' and 'bad'. "The free will option is pragmatically truer because it better accommodates the judgments of regret and morality."<ref name="Kenneth A. Shouler 2008" /> Overall, James uses this line of reasoning to prove that our will is indeed free: because of our morality codes, and the conceivable alternate universes where a decision has been regarded different from what we chose.

In "The Will to Believe", James simply asserted that his will was free. As his first act of freedom, he said, he chose to believe his will was free. He was encouraged to do this by reading [[Charles Renouvier]], whose work convinced James to convert from [[monism]] to [[pluralism (philosophy)|pluralism]]. In his diary entry of April 30, 1870, James wrote:<ref>[[Ralph Barton Perry|Perry, Ralph Barton]]. ''The Thought and Character of William James'' 1. p. 323.— ''Letters of William James'' 1. p. 147.</ref>

<blockquote>I think that yesterday was a crisis in my life. I finished the first part of Renouvier's second Essais and see no reason why his definition of free will—"the sustaining of a thought because I choose to when I might have other thoughts"—need be the definition of an illusion. At any rate, I will assume for the present—until next year—that it is no illusion. My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.</blockquote>

In 1884, James set the terms for all future discussions of [[determinism]] and [[compatibilism]] in the [[free will]] debates with his lecture to [[Harvard Divinity School]] students published as "The Dilemma of Determinism".<ref name=":3">{{Project Gutenburg|26659|title=The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy|bullet=none|chapter=The Dilemma of Determinism|chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P145 |publisher=[[Longmans, Green & Co.]]|location=New York|author=James, William. 2009 [c. 1884]}}, produced by A. Haines.</ref>
In this talk he defined the common terms ''hard determinism'' and ''soft determinism'' (now more commonly called ''[[compatibilism]]'').<ref name=":3" />

<blockquote>Old-fashioned determinism was what we may call hard determinism. It did not shrink from such words as fatality, bondage of the will, necessitation, and the like. Nowadays, we have a soft determinism which abhors harsh words, and, repudiating fatality, necessity, and even predetermination, says that its real name is freedom; for freedom is only necessity understood, and bondage to the highest is identical with true freedom.<ref name="will149">James, William. 1956 [1884]. "The Dilemma of Determinism." In ''The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy''. New York: [[Dover Publications|Dover]].</ref>{{Rp|149}}</blockquote>

James called compatibilism a "quagmire of evasion,"<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|149}} just as the ideas of [[Thomas Hobbes]] and [[David Hume]]—that free will was simply freedom from external coercion—were called a "wretched subterfuge" by [[Immanuel Kant]].

''Indeterminism'' is "the belief in freedom [which] holds that there is some degree of possibility that is not necessitated by the rest of reality."<ref>Pomerleau, Wayne P. "William James (1842–1910)." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, [http://www.iep.utm.edu/james-o/#H6 "William James" Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article].</ref>
The word "some" in this definition is crucial in James's argument because it leaves room for a higher power, as it does not require that all events be random. Specifically, indeterminism does not say that no events are guaranteed or connected to previous events; instead, it says that some events are not guaranteed – some events are up to chance.<ref name="auto1" /> In James's model of free will, choice is deterministic, determined by the person making it, and it "follows casually from one's character, values, and especially feelings and desires at the moment of decision."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Doyle |first=Bob |year=2010 |title=Jamesian Free Will, the Two-Stage Model of William James |journal=William James Studies |volume=5 |pages=1–28 |jstor=26203733}}</ref>
Chance, on the other hand, is indeterministic, and pertains to possibilities that could happen but are not guaranteed.<ref name="auto2" /> James described [[chance (philosophy)|chance]] as neither hard nor soft determinism, but "[[indeterminism]]":<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|153}}

<blockquote>The stronghold of the determinist argument is the antipathy to the idea of chance ... This notion of alternative possibility, this admission that any one of several things may come to pass is, after all, only a roundabout name for chance.</blockquote>

James asked the students to consider his choice for walking home from Lowell Lecture Hall after his talk:<ref name="will149" />{{Rp|155}}

<blockquote>What is meant by saying that my choice of which way to walk home after the lecture is ambiguous and matter of chance? ... It means that both Divinity Avenue and Oxford Street are called but only one, and that one either one, shall be chosen.</blockquote>

With this simple example, James laid out a two-stage decision process with chance in a present time of random alternatives, leading to a choice of one possibility that transforms an ambiguous future into a simple unalterable past. James's two-stage model separates chance (undetermined alternative possibilities) from [[choice]] (the free action of the individual, on which randomness has no effect). Subsequent thinkers using this model include [[Henri Poincaré]], [[Arthur Holly Compton]], and [[Karl Popper]].

== Philosophy of religion ==
[[File:WJ-Variety-Religious-Exp.png|thumb|right|Excerpt]]

James did important work in [[philosophy of religion]]. In his [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]] he provided a wide-ranging account of ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'' (1902) and interpreted them according to his pragmatic leanings. Some of the important claims he makes in this regard:
* Religious genius (experience) should be the primary topic in the study of religion, rather than religious institutions—since institutions are merely the social descendant of genius.
* The intense, even pathological varieties of experience (religious or otherwise) should be sought by psychologists, because they represent the closest thing to a microscope of the mind—that is, they show us in drastically enlarged form the normal processes of things.
* In order to usefully interpret the realm of common, shared experience and history, we must each make certain "[[overbelief|over-beliefs]]" in things which, while they cannot be proven on the basis of experience, help us to live fuller and better lives.
* A variety of characteristics can be seen within a single individual. There are subconscious elements that compose the scattered fragments of a personality. This is the reflection of a greater dissociation which is the separation between science and religion.
* Religious Mysticism is only one half of mysticism, the other half is composed of the insane and both of these are co-located in the "great subliminal or transmarginal region".<ref>{{Cite book |last=James |first=William |year=1985 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=Penguin Classics |location=New York |page=426}}</ref>

James investigated [[mysticism|mystical]] experiences throughout his life, leading him to experiment with [[chloral hydrate]] (1870), [[Alkyl nitrites|amyl nitrite]] (1875), [[nitrous oxide]] (1882), and [[peyote]] (1896).{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} James claimed that it was only when he was under the influence of nitrous oxide that he was able to understand [[Hegel]].<ref>William James, [http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/jnitrous.html "Subjective Effects of Nitrous Oxide"]</ref>
He concluded that while the revelations of the mystic hold true, they hold true only for the mystic; for others, they are certainly ideas to be considered, but can hold no claim to truth without personal experience of such. ''American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia'' classes him as one of several figures who "took a more [[Pantheism|pantheist]] or [[Pandeism|pandeist]] approach by rejecting views of God as separate from the world."<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[John Lachs]] and [[Robert Talisse]] |year=2007 |title=American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/americanphil_xxxx_2008_000_9069252 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanphil_xxxx_2008_000_9069252/page/n335 310] |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-93926-3}}</ref>

James was an advocate of [[theistic finitism]], which he used to explain the [[problem of evil]].<ref name="Barnard">Barnard, George William. (1997). ''Exploring Unseen Worlds: William James and the Philosophy of Mysticism''. State University of New York Press. p. 251. {{ISBN|0-7914-3223-8}} "James's theology answer to the problem of evil is strikingly simple, but theologically daring: God is ''not'' all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-pervasive, but rather, is finite."</ref><ref>Weidenbaum, Jonathan. (2013) ''William James’s Argument for a Finite Theism''. In Diller J., Kasher A. (eds) ''Models of God and Alternative Ultimate Realities''. Springer. pp. 323-331. {{ISBN|978-94-007-5218-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Stepanenko, Walter Scott|year=2018|title=Jamesian Finite Theism and the Problems of Suffering|journal=European Journal for Philosophy of Religion|url=https://philosophy-of-religion.eu/index.php/ejpr/article/view/1966|volume=10|issue=4|pages=1–25|doi=10.24204/ejpr.v10i4.1966}}</ref>

== Mysticism ==
William James devoted much of his career to the psychological investigation of mysticism. A significant influence on this undertaking was his own mystical experience under the influence of nitrous oxide. Inspired by a report by Benjamin Paul Blood in 1874,<ref>{{cite book |last=Blood |first=Benjamin Paul |date=1874 |title=The anaesthetic revelation and the gist of philosophy |publisher=Books on Demand|oclc= 11479610}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=James |first1=William |title=Review of "The Anaesthetic Revelation and the Gist of Philosophy" |journal=Atlantic Monthly |date=Nov 1874 |volume=33 |issue=205 |pages=627–628}}</ref> James experimented with inhaled nitrous oxide, upon which he experienced a "tremendously exciting sense of an intense metaphysical illumination" in which "every opposition ... vanished in a higher unity" and "the ego and its objects ... are one."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1896 |title=On some Hegelisms. In W. James, ''The will to believe and other essays in popular philosophy'' |publisher=Longmans, Green, & Co. |pages=297–298}}</ref> For so ardent an anti-Hegelian, this was a particularly novel and confusing experience for James. He was powerfully affected by the event and struggled greatly to interpret it. His journey of self discovery instigated by the experience is largely what inspired his later in-depth investigations of mysticism.

William James provided a description of mystical experience in his famous collection of lectures published in 1902 as ''The Varieties of Religious Experience''.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=379–429|isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He posits four criteria as "sufficient to mark out a group of states of consciousness" which may be called the "mystical group."

These criteria are as follows:
* Ineffability – no adequate report of the contents of the experience can be given by words. This was the "handiest" of descriptors for James, and illustrates the necessity of direct, first-hand experience to actually understand a mystical state of consciousness.
* Noetic quality – "...mystical states seem to those who experience them to be also states of knowledge." Mystical consciousness generates a feeling of insight into truths inaccessible to ordinary reasoning. These intuitions or insights are often felt as authoritative both during and after they are experienced, but are necessarily confined by the first criterion of ineffability, and are thus inexpressible in words.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=380–381|isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>
* Transiency – the mystical state is unable to be sustained for long periods of time. They are, however, recognizable upon re-experience, and can be further developed over multiple occasions.
* Passivity – a feeling of suspension of control of one's personal will, occasionally as if grasped by a superior power.

For James, the first two attributes, ineffability and the noetic quality, "will entitle any state to be called mystical, in the sense in which I use the word." The qualities of transiency and passivity are "less sharply marked, but are usually found."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=380–382 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He uses a number of historical examples to illustrate the presence of these attributes in geographically and temporally disparate instances, concluding that the mystical experience "''is on the whole pantheistic and optimistic, or at least the opposite of pessimistic. It is anti-naturalistic, and harmonizes best with twice-bornness and so-called other-worldly states of mind''" (original italics).<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=422 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

In line with his pragmatism, he asserted that the epistemological authority of mystical consciousness for the individual who experiences it is may be rightfully justified, but that others are under no obligation to accept that authority uncritically. Importantly, however, the mere existence of mystical states necessarily indicates an incompleteness in the epistemological authority of the non-mystical.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=427–429 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref> He would continue to advocate for the acceptance of mystical states as a fruitful subject of psychological research and source of knowledge. In his book ''The Pluralistic Universe'' (1909), he would expand upon his notion of "radical empiricism" in arguing for the possible association of empiricism and religion in the study of human spirituality <ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1977 |title=The Pluralistic Universe |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn= 9780674673915}}</ref> In viewing mysticism from a psychological perspective, he acknowledged that the limits of our being extend far beyond what is ordinarily accessible by our sense perception, and that our finite beings are affected by unconscious forces. "But that which produces effects within another reality must be termed a reality itself, so I feel as if we had no philosophic excuse for calling the unseen or mystical world unreal."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |page=516 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

James viewed mysticism as the most foundational aspect of religion. While he grants that religious experience reveals the possibility of union with something greater than oneself, he clarifies that mysticism (and philosophy) identify that something as an "all inclusive soul of the world" that he does not deem wholly necessary for a practical and fulfilling religious life. As always, James is averse to any dogmatic or absolutist doctrines, within religion and without, and thus values mysticism as a unique method of personal acquaintance with a larger reality.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |date=1902 |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |publisher=The Library of America |pages=525–527 |isbn=978-1-59853-062-9}}</ref>

== Instincts ==
{{See also|Instinct}}
Like [[Sigmund Freud]], James was influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.<ref name="Buss 1" /> At the core of James's theory of psychology, as defined in ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'' (1890), was a system of "instincts". James wrote that humans had many instincts, even more than other animals.<ref name="Buss 1" /> These instincts, he said, could be overridden by experience and by each other, as many of the instincts were actually in conflict with each other.<ref name="Buss 1">Buss, David M. 2008. "Chapter 1." pp. 2–35 in ''Evolutionary psychology: the new science of the mind''. [[Pearson Education|Pearson]].</ref>
In the 1920s, however, psychology turned away from evolutionary theory and embraced radical behaviorism.<ref name="Buss 1" />

== Theory of emotion ==
James is one of the two namesakes of the [[James–Lange theory]] of [[emotion]], which he formulated independently of [[Carl Lange (physician)|Carl Lange]] in the 1880s. The theory holds that emotion is the mind's perception of physiological conditions that result from some stimulus. In James's oft-cited example, it is not that we see a bear, fear it, and run; we see a bear and run; consequently, we fear the bear. Our mind's [[perception]] of the higher adrenaline level, heartbeat, etc. is the emotion.

This way of thinking about emotion has great consequences for the philosophy of [[aesthetics]] as well as to the philosophy and practice of education.<ref name="reconstructing" /> Here is a passage from his work, ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', that spells out those consequences:

{{blockquote|[W]e must immediately insist that aesthetic emotion, pure and simple, the pleasure given us by certain lines and masses, and combinations of colors and sounds, is an absolutely sensational experience, an optical or auricular feeling that is primary, and not due to the repercussion backwards of other sensations elsewhere consecutively aroused. To this simple primary and immediate [[pleasure]] in certain pure sensations and harmonious combinations of them, there may, it is true, be added secondary pleasures; and in the practical enjoyment of works of art by the masses of mankind these secondary pleasures play a great part. The more classic one's taste is, however, the less relatively important are the secondary pleasures felt to be, in comparison with those of the primary sensation as it comes in. [[Classicism]] and [[romanticism]] have their battles over this point.}}

The theory of emotion was also independently developed in Italy by the anthropologist [[Giuseppe Sergi]].<ref>[[Giuseppe Sergi|Sergi, Giuseppe]]. 1858. ''L'origine dei fenomeni psichici e loro significazione biologica''. Milano: Fratelli Dumolard. {{ISBN|1271529408}}.</ref><ref>[[Giuseppe Sergi|Sergi, Giuseppe]]. 1894. "Storia Naturale dei Sentimenti." ''Principi di Psicologie: Dolore e Piacere''. Milano: Fratelli Dumolard. {{ISBN|1147667462}}.</ref>

=== William James' bear ===
From [[Joseph LeDoux]]'s description of William James' ''Emotion'':<ref>[[Joseph E. LeDoux|LeDoux, Joseph E.]] 1996. ''The Emotional Brain: the Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life''. {{ISBN|0-684-83659-9}}. p. 43.</ref>
<blockquote>
Why do we run away if we notice that we are in danger? Because we are afraid of what will happen if we don't. This obvious answer to a seemingly trivial question has been the central concern of a century-old debate about the nature of our emotions.</blockquote>It all began in 1884 when William James published an article titled "What Is an Emotion?"<ref>James, William. 1884. "[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/emotion.htm What is an Emotion?]" ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'' 9:188–205.</ref>
The article appeared in a philosophy journal called ''[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]'', as there were no psychology journals yet. It was important, not because it definitively answered the question it raised, but because of the way in which James phrased his response. He conceived of an emotion in terms of a sequence of events that starts with the occurrence of an arousing stimulus (the [[sympathetic nervous system]] or the [[parasympathetic nervous system]]); and ends with a passionate feeling, a conscious emotional experience. A major goal of emotion research is still to elucidate this stimulus-to-feeling sequence—to figure out what processes come between the stimulus and the feeling.

James set out to answer his question by asking another: do we run from a bear because we are afraid or are we afraid because we run? He proposed that the obvious answer, that we run because we are afraid, was '''wrong''', and instead argued that we are afraid because we run:

<blockquote>Our natural way of thinking about … emotions is that the mental perception of some fact excites the mental affection called emotion, and that this latter state of mind gives rise to the bodily expression. My theory, on the contrary, is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur IS the emotion (called 'feeling' by [[Damasio#Looking for Spinoza|Damasio]]).</blockquote>

The essence of James's proposal was simple. It was premised on the fact that emotions are often accompanied by bodily responses (racing heart, tight stomach, sweaty palms, tense muscles, and so on; [[sympathetic nervous system]]) and that we can sense what is going on inside our body much the same as we can sense what is going on in the outside world. According to James, emotions feel different from other states of mind because they have these bodily responses that give rise to internal sensations, and different emotions feel different from one another because they are accompanied by different bodily responses and sensations. For example, when we see James's bear, we run away. During this act of escape, the body goes through a physiological upheaval: blood pressure rises, heart rate increases, pupils dilate, palms sweat, muscles contract in certain ways (evolutionary, innate defense mechanisms). Other kinds of emotional situations will result in different bodily upheavals. In each case, the physiological responses return to the brain in the form of bodily sensations, and the unique pattern of sensory feedback gives each emotion its unique quality. Fear feels different from anger or love because it has a different physiological signature (the [[parasympathetic nervous system]] for love). The mental aspect of emotion, the feeling, is a slave to its physiology, not vice versa: we do not tremble because we are afraid or cry because we feel sad; we are afraid because we tremble and are sad because we cry.

== Philosophy of history ==
One of the long-standing schisms in the [[philosophy of history]] concerns the role of individuals in social change.

One faction sees individuals (as seen in [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]]' ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' and [[Thomas Carlyle]]'s ''[[The French Revolution, A History]]'') as the motive power of history, and the broader society as the page on which they write their acts. The other sees society as moving according to [[holistic]] principles or laws, and sees individuals as its more-or-less willing pawns. In 1880, James waded into this controversy with "Great Men, Great Thoughts, and the Environment", an essay published in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]''. He took Carlyle's side, but without Carlyle's one-sided emphasis on the political/military sphere, upon heroes as the founders or overthrowers of states and empires.

A philosopher, according to James, must accept [[genius]]es as a given entity the same way as a biologist accepts as an entity Darwin's "spontaneous variations". The role of an individual will depend on the degree of its [[conformity]] with the social environment, epoch, moment, etc.<ref>Grinin L. E. 2010. "[http://www.socionauki.ru/journal/articles/129622/ The Role of an Individual in History: A Reconsideration]." ''[[Social Evolution & History]]'' 9(2):95–136. p. 103.</ref>

James introduces a notion of receptivities of the moment. The societal mutations from generation to [[generation]] are determined (directly or indirectly) mainly by the acts or examples of individuals whose genius was so adapted to the receptivities of the moment or whose accidental position of authority was so critical that they became ferments, initiators of movements, setters of precedent or fashion, centers of corruption, or destroyers of other persons, whose gifts, had they had free play, would have led society in another direction.<ref>William James. 2007 [1880]. "[https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1880.html Great Men, Great Thoughts and the Environment]." ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' 46:441–459.</ref>

== View on Social Darwinism ==

While James accepted Darwin's theories of biological evolution, he regarded [[Social Darwinism]] as propagated by philosophers such as [[Herbert Spencer]] as a sham. He was highly skeptical of applying Darwin's formula of natural selection to human societies in a way that put the Anglo-Saxons on top of the chain. James' rejection of Social Darwinism was a minority opinion at Harvard in the 1870s and 1880s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |title=The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 |year= 2010 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-08798-8 |pages=77–78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Yw4AQAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>

== View on spiritualism and associationism ==
[[File:Houghton MS Am 1092 (1185) - William James.jpg|thumb|James in a séance with a spiritualist medium]]
James studied closely the schools of thought known as [[associationism]] and [[Spiritualism (philosophy)|spiritualism]]. The view of an associationist is that each experience that one has leads to another, creating a chain of events. The association does not tie together two ideas, but rather physical objects.<ref name="James, 1892">James, William. 1985 [1892]. ''Psychology (Briefer Course)''. [[University of Notre Dame Press]]. {{ISBN|0-268-01557-0}}.</ref>
This association occurs on an atomic level. Small physical changes occur in the brain which eventually form complex ideas or associations. Thoughts are formed as these complex ideas work together and lead to new experiences. [[Isaac Newton]] and [[David Hartley (philosopher)|David Hartley]] both were precursors to this school of thought, proposing such ideas as "physical vibrations in the brain, spinal cord, and nerves are the basis of all sensations, all ideas, and all motions …"<ref name=":4">[[Robert D. Richardson|Richardson, Robert D.]] 2006. ''William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism''. [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]]. {{ISBN|0-618-43325-2}}.</ref>
James disagreed with associationism in that he believed it to be too simple. He referred to associationism as "psychology without a soul"<ref name="j1890">James, William. 1890. ''The Principles of Psychology''.</ref>
because there is nothing from within creating ideas; they just arise by associating objects with one another.

On the other hand, a spiritualist believes that mental events are attributed to the soul. Whereas in associationism, ideas and behaviors are separate, in spiritualism, they are connected. Spiritualism encompasses the term [[innatism]], which suggests that ideas cause behavior. Ideas of past behavior influence the way a person will act in the future; these ideas are all tied together by the soul. Therefore, an inner soul causes one to have a thought, which leads them to perform a behavior, and memory of past behaviors determine how one will act in the future.<ref name=j1890 />

James had a strong opinion about these schools of thought. He was, by nature, a [[Pragmatism#A list of pragmatists|pragmatist]] and thus took the view that one should use whatever parts of theories make the most sense and can be proven.<ref name=":4" /> Therefore, he recommended breaking apart spiritualism and associationism and using the parts of them that make the most sense. James believed that each person has a soul, which exists in a spiritual universe, and leads a person to perform the behaviors they do in the physical world.<ref name=":4" /> James was influenced by [[Emanuel Swedenborg]], who first introduced him to this idea. James stated that, although it does appear that humans use associations to move from one event to the next, this cannot be done without this soul tying everything together. For, after an association has been made, it is the person who decides which part of it to focus on, and therefore determines in which direction following associations will lead.<ref name="James, 1892" /> Associationism is too simple in that it does not account for decision-making of future behaviors, and memory of what worked well and what did not. Spiritualism, however, does not demonstrate actual physical representations for how associations occur. James combined the views of spiritualism and associationism to create his own way of thinking. James discussed tender-minded thinkers as religious, optimistic, dogmatic, and monistic. Tough-minded thinkers were irreligious, pessimistic, pluralists, and skeptical. Healthy-minded individuals were seen as natural believers by having faith in God and universal order. People who focused on human miseries and suffering were noted as sick souls.

James was a founding member and vice president of the [[American Society for Psychical Research]].<ref>Eugene Taylor. (2009). ''The Mystery of Personality: A History of Psychodynamic Theories''. Springer. p. 30. {{ISBN|978-0387981031}}</ref>
The lending of his name made [[Leonora Piper]] a famous medium. In 1885, the year after the death of his young son, James had his first sitting with Piper at the suggestion of his mother-in-law.<ref>[[Deborah Blum]]. (2007). ''Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life''. Penguin Group. p. 98. {{ISBN|978-0-14-303895-5}}.</ref>
He was soon convinced that Piper knew things she could only have discovered by supernatural means. He expressed his belief in Piper by saying, "If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, it is enough if you prove that one crow is white. My white crow is Mrs. Piper."<ref>[[Gardner Murphy]], [[Robert O. Ballou]]. (1960). ''William James on Psychical Research''. Viking Press. p. 41</ref>
However, James did not believe that Piper was in contact with spirits. After evaluating sixty-nine reports of Piper's mediumship he considered the hypothesis of [[telepathy]] as well as Piper obtaining information about her sitters by natural means such as her memory recalling information. According to James the "spirit-control" hypothesis of her mediumship was incoherent, irrelevant and in cases demonstrably false.<ref>Francesca Bordogna. (2008). ''William James at the Boundaries: Philosophy, Science, and the Geography of Knowledge''. University Of Chicago Press. p. 127. {{ISBN|978-0226066523}}</ref>

James held séances with Piper and was impressed by some of the details he was given; however, according to [[Massimo Polidoro]] a maid in the household of James was friendly with a maid in Piper's house and this may have been a source of information that Piper used for private details about James.<ref>[[Massimo Polidoro]]. (2001). ''Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle''. Prometheus Books. p. 36. {{ISBN|978-1573928960}}</ref>
Bibliographers [[Frederick Burkhardt]] and [[Fredson Bowers]] who compiled the works of James wrote "It is thus possible that Mrs. Piper's knowledge of the James family was acquired from the gossip of servants and that the whole mystery rests on the failure of the people upstairs to realize that servants [downstairs] also have ears."<ref>[[Frederick Burkhardt]] and [[Fredson Bowers]]. (1986). ''Essays in Psychical Research''. Harvard University Press. p. 397 in William James. [http://www.nlx.com/collections/66 ''The Works of William James'']. Edited by Frederick H. Burkhardt, Fredson Bowers, and Ignas K. Skrupskelis. 19 vols. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press. 1975–1988.</ref>

James was convinced that the "future will corroborate" the existence of [[telepathy]].<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnfjc6;view=1up;seq=441 About the Shadow World]. ''Everybody's Magazine''. v. 20 (1909).</ref>
Psychologists such as [[James McKeen Cattell]] and [[Edward B. Titchener]] took issue with James's support for [[Parapsychology|psychical research]] and considered his statements unscientific.<ref>Lamont, Peter. (2013). ''Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–188.</ref><ref>Kimble, Gregory A; Wertheimer, Michael; White, Charlotte. (2013). ''Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology''. Psychology Press. p. 23. {{ISBN|0-8058-0620-2}}</ref>
Cattell in a letter to James wrote that the "Society for Psychical Research is doing much to injure psychology".<ref>Goodwin, C. James. (2015). ''A History of Modern Psychology''. Wiley. p. 154. {{ISBN|978-1-118-83375-9}}</ref>

== James' theory of the self ==
'''James' theory of the self''' divided a person's mental picture of self into two categories: the "Me" and the "I". The "Me" can be thought of as a separate object or individual a person refers to when describing their personal experiences; while the "I" is the self that knows who they are and what they have done in their life.<ref name=IEP /> Both concepts are depicted in the statement; "''I'' know it was ''me'' who ate the cookie." He called the "Me" part of self the "empirical me" and the "I" part "the pure Ego".<ref name="cooper1992" /> For James, the "I" part of self was the thinking self, which could not be further divided. He linked this part of the self to the soul of a person, or what is now thought of as the mind.<ref name=psychclassics /> Educational theorists have been inspired in various ways by James's theory of self, and have developed various applications to curricular and pedagogical theory and practice.<ref name="reconstructing">{{cite book |last=Ergas |first=Oren |date=2017 |title=Reconstructing 'education' through mindful attention |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-1-137-58781-7}}</ref>

James further divided the "Me" part of self into: a material, a social, and a spiritual self, as below.<ref name=cooper1992>Cooper, W. E. (1992). "William James's theory of the self". ''Monist'' 75(4), 504.</ref>

=== Material self ===
The material self consists of things that belong to a person or entities that a person belongs to. Thus, things like the body, family, clothes, money, and such make up the material self. For James, the core of the material self was the body.<ref name=psychclassics>{{cite web |title=Classics in the History of Psychology (archived copy) |url=http://psychclassics.asu.edu/James/Principles/prin10.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206021129/http://psychclassics.asu.edu/James/Principles/prin10.htm |access-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-date=December 6, 2013}}</ref>
Second to the body, James felt a person's clothes were important to the material self. He believed a person's clothes were one way they expressed who they felt they were; or clothes were a way to show status, thus contributing to forming and maintaining one's self-image.<ref name=psychclassics /> Money and family are critical parts of the material self. James felt that if one lost a family member, a part of who they are was lost also. Money figured in one's material self in a similar way. If a person had significant money then lost it, who they were as a person changed as well.<ref name=psychclassics />

=== Social self ===
Our social selves are who we are in a given social situation. For James, people change how they act depending on the social situation that they are in. James believed that people had as many social selves as they did social situations they participated in.<ref name=psychclassics /> For example, a person may act in a different way at work when compared to how that same person may act when they are out with a group of friends. James also believed that in a given social group, an individual's social self may be divided even further.<ref name=psychclassics /> An example of this would be, in the social context of an individual's work environment, the difference in behavior when that individual is interacting with their boss versus their behavior when interacting with a co-worker.

=== Spiritual self ===
For James, the spiritual self was who we are at our core. It is more concrete or permanent than the other two selves. The spiritual self is our subjective and most intimate self. Aspects of a spiritual self include things like personality, core values, and conscience that do not typically change throughout an individual's lifetime. The spiritual self involves introspection, or looking inward to deeper spiritual, moral, or intellectual questions without the influence of objective thoughts.<ref name=psychclassics /> For James, achieving a high level of understanding of who we are at our core, or understanding our spiritual selves is more rewarding than satisfying the needs of the social and material selves.

=== Pure ego ===
What James refers to as the "I" self. For James, the pure ego is what provides the thread of continuity between our past, present, and future selves. The pure ego's perception of consistent individual identity arises from a continuous stream of consciousness.<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to William James |website=www.uky.edu |date=July 31, 2013 |url=http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/hunt.html}}</ref>
James believed that the pure ego was similar to what we think of as the soul, or the mind. The pure ego was not a substance and therefore could not be examined by science.<ref name=IEP />

== Notable works ==
* ''[[The Principles of Psychology]]'', 2 vols. (1890), [[Dover Publications]] 1950, vol. 1: {{ISBN|0-486-20381-6}}, vol. 2: {{ISBN|0-486-20382-4}}
* ''Psychology (Briefer Course)'' (1892), University of Notre Dame Press 1985: {{ISBN|0-268-01557-0}}, Dover Publications 2001: {{ISBN|0-486-41604-6}}
* ''[https://www.themantle.com/philosophy/life-worth-living-william-james Is Life Worth Living?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114115524/https://www.themantle.com/philosophy/life-worth-living-william-james |date=January 14, 2020 }}'' (1895), the seminal lecture delivered at Harvard on April 15, 1895
* ''[[Will to believe doctrine|The Will to Believe]], and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy'' (1897)
* ''Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine'' (the [[Ingersoll Lecture]], 1897)
** ''The Will to Believe, Human Immortality'' (1956) Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-20291-7}}
* ''Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals'' (1899), Dover Publications 2001: {{ISBN|0-486-41964-9}}, IndyPublish.com 2005: {{ISBN|1-4219-5806-6}}
* ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]: A Study in Human Nature'' (1902), {{ISBN|0-14-039034-0}}
* ''Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking'' (1907), Hackett Publishing 1981: {{ISBN|0-915145-05-7}}, Dover 1995: {{ISBN|0-486-28270-8}}
* ''A Pluralistic Universe'' (1909), [[Hibbert Lectures]], University of Nebraska Press 1996: {{ISBN|0-8032-7591-9}}
* ''The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to "Pragmatism"'' (1909), Prometheus Books, 1997: {{ISBN|1-57392-138-6}}
* ''Some Problems of Philosophy: A Beginning of an Introduction to Philosophy'' (1911), University of Nebraska Press 1996: {{ISBN|0-8032-7587-0}}
* ''Memories and Studies'' (1911), Reprint Services Corp: 1992: {{ISBN|0-7812-3481-6}}
* ''[[Essays in Radical Empiricism]]'' (1912), Dover Publications 2003, {{ISBN|0-486-43094-4}}
** critical edition, Frederick Burkhardt and Fredson Bowers, editors. Harvard University Press 1976: {{ISBN|0-674-26717-6}} (includes commentary, notes, enumerated emendations, appendices with English translation of "La Notion de Conscience")
* ''Letters of William James'', 2 vols. (1920)
* ''Collected Essays and Reviews'' (1920)
* Ralph Barton Perry, ''The Thought and Character of William James'', 2 vols. (1935), Vanderbilt University Press 1996 reprint: {{ISBN|0-8265-1279-8}} (contains some 500 letters by William James not found in the earlier edition of the ''Letters of William James'')
* ''William James on Psychical Research'' (1960)
* ''The Correspondence of William James'', 12 vols. (1992–2004) University of Virginia Press, {{ISBN|0-8139-2318-2}}
* [https://gutenberg.org/files/26659/26659-h/26659-h.htm#P145 "The Dilemma of Determinism"]
* ''William James on Habit, Will, Truth, and the Meaning of Life'', James Sloan Allen, ed. Frederic C. Beil, Publisher, {{ISBN|978-1-929490-45-5}}

=== Collections ===
* ''William James: Writings 1878–1899'' (1992). [[Library of America]], 1212 p., {{ISBN|978-0-940450-72-1}}
::Psychology: Briefer Course (rev. and condensed Principles of Psychology), The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, Talks to Teachers and Students, Essays (nine others)
* ''William James: Writings 1902–1910'' (1987). [[Library of America]], 1379 p., {{ISBN|978-0-940450-38-7}}
::The Varieties of Religious Experience, Pragmatism, A Pluralistic Universe, The Meaning of Truth, Some Problems of Philosophy, Essays
* ''The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition'' (1978). University of Chicago Press, 912 pp., {{ISBN|0-226-39188-4}}
::Pragmatism, Essays in Radical Empiricism, and A Pluralistic Universe complete; plus selections from other works
* In 1975, Harvard University Press began publication of a standard edition of ''The Works of William James''.
* ''William James: Essays in Pragmatism'' (1966). [[The Hafner Library of Classics]]
:: Edited with an Introduction by Alburey Castell Professor of Philosophy, University of Minnesota

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Philosophy|Psychology}}
* "[[The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life]]"
* [[Psychology of religion]]
* [[American philosophy]]
* [[List of American philosophers]]
* [[William James Lectures]]
* [[William James Society]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-roman}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* ''Essays Philosophical and Psychological in Honor of William James, by his Colleagues at Columbia University'' (London, 1908)

== Further reading ==
* James Sloan Allen, ed., ''William James on Habit, Will, Truth, and the Meaning of Life'' (2014). Frederic C. Beil, Publisher, {{ISBN|978-1-929490-45-5}}
* Margo Bistis, "Remnant of the Future: William James' Automated Utopia", in Norman M. Klein and Margo Bistis, ''The Imaginary 20th Century'' (Karlsruhe: ZKM, 2016). {{ISBN?}}
* [[Émile Boutroux]], [https://archive.org/details/williamjames00boutiala ''William James''] (New York, 1912)
* [[Werner Bloch]], ''Der Pragmatismus von James und Schiller nebst Exkursen über Weltanschauung und über die Hypothese'' (Leipzig, 1913)
* K. A. Busch, ''William James als Religionsphilosoph'' (Göttingen, 1911)
* [[Jacques Barzun]]. ''A Stroll with William James'' (1983). Harper and Row: {{ISBN|0-226-03869-6}}
* [[Deborah Blum]]. ''Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death'' (2006). [[Penguin Press]], {{ISBN|1-59420-090-4}}
* Wesley Cooper. ''The Unity of William James's Thought'' (2002). Vanderbilt University Press, {{ISBN|0-8265-1387-5}}
* Howard M. Feinstein. ''Becoming William James'' (1984). Cornell University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8014-8642-5}}
* [[Théodore Flournoy]], ''La Philosophie de William James'' (Saint-Blaise, 1911)
* Sergio Franzese, ''The Ethics of Energy. William James's Moral Philosophy in Focus'', Ontos Verlag, 2008 {{ISBN?}}
* Sergio Franzese & Felicitas Krämer (eds.), ''[https://www.academia.edu/6075221/_Jamess_Mystical_Body_in_the_Light_of_the_Transmarginal_Field_of_Consciousness_2007_ Fringes of Religious Experience. Cross-perspectives on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience]'', Frankfurt / Lancaster, ontos verlag, Process Thought XII, 2007
* Peter Hare, [[Michel Weber]], James K. Swindler, Oana-Maria Pastae, Cerasel Cuteanu (eds.), ''[https://www.academia.edu/280925/International_Perspectives_on_Pragmatism International Perspectives on Pragmatism]'', Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009
* [[James Huneker]], "A Philosophy for Philistines" in ''The Pathos of Distance'' (New York, 1913).
* [[Henry James]], ''A Small Boy and Others'' (1913) and ''Notes of a Son and Brother'' (1914).
* Amy Kittelstrom, ''The Religion of Democracy: Seven Liberals and the American Moral Tradition.'' New York: Penguin, 2015. {{ISBN?}}
* H. V. Knox, ''Philosophy of William James'' (London, 1914).
* [[R. W. B. Lewis]] ''The Jameses: A Family Narrative'' (1991) Farrar, Straus & Giroux. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Louis Menand]]. ''[[The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America]]'' (2001). Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, {{ISBN|0-374-52849-7}}.
* Ménard, ''Analyse et critique des principes de la psychologie de W. James'' (Paris, 1911) analyzes the lives and relationship between James, [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.]], [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], and [[John Dewey]].
* Gerald E. Myers. ''William James: His Life and Thought'' (1986). Yale University Press, 2001, paperback: {{ISBN|0-300-08917-1}}. Focuses on his psychology; includes 230 pages of notes.
* [[Giuseppe Sergi]] L'origine dei fenomeni psichici e loro significazione biologica, Milano, Fratelli Dumolard, 1885.
* [[Giuseppe Sergi]] Principi di Psicologie: Dolore e Piacere; Storia Naturale dei Sentimenti, Milano, Fratelli Dumolard, 1894.
* James Pawelski. ''The Dynamic Individualism of William James'' (2007). SUNY press, {{ISBN|0-7914-7239-6}}.
* [[Ralph Barton Perry|R. B. Perry]], ''Present Philosophical Tendencies'' (New York, 1912)
* [[Robert D. Richardson]]. ''William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism'' (2006). Houghton Mifflin, {{ISBN|0-618-43325-2}}
* Robert D. Richardson, ed. ''The Heart of William James'' (2010). Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-674-05561-2}}
* Robert D. Richardson. ''Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives'' (2023). {{ISBN|978-0691224305}}
* [[Jane Roberts]]. ''The Afterdeath Journal of an American Philosopher: The View of William James'' (1978. Prentice-Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-018515-9}}.)
* Barbara Ross, chapter "William James: A Prime Mover of the Psychoanalytic Movement in America", in ''Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, and the New England Medical Scene: 1894–1944'' (Science History Publications, New York, 1978) {{ISBN|9780882021690}}
* [[Josiah Royce]], ''William James and Other Essays on the Philosophy of Life'' (New York, 1911)
* J. Michael Tilley, "William James: Living Forward and the Development of Radical Empiricism," In ''Kierkegaard's Influence on Philosophy: Anglophone Philosophy,'' edited by Jon Stewart, 2012, Ashgate Publishing, 87–98.
* [[Linda Simon]]. ''Genuine Reality: A Life of William James'' (1998). Harcourt Brace & Company, {{ISBN|0-226-75859-1}}
* Emma K. Sutton. ''William James, MD: Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician'' (2023). {{ISBN|978-0226828985}}
* [[Michel Weber]]. ''[https://www.academia.edu/392183/Whiteheads_Pancreativism._Jamesian_Applications Whitehead's Pancreativism. Jamesian Applications]''. Ontos Verlag, 2011, {{ISBN|978-386838-103-0}}
* Michel Weber, "[https://www.academia.edu/3268912/_On_Religiousness_and_Religion._Huxley_s_Reading_of_Whitehead_s_Religion_in_the_Making_in_the_Light_of_James_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience_2005_ On Religiousness and Religion. Huxley's Reading of Whitehead's Religion in the Making in the Light of James' Varieties of Religious Experience]", Jerome Meckier and Bernfried Nugel (eds.), ''[[Aldous Huxley]] Annual. A Journal of Twentieth-Century Thought and Beyond'', Volume 5, Münster, LIT Verlag, March 2005, pp. 117–132.
* Michel Weber, "[https://www.academia.edu/6075221/_James_s_Mystical_Body_in_the_Light_of_the_Transmarginal_Field_of_Consciousness_2007_ James's Mystical Body in the Light of the Transmarginal Field of Consciousness]", in Sergio Franzese & Felicitas Krämer (eds.), ''Fringes of Religious Experience. Cross-perspectives on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience'', Frankfurt / Lancaster, Ontos Verlag, Process Thought XII, 2007, pp. 7–37. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Richard Wiseman]] (2012). ''Rip it Up: The Radically New Approach to Changing Your Life''. London: Macmillan {{ISBN?}}

== External links ==
{{External links|section|date=May 2024}}
{{Sister project links|n=no|mw=no|m=no|v=no|voy=no|species=no|wikt=no|s=Author:William James (1842-1910)|commons=category:William James (psychologist)|d=Q125249|b=no}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-james}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/325 Works by William James] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=William James|sopt=t}}
* {{Librivox author|id=942}}
* [http://wjsociety.org/ William James Society]
* [http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/james.html Emory University: William James] – major collection of essays and works online
* [http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223277 William James correspondence from the Historic Psychiatry Collection, Menninger Archives, Kansas Historical Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171205150720/http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/exhibits/james/ Harvard University: Life is in the Transitions: William James, 1842–1910] – online exhibition from Houghton Library
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: William James]
* [http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/philosophers/james/ William James on Information Philosopher]
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?106581-1/genuine-reality-life-william-james ''Booknotes'' interview with Linda Simon on ''Genuine Reality: A Life of William James'', June 7, 1998]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928105956/http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/BALLAST/WmJames.html William James: Looking for a Way Out]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0111.html New York Times obituary]
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{William James|state=expanded}}
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Tiger bread

2024-10-18T07:47:52Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Removed two instances of "citation required" by providing a reference

{{short description|Type of bread}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Tiger bread
| image = Tiger Giraffe Bread Rolls (9130659366).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Tiger bread rolls
| alternate_name =
| country = Netherlands<ref name = FoodRepublic" />
| region =
| creator =
| course =
| type = [[Bread]]
| served =
| main_ingredient = [[bread]], [[Rice]] paste
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}

'''Tiger bread''' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]]: Tijgerbrood), also known as '''Dutch crunch''' and under various [[brand name]]s, is a [[bread]] of Dutch origin that has a [[mottled]] crust.<ref name = FoodRepublic">{{cite web |title=How Tiger Bread Got Its Whimsical Name |url=https://www.foodrepublic.com/1542002/tiger-bread-name/ |website=Food Republic |access-date=18 October 2024}}</ref>

==Crust==
The bread is generally made with a pattern baked onto the top made by painting [[rice]] paste onto the surface prior to baking.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stamm |first=Mitch |date=1 June 2009 |title=Snap, crackle, crunch bread |url=http://modern-baking.com/bread_pastry/snap-crackle-crunch-0609/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714110217/http://modern-baking.com/bread_pastry/snap-crackle-crunch-0609/ |archivedate=14 July 2011 |accessdate=4 July 2011 |work=Modern-baking.com}}</ref><ref name="tigergiraffe">{{cite news |title=Tiger bread renamed giraffe bread by Sainsbury's |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16812545 |work=BBC News |date=31 January 2012 |access-date=26 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tiger-bread|accessdate=9 August 2020|title=Tiger Bread|publisher=[[BBC Good Food]]}}</ref> The rice paste that imparts the bread's characteristic flavour dries and cracks during the baking process. The bread itself has a crusty exterior, but is soft inside. Typically, tiger bread is made as a white bread bloomer loaf or [[bread roll]], but the technique can be applied to any shape of bread.

==Other names==
The name originated in the [[Netherlands]], where it is known as ''tijgerbrood''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ayto |first1=John |title=The diner's dictionary : word origins of food & drink |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780191744433 |edition=2nd}}</ref> or ''tijgerbol'' (tiger bun), and where it has been sold at least since the early 1930s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}} The first published reference in the USA to "Dutch crunch" bread was in 1935 in Oregon, according to food historian Erica J. Peters, where it appeared in a bakery advertisement. The US supermarket chain [[Wegmans]] sells it as "Marco Polo" bread.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marco Polo Bread - Wegmans |url=https://www.wegmans.com/products/bakery/bread-fresh-baked/italian-bread/marco-polo-bread.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703190826/https://www.wegmans.com/products/bakery/bread-fresh-baked/italian-bread/marco-polo-bread.html |archive-date=3 July 2018}}</ref> In the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] it is called Dutch Crunch.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kauffman |first=Jonathan |date=11 November 2010 |title=Dutch Crunch: According to Nick Malgieri, a San Francisco Treat |url=https://archives.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/11/11/dutch-crunch-according-to-nick-malgieri-a-san-francisco-treat |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228035148/https://archives.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/11/11/dutch-crunch-according-to-nick-malgieri-a-san-francisco-treat |archive-date=28 December 2018 |website=SF Weekly}}</ref>

[[File:Tigerbread.jpg|thumb|A tiger bread loaf]]
In January 2012, the UK supermarket chain [[Sainsbury's]] announced that it would market the product under the name "giraffe bread", after a three-year-old girl wrote to the company to suggest it, and the letter and reply gained traction on her mother's social media account.<ref name="tigergiraffe"/>

==References==
{{portal|food}}
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}

[[Category:Breads]]
[[Category:Dutch cuisine]]

Optical illusion

2024-10-17T04:57:46Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Fixed spelling in first paragraph (immersed instead of immerged)

{{short description|Visually perceived images that differ from objective reality}}
{{about|visual perception|the album by Time Requiem|Optical Illusion (album)|the film|Optical Illusions (film)}}
{{multiple image
| image1 = Checker shadow illusion.svg
| image2 = Grey square optical illusion proof2.svg
| caption1 = The checker shadow illusion. Although square A appears a darker shade of gray than square B, in the image the two have exactly the same luminance.
| caption2 = Drawing a connecting bar between the two squares breaks the illusion and shows that they are the same shade.
| width2 = 196
| direction = vertical
}}
[[File:Gregory categorization of illusions 1991.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Gregory's categorization of illusions<ref name=" Gregory" />]]
[[File:Mach bands - animation.gif|thumb|In this animation, [[Mach bands]] exaggerate the [[contrast (vision)|contrast]] between edges of the slightly differing shades of gray as soon as they come in contact with one another.]]

In [[visual perception]], an '''optical illusion''' (also called a '''visual illusion'''<ref>In the scientific literature the term "visual illusion" is preferred because the older term gives rise to the assumption that the optics of the eye were the general cause for illusions (which is only the case for so-called ''physical illusions''). "Optical" in the term derives from the Greek ''optein'' = "seeing", so the term refers to an "illusion of seeing", not to [[optics]] as a branch of modern physics. A regular scientific source for illusions are the journals [https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/perception/journal202440 ''Perception''] and [http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ipe ''i-Perception'']</ref>) is an [[illusion]] caused by the [[visual system]] and characterized by a visual [[perception|percept]] that arguably appears to differ from [[reality]]. Illusions come in a wide variety; their categorization is difficult because the underlying cause is often not clear<ref name="Bach">{{cite journal | last1 = Bach | first1 = Michael | last2 = Poloschek | first2 = C. M. | title = Optical Illusions | journal = Adv. Clin. Neurosci. Rehabil. | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 20–21 | year = 2006 | url = http://www.dfisica.ubi.pt/~hgil/p.v.2/Ilusoes-Visuais/Visual-Illusions.2.pdf | access-date = 2017-12-29 | archive-date = 2021-01-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210120054520/http://www.dfisica.ubi.pt/~hgil/p.v.2/Ilusoes-Visuais/Visual-Illusions.2.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> but a classification<ref name=" Gregory">{{cite journal | last1 = Gregory | first1 = Richard | title = Putting illusions in their place | journal = Perception| volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–4 | year = 1991 | doi=10.1068/p200001| pmid = 1945728 | s2cid = 5521054 }}</ref><ref name=" Gregory_97">{{cite journal | last1 = Gregory | first1 = Richard L.| title = Visual illusions classified| journal = Trends in Cognitive Sciences| volume = 1 | issue=5 | pages = 190–194 | year = 1997 | url = http://invibe.net/biblio_database_dyva/woda/data/att/c9cf.file.pdf | doi=10.1016/s1364-6613(97)01060-7| pmid = 21223901| s2cid = 42228451}}</ref> proposed by [[Richard Gregory]] is useful as an orientation. According to that, there are three main classes: physical, physiological, and cognitive illusions, and in each class there are four kinds: Ambiguities, distortions, paradoxes, and fictions.<ref name="Gregory_97" /> A classical example for a physical distortion would be the apparent bending of a stick half immersed in water; an example for a physiological paradox is the [[motion aftereffect]] (where, despite movement, position remains unchanged).<ref name="Gregory_97" /> An example for a physiological fiction is an [[afterimage]].<ref name="Gregory_97" /> Three typical cognitive distortions are the [[Ponzo illusion|Ponzo]], [[Poggendorff illusion|Poggendorff]], and [[Müller-Lyer illusion|Müller-Lyer]] illusion.<ref name="Gregory_97" /> Physical illusions are caused by the physical environment, e.g. by the optical properties of water.<ref name="Gregory_97" /> Physiological illusions arise in the eye or the visual pathway, e.g. from the effects of excessive stimulation of a specific receptor type.<ref name="Gregory_97" /> [[Cognitive]] visual illusions are the result of [[unconscious inference]]s and are perhaps those most widely known.<ref name="Gregory_97" />

[[#Pathological visual illusions (distortions)|Pathological visual illusions]] arise from pathological changes in the physiological [[visual perception]] mechanisms causing the aforementioned types of illusions; they are discussed e.g. under [[hallucination#Visual|visual hallucinations]].

Optical illusions, as well as multi-sensory illusions involving visual perception, can also be used in the monitoring and rehabilitation of some [[Psychological disorder|psychological]] disorders, including [[Phantom limb|phantom limb syndrome]]<ref name=":02">DeCastro, Thiago Gomes; Gomes, William Barbosa (2017-05-25). "Rubber Hand Illusion: Evidence for a multisensory integration of proprioception". Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana. 35 (2): 219. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/apl/a.3430. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 2145-4515.</ref> and [[schizophrenia]].<ref name=":22">King, Daniel J.; Hodgekins, Joanne; Chouinard, Philippe A.; Chouinard, Virginie-Anne; Sperandio, Irene (2017-06-01). "A review of abnormalities in the perception of visual illusions in schizophrenia". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 24 (3): 734–751. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.3758/s13423-016-1168-5. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 1531-5320.</ref>

== Physical visual illusions ==
A familiar phenomenon and example for a physical visual illusion is when mountains appear to be much nearer in clear weather with low humidity ([[Foehn wind|Foehn]]) than they are. This is because haze is a cue for [[depth perception]],<ref name="Goldstein">{{cite book |last= Goldstein|first= E. Bruce|date= 2002|title= Sensation and Perception| location= Pacific Grove, CA|publisher= Wadsworth| isbn=0-534-53964-5}}, Chpt. 7</ref> signalling the distance of far-away objects ([[Depth perception#Aerial perspective|Aerial perspective]]).

The classical example of a physical illusion is when a stick that is half immersed in water appears bent. This phenomenon was discussed by [[Ptolemy]] ({{Circa|150}})<ref>{{cite book |last= Wade |first= Nicholas J. |date= 1998 |title= A natural history of vision |location= Cambridge, MA |publisher= MIT Press}}</ref> and was often a prototypical example for an illusion.

== Physiological visual illusions ==
Physiological illusions, such as the [[afterimage]]s<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worqx.com/color/after_image.htm|title=After Images|work=worqx.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422033200/http://www.worqx.com/color/after_image.htm|archive-date=2015-04-22}}</ref> following bright lights, or adapting stimuli of excessively longer alternating patterns ([[contingent aftereffect|contingent perceptual aftereffect]]), are presumed to be the effects on the eyes or brain of excessive stimulation or interaction with contextual or competing stimuli of a specific type—brightness, color, position, tile, size, movement, etc. The theory is that a stimulus follows its individual dedicated neural path in the early stages of visual processing and that intense or repetitive activity in that or interaction with active adjoining channels causes a [[physiological]] [[wikt:imbalance|imbalance]] that alters perception.

The Hermann [[grid illusion]] and [[Mach bands]] are two [[illusion]]s that are often explained using a biological approach. [[Lateral inhibition]], where in [[receptive field]]s of the retina receptor signals from light and dark areas compete with one another, has been used to explain why we see bands of increased brightness at the edge of a color difference when viewing Mach bands. Once a receptor is active, it inhibits adjacent receptors. This inhibition creates contrast, highlighting edges. In the Hermann grid illusion, the gray spots that appear at the intersections at peripheral locations are often explained to occur because of [[lateral inhibition]] by the surround in larger receptive fields.<ref>Pinel, J. (2005) Biopsychology (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. {{ISBN|0-205-42651-4}}</ref> However, [[lateral inhibition]] as an explanation of the Hermann [[grid illusion]] [[grid illusion#Theories|has been disproved]].<ref name=Lingelbach_1985>{{cite journal | vauthors= Lingelbach B, Block B, Hatzky B, Reisinger E |year=1985 |title= The Hermann grid illusion -- retinal or cortical? |journal=Perception |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=A7}}</ref><ref name=Geier_2004>{{cite book|vauthors=Geier J, Bernáth L |year=2004 |chapter= Stopping the Hermann grid illusion by simple sine distortion |title=Perception |pages=33–53 | isbn=978-0631224211 |publisher=Malden Ma: Blackwell}}</ref><ref name="Schiller">{{cite journal | last1=Schiller | first1=Peter H. | last2=Carvey | first2=Christina E. | title=The Hermann grid illusion revisited | journal=Perception | year=2005 | volume=34 | issue=11 | pages=1375–1397 | url=http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=p5447 | doi=10.1068/p5447 | pmid=16355743 | s2cid=15740144 | access-date=2011-10-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212013609/http://perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=p5447 | archive-date=2011-12-12 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Geier_2008>{{cite journal |doi=10.1068/p5622 |vauthors=Geier J, Bernáth L, Hudák M, Séra L |year=2008 |title=Straightness as the main factor of the Hermann grid illusion |journal=Perception |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=651–665 |pmid=18605141|s2cid=21028439 }}</ref><ref name=Bach_2008>{{cite journal |author=Bach, Michael |year=2008 |title= Die Hermann-Gitter-Täuschung: Lehrbucherklärung widerlegt (The Hermann grid illusion: the classic textbook interpretation is obsolete) | journal=Ophthalmologe | doi=10.1007/s00347-008-1845-5 |pmid=18830602 |volume=106 |issue=10 |pages=913–917|s2cid=1573891 }}</ref>
More recent empirical approaches to optical illusions have had some success in explaining optical phenomena with which theories based on lateral inhibition have struggled.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Howe | first1 = Catherine Q. | last2 = Yang | first2 = Zhiyong | last3 = Purves | first3 = Dale | year = 2005 | title = The Poggendorff illusion explained by natural scene geometry | journal = PNAS | volume = 102 | issue = 21| pages = 7707–7712 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0502893102 | pmid=15888555 | pmc=1093311| bibcode = 2005PNAS..102.7707H | doi-access = free }}</ref>

== Cognitive illusions ==
[[File:NeptunesGrottoOrganPlayer.jpg|thumb|right|"The Organ Player" – [[Pareidolia]] phenomenon in [[Neptune's Grotto]] [[stalactite]] cave ([[Alghero]], [[Sardinia]])]]
Cognitive illusions are assumed to arise by interaction with assumptions about the world, leading to "unconscious inferences", an idea first suggested in the 19th century by the [[Germany|German]] physicist and physician [[Hermann von Helmholtz|Hermann Helmholtz]].<ref name="Eagleman2011">{{cite book|author=David Eagleman|title=Incogito: The Secret Lives of the Brain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nkPj3dNFYwoC&q=Helmholtz&pg=PT30|access-date=14 August 2013|date=April 2012|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=978-0-307-38992-3|pages=33–|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012233416/http://books.google.com/books?id=nkPj3dNFYwoC&lpg=PP1&pg=PT30&q=Helmholtz|archive-date=12 October 2013}}</ref> Cognitive illusions are commonly divided into [[ambiguous image|ambiguous illusions]], distorting illusions, paradox illusions, or fiction illusions.
* ''Ambiguous illusions'' are pictures or objects that elicit a perceptual "switch" between the alternative interpretations. The [[Necker cube]] is a well-known example; other instances are the [[Rubin vase]] and the "squircle", based on [[Kokichi Sugihara]]'s ambiguous cylinder illusion.<ref>{{cite web|title=An optical illusion that seems to be both a circle and a square is baffling the internet — here's how it works|author=Gili Malinsky|date=22 July 2019|language=en|website=Insider|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/an-optical-illusion-that-seems-to-be-both-a-circle-and-a-square-is-baffling-the-internet-—-heres-how-it-works/ar-AAEHiPa?ocid=spartanntp}}</ref>
* ''Distorting'' or ''[[geometrical-optical illusions]]'' are characterized by distortions of size, length, position or curvature. A striking example is the [[Café wall illusion]]. Other examples are the famous [[Müller-Lyer illusion]] and [[Ponzo illusion]].
* ''Paradox illusions'' (or ''[[impossible object]] illusions'') are generated by objects that are paradoxical or impossible, such as the [[Penrose triangle]] or [[Penrose staircase|impossible staircase]] seen, for example, in [[M. C. Escher]]'s ''[[Ascending and Descending]]'' and ''[[Waterfall (M. C. Escher)|Waterfall]]''. The triangle is an illusion dependent on a cognitive misunderstanding that adjacent edges must join.
* ''Fictions'' are when a figure is perceived even though it is not in the stimulus, like with the [[Gaetano Kanizsa|Kanizsa]] triangle, using [[illusory contours]].<ref name="IllusoryContours">{{Cite book|title=The Perception of Illusory Contours|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPIxBwAAQBAJ|last1=Petry|first1=Susan|last2=Meyer|first2=Glenn E.|publisher=Springer; 1987th edition|date=2012-12-06|pages=696|isbn = 9781461247609|language=en}}</ref><ref name="CognitiveContours">{{Cite journal|title=Cognitive Contours|url=https://doi.org/10.1038/238051a0|access-date=2021-09-04|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|year=1972|doi=10.1038/238051a0|language=en|last1=Gregory|first1=R. L.|volume=238|issue=5358|pages=51–52|pmid=12635278|bibcode=1972Natur.238...51G|s2cid=4285883}}</ref>

== Explanation of cognitive illusions ==

=== Perceptual organization ===
[[File:Two silhouette profile or a white vase.svg|thumb|Reversible figures and vase, or the [[Figure-ground (perception)|figure-ground]] illusion]]

[[File:Duck-Rabbit illusion.jpg|thumb|[[Rabbit–duck illusion]]]]

To make sense of the world it is necessary to organize incoming sensations into information which is meaningful. [[Gestalt psychology|Gestalt psychologists]] believe one way this is done is by perceiving individual sensory stimuli as a meaningful whole.<ref name="Myers" /> Gestalt organization can be used to explain many illusions including the [[rabbit–duck illusion]] where the image as a whole switches back and forth from being a duck then being a rabbit and why in the [[Figure-ground (perception)|figure–ground]] illusion the figure and ground are reversible.

[[File:Kanizsa triangle.svg|thumb|alt=In this there is no "Drawn" White Triangle. Click caption for an explanation.|[[Kanizsa's Triangle|Kanizsa's triangle]]]]
In addition, gestalt theory can be used to explain the [[Illusory Contours|illusory contours]] in the [[Kanizsa's Triangle|Kanizsa's triangle]]. A floating white triangle, which does not exist, is seen. The brain has a need to see familiar simple objects and has a tendency to create a "whole" image from individual elements.<ref name="Myers">Myers, D. (2003). Psychology in Modules, (7th ed.) New York: Worth. {{ISBN|0-7167-5850-4}}</ref> ''Gestalt'' means "form" or "shape" in German. However, another explanation of the Kanizsa's triangle is based in [[evolutionary psychology]] and the fact that in order to survive it was important to see form and edges. The use of perceptual organization to create meaning out of stimuli is the principle behind other well-known illusions including [[impossible objects]]. The brain makes sense of shapes and symbols putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle, formulating that which is not there to that which is believable.

The [[Gestalt psychology#Theoretical framework and methodology|gestalt principles]] of perception govern the way different objects are grouped. Good form is where the perceptual system tries to fill in the blanks in order to see simple objects rather than complex objects. Continuity is where the perceptual system tries to disambiguate which segments fit together into continuous lines. Proximity is where objects that are close together are associated. Similarity is where objects that are similar are seen as associated. Some of these elements have been successfully incorporated into quantitative models involving optimal estimation or Bayesian inference.<ref>Yoon Mo Jung and Jackie (Jianhong) Shen (2008), J. Visual Comm. Image Representation, '''19'''(1):42–55, [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1326364.1326487&coll=&dl=&CFID=11849883&CFTOKEN=72040242 ''First-order modeling and stability analysis of illusory contours''].</ref><ref>Yoon Mo Jung and Jackie (Jianhong) Shen (2014), arXiv:1406.1265, [https://arxiv.org/abs/1406.1265 ''Illusory shapes via phase transition''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124185300/https://arxiv.org/abs/1406.1265 |date=2017-11-24 }}.</ref>

The double-anchoring theory, a popular but recent theory of lightness illusions, states that any region belongs to one or more frameworks, created by gestalt grouping principles, and within each frame is independently anchored to both the highest luminance and the surround luminance. A spot's lightness is determined by the average of the values computed in each framework.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bressan | first1 = P | year = 2006 | title = The Place of White in a World of Grays: A Double-Anchoring Theory of Lightness Perception | url = http://osf.io/fht3g/| journal = Psychological Review | volume = 113 | issue = 3| pages = 526–553 | doi=10.1037/0033-295x.113.3.526 | pmid=16802880| hdl = 11577/1560501 | hdl-access = free }}</ref>

=== Depth and motion perception ===
[[File:Vertical–horizontal illusion.png|250px|left|thumb|The [[vertical–horizontal illusion]] where the vertical line is thought to be longer than the horizontal]]
[[File:Ponzo illusion.gif|left|thumb|alt=The Yellow lines are the same length. Click on the name at bottom of picture for an explanation.|[[Ponzo illusion]]]]
Illusions can be based on an individual's ability to see in three dimensions even though the image hitting the retina is only two dimensional. The [[Ponzo illusion]] is an example of an illusion which uses monocular cues of depth perception to fool the eye. But even with two-dimensional images, the brain exaggerates vertical distances when compared with horizontal distances, as in the [[vertical–horizontal illusion]] where the two lines are exactly the same length.

In the Ponzo illusion the converging [[Parallel (geometry)|parallel lines]] tell the brain that the image higher in the [[visual field]] is farther away, therefore, the brain perceives the image to be larger, although the two images hitting the [[retina]] are the same size. The optical illusion seen in a [[diorama]]/[[false perspective]] also exploits assumptions based on monocular cues of [[depth perception]]. The [[M.C. Escher]] painting ''[[Waterfall (M. C. Escher)|Waterfall]]'' exploits rules of depth and proximity and our understanding of the physical world to create an illusion. Like [[depth perception]], [[motion perception]] is responsible for a number of sensory illusions. Film [[animation]] is based on the illusion that the brain perceives a series of slightly varied images produced in rapid succession as a moving picture. Likewise, when we are moving, as we would be while riding in a vehicle, stable surrounding objects may appear to move. We may also perceive a large object, like an airplane, to move more slowly than smaller objects, like a car, although the larger object is actually moving faster. The [[phi phenomenon]] is yet another example of how the brain perceives motion, which is most often created by blinking lights in close succession.

The ambiguity of direction of motion due to lack of visual references for depth is shown in [[The Spinning Dancer|the spinning dancer illusion]]. The spinning dancer appears to be moving clockwise or counterclockwise depending on spontaneous activity in the brain where perception is subjective. Recent studies show on the fMRI that there are spontaneous fluctuations in cortical activity while watching this illusion, particularly the parietal lobe because it is involved in perceiving movement.<ref>Bernal, B., Guillen, M., & Marquez, J. (2014). The spinning dancer illusion and spontaneous brain fluctuations: An fMRI study. Neurocase (Psychology Press), 20(6), 627-639.</ref>

=== Color and brightness constancies ===
[[File:Gradient-optical-illusion.svg|thumb|Simultaneous contrast illusion. The background is a [[color gradient]] and progresses from dark gray to light gray. The horizontal bar appears to progress from light grey to dark grey, but is in fact just one color.]]
Perceptual constancies are sources of illusions. [[Color constancy]] and brightness constancy are responsible for the fact that a familiar object will appear the same color regardless of the amount of light or color of light reflecting from it. An illusion of color difference or luminosity difference can be created when the luminosity or color of the area surrounding an unfamiliar object is changed. The luminosity of the object will appear brighter against a black field (that reflects less light) than against a white field, even though the object itself did not change in luminosity. Similarly, the eye will compensate for color contrast depending on the color cast of the surrounding area.

In addition to the gestalt principles of perception, water-color illusions contribute to the formation of optical illusions. Water-color illusions consist of object-hole effects and coloration. Object-hole effects occur when boundaries are prominent where there is a figure and background with a hole that is 3D volumetric in appearance. Coloration consists of an assimilation of color radiating from a thin-colored edge lining a darker chromatic contour. The water-color illusion describes how the human mind perceives the wholeness of an object such as top-down processing. Thus, contextual factors play into perceiving the brightness of an object.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tanca | first1 = M. | last2 = Grossberg | first2 = S. | last3 = Pinna | first3 = B. | year = 2010 | title = Probing Perceptual Antinomies with the Watercolor Illusion and Explaining How the Brain Resolves Them | url = http://cns-web.bu.edu/%7Esteve/TanGroPin2010.pdf | journal = Seeing & Perceiving | volume = 23 | issue = 4 | pages = 295–333 | doi = 10.1163/187847510x532685 | pmid = 21466146 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170921215931/http://cns-web.bu.edu/%7Esteve/TanGroPin2010.pdf | archive-date = 2017-09-21 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.174.7709 }}</ref>

=== Object ===
[[File:Shepard tables.jpg|thumb|"Shepard tables" deconstructed. The two tabletops appear to be different, but they are the same size and shape.]]
Just as it perceives color and brightness constancies, the brain has the ability to understand familiar objects as having a consistent shape or size. For example, a door is perceived as a rectangle regardless of how the image may change on the retina as the door is opened and closed. Unfamiliar objects, however, do not always follow the rules of shape constancy and may change when the perspective is changed. The [[Shepard tables]] illusion<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/sze_shepardTables/index.html |first=Michael |last=Bach |work=michaelbach.de |orig-year=16 August 2004 |date=4 January 2010 |title=Shepard's "Turning the Tables" |access-date=27 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091227121317/http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/sze_shepardTables/index.html |archive-date=27 December 2009 |publisher=Michael Bach |url-status=dead }}</ref> is an example of an illusion based on distortions in shape constancy.

=== Future perception ===
{{Dubious |Section "Future perception" questionable|date=September 2018}}
Researcher [[Mark Changizi]] of [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] in New York has a more imaginative take on optical illusions, saying that they are due to a neural lag which most humans experience while awake. When light hits the retina, about one-tenth of a second goes by before the brain translates the signal into a visual perception of the world. Scientists have known of the lag, yet they have debated how humans compensate, with some proposing that our motor system somehow modifies our movements to offset the delay.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bryner |first1=Jeanna |title=Scientist: Humans Can See Into Future |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/06/03/scientist-humans-can-see-into-future.html |website=foxnews.com |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>

Changizi asserts that the human visual system has evolved to compensate for neural delays by generating images of what will occur one-tenth of a second into the future. This foresight enables humans to react to events in the present, enabling humans to perform reflexive acts like catching a fly ball and to maneuver smoothly through a crowd.<ref name="Bryner">[http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080602-foresee-future.html Key to All-Optical Illusions Discovered] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905122802/http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080602-foresee-future.html |date=2008-09-05 }}'', Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer, LiveScience.com 6/2/08. His research on this topic is detailed in the May/June 2008 issue of the journal ''Cognitive Science''.</ref> In an interview with ABC Changizi said, "Illusions occur when our brains attempt to perceive the future, and those perceptions don't match reality."<ref>{{cite web |last1=NIERENBERG |first1=CARI |title=Optical Illusions: When Your Brain Can't Believe Your Eyes |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/EyeHealth/optical-illusions-eye-brain-agree/story?id=8455573 |website=ABC News |access-date=13 July 2018|date=2008-02-07 }}</ref> For example, an illusion called the [[Hering illusion]] looks like bicycle spokes around a central point, with vertical lines on either side of this central, so-called vanishing point.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barile |first1=Margherita |title=Hering Illusion |url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/HeringIllusion.html |website=mathworld |publisher=Wolfram |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>
The illusion tricks us into thinking we are looking at a perspective picture, and thus according to Changizi, switches on our future-seeing abilities. Since we are not actually moving and the figure is static, we misperceive the straight lines as curved ones.
Changizi said:
<blockquote>Evolution has seen to it that geometric drawings like this elicit in us premonitions of the near future. The converging lines toward a vanishing point (the spokes) are cues that trick our brains into thinking we are moving forward—as we would in the real world, where the door frame (a pair of vertical lines) seems to bow out as we move through it—and we try to perceive what that world will look like in the next instant.<ref name="Bryner" /></blockquote>

== Pathological visual illusions (distortions) ==
A [[pathology|pathological]] visual illusion is a distortion of a real external stimulus<ref name=Pelak>{{cite web|last1=Pelak|first1=Victoria|title=Approach to the patient with visual hallucinations|url=http://www.uptodate.com/contents/approach-to-the-patient-with-visual-hallucinations|website=www.uptodate.com|access-date=2014-08-25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120056/http://www.uptodate.com/contents/approach-to-the-patient-with-visual-hallucinations|archive-date=2014-08-26}}</ref> and is often diffuse and persistent. Pathological visual illusions usually occur throughout the visual field, suggesting global excitability or sensitivity alterations.<ref name=Gersztenkorn>{{cite journal|last1=Gersztenkorn|first1=D|last2=Lee|first2=AG|title=Palinopsia revamped: A systematic review of the literature|journal=Survey of Ophthalmology|date=Jul 2, 2014|pmid=25113609|doi=10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.06.003|volume=60|issue=1|pages=1–35}}</ref> Alternatively visual hallucination is the perception of an external visual stimulus where none exists.<ref name=Pelak /> Visual hallucinations are often from focal dysfunction and are usually transient.

Types of visual illusions include [[oscillopsia]], [[halo (optical phenomenon)|halos around objects]], [[illusory palinopsia]] ([[illusory palinopsia#Visual trailing|visual trailing]], [[illusory palinopsia#Light streaking|light streaking]], [[Illusory palinopsia#Prolonged indistinct afterimage|prolonged indistinct afterimages]]), [[akinetopsia]], [[visual snow]], [[micropsia]], [[macropsia]], [[teleopsia]], [[pelopsia]], [[metamorphopsia]], [[dyschromatopsia]], intense [[glare (vision)|glare]], [[blue field entoptic phenomenon]], and [[entoptic phenomena|purkinje trees]].

These symptoms may indicate an underlying disease state and necessitate seeing a medical practitioner. Etiologies associated with pathological visual illusions include multiple types of [[eye disease|ocular disease]], [[migraine]]s, [[hallucinogen persisting perception disorder]], [[closed head injury|head trauma]], and [[prescription drug]]s. If a medical work-up does not reveal a cause of the pathological visual illusions, the idiopathic visual disturbances could be analogous to the altered excitability state seen in visual aura with no migraine headache. If the visual illusions are diffuse and persistent, they often affect the patient's quality of life. These symptoms are often refractory to treatment and may be caused by any of the aforementioned etiologies, but are often idiopathic. There is no standard treatment for these visual disturbances.

== Connections to psychological disorders ==

=== The rubber hand illusion (RHI) ===
[[File:Phantom-limb-illusion.jpg|thumb|A visual representation of what an amputee with [[Phantom limb|phantom limb syndrome]] senses]]
The [[rubber hand illusion]] (RHI), a [[Multisensory integration|multi-sensory]] illusion involving both [[visual perception]] and [[touch]], has been used to study how [[Phantom limb|phantom limb syndrome]] affects amputees over time.<ref name=":02"/> [[Amputation|Amputees]] with the syndrome actually responded to RHI more strongly than controls, an effect that was often consistent for both the sides of the intact and the amputated arm.<ref name=":02" /> However, in some studies, amputees actually had stronger responses to RHI on their intact arm, and more recent amputees responded to the illusion better than amputees who had been missing an arm for years or more.<ref name=":02" /> Researchers believe this is a sign that the [[body schema]], or an individual's sense of their own body and its parts, progressively adapts to the post-amputation state.<ref name=":02" /> Essentially, the amputees were learning to no longer respond to sensations near what had once been their arm.<ref name=":02" /> As a result, many have suggested the use of RHI as a tool for monitoring an amputee's progress in reducing their phantom limb sensations and adjusting to the new state of their body.<ref name=":02" />

Other research used RHI in the rehabilitation of amputees with [[Prosthesis|prosthetic]] limbs.<ref name=":1">Christ, Oliver; Reiner, Miriam (2014-07-01). "Perspectives and possible applications of the rubber hand and virtual hand illusion in non-invasive rehabilitation: Technological improvements and their consequences". Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Applied Neuroscience: Models, methods, theories, reviews. A Society of Applied Neuroscience (SAN) special issue. 44: 33–44. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.02.013. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 0149-7634</ref> After prolonged exposure to RHI, the amputees gradually stopped feeling a dissociation between the prosthetic (which resembled the rubber hand) and the rest of their body.<ref name=":1" /> This was thought to be because they adjusted to responding to and moving a limb that did not feel as connected to the rest of their body or senses.<ref name=":1" />

RHI may also be used to diagnose certain disorders related to impaired [[proprioception]] or impaired sense of [[touch]] in non-amputees.<ref name=":1" />

=== Illusions and schizophrenia ===
[[File:Perception-Action Cycle.png|thumb|Top-down processing involves using action plans to make perceptual interpretations and vice versa. (This is impaired in schizophrenia.)]]
[[Schizophrenia]], a mental disorder often marked by [[hallucination]]s, also decreases a person's ability to perceive high-order optical illusions.<ref name=":22"/> This is because schizophrenia impairs one's capacity to perform [[Top-down and bottom-up design|top-down]] processing and a higher-level integration of visual information beyond the primary visual cortex, [[Primary visual cortex|V1]].<ref name=":22"/> Understanding how this specifically occurs in the brain may help in understanding how visual [[distortion]]s, beyond imaginary [[hallucination]]s, affect schizophrenic patients.<ref name=":22"/> Additionally, evaluating the differences between how schizophrenic patients and unaffected individuals see illusions may enable researchers to better identify where specific illusions are processed in the [[Visual system|visual]] streams.<ref name=":22"/>
<imagemap>

File:Dualing Illusions.svg|thumb|An example of the [[Peripheral drift illusion|peripheral drift illusion]]: alternating lines appear to be moving horizontally left or right.

default [/media/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Dualing_Illusions.svg]

</imagemap>
[[File:Bjorn Borg Hollow Face.jpg|thumb|An example of the [[Hollow-Face illusion|hollow face illusion]] which makes concave masks appear to be jutting out (or convex)]]
[[File:MotionBlindness.gif|thumb|An example of [[Motion-induced blindness|motion induced blindness]]: while fixating on the flashing dot, the stationary dots may disappear due to the brain prioritizing motion information.]]
One study on schizophrenic patients found that they were extremely unlikely to be fooled by a three dimensional optical illusion, the [[Hollow-Face illusion|hollow face illusion]], unlike [[neurotypical]] volunteers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Dima|first1=Danai|last2=Roiser|first2=Jonathan P.|last3=Dietrich|first3=Detlef E.|last4=Bonnemann|first4=Catharina|last5=Lanfermann|first5=Heinrich|last6=Emrich|first6=Hinderk M.|last7=Dillo|first7=Wolfgang|date=2009-07-15|title=Understanding why patients with schizophrenia do not perceive the hollow-mask illusion using dynamic causal modelling|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105381190900278X|journal=NeuroImage|language=en|volume=46|issue=4|pages=1180–1186|doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.03.033|pmid=19327402|s2cid=10008080|issn=1053-8119}}</ref> Based on [[Functional magnetic resonance imaging|fMRI]] data, researchers concluded that this resulted from a disconnection between their systems for [[Top-down and bottom-up design|bottom-up]] processing of visual cues and top-down interpretations of those cues in the [[Parietal lobe|parietal cortex]].<ref name=":3" /> In another study on the [[motion-induced blindness]] (MIB) illusion (pictured right), schizophrenic patients continued to perceive stationary visual targets even when observing distracting motion stimuli, unlike [[neurotypical]] [[Controlling for a variable|controls]], who experienced motion induced blindness.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Tschacher|author1-link=Wolfgang Tschacher|first1=Wolfgang|last2=Schuler|first2=Daniela|last3=Junghan|first3=Ulrich|date=2006-01-31|title=Reduced perception of the motion-induced blindness illusion in schizophrenia|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920996405003701|journal=Schizophrenia Research|language=en|volume=81|issue=2|pages=261–267|doi=10.1016/j.schres.2005.08.012|pmid=16243490|s2cid=10752733|issn=0920-9964}}</ref> The schizophrenic test subjects demonstrated impaired cognitive organization, meaning they were less able to coordinate their processing of [[Motion perception|motion cues]] and stationary image cues.<ref name=":4" />

== In art ==
[[File:Ambigram_Escher_and_tessellation_background_-_photomontage_with_reversible_hands.jpg|thumb|[[Ambigram]] [[tessellation]] "[[M. C. Escher|Escher]]" using [[negative space]] to reveal letters upside down]]
Artists who have worked with optical illusions include [[M. C. Escher]],<ref name="MastersOfDeception">{{Cite book|title=Masters of Deception: Escher, Dalí & the Artists of Optical Illusion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5IgWas4rJwC&pg=PA312|last=Seckel|first=Al|publisher=Sterling|year=2017|pages=320|isbn = 9781402705779|language=en}}</ref> [[Bridget Riley]], [[Salvador Dalí]], [[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]], [[Patrick Bokanowski]], [[Marcel Duchamp]], [[Jasper Johns]], [[Oscar Reutersvärd]], [[Victor Vasarely]] and [[Charles Allan Gilbert]]. Contemporary artists who have experimented with illusions include [[Jonty Hurwitz]], [[Sandro del Prete]], [[Octavio Ocampo]], [[Dick Termes]], [[Shigeo Fukuda]], [[Patrick Hughes (artist)|Patrick Hughes]], [[István Orosz]], [[Rob Gonsalves]], [[Gianni A. Sarcone]], [[Ben Heine]] and [[Akiyoshi Kitaoka]]. Optical illusion is also used in film by the technique of [[forced perspective]].

[[Op art]] is a style of art that uses optical illusions to create an impression of movement, or hidden images and patterns. ''[[Trompe-l'œil]]''
uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that depicted objects exist in three dimensions.

Tourists attractions employing large-scale illusory art allowing visitors to photograph themselves in fantastic scenes have opened in several Asian countries, such as the [[Trickeye Museum]] and [[Hong Kong 3D Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cnbc.com/2014/08/28/3d-museums-next-big-thing-for-asia-tourism.html|title = 3-D museums: Next big thing for Asia tourism?|website = [[CNBC]]|date = 28 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/3-d-art-wows-visitors|title=3-D art wows visitors | the Straits Times|newspaper=The Straits Times |date=13 June 2014 |last1=Seow |first1=Bei Yi }}</ref>

== Cognitive processes hypothesis ==
{{more citations needed|section|date=March 2019}}
The hypothesis claims that visual illusions occur because the neural circuitry in our visual system evolves, by neural learning, to a system that makes very efficient interpretations of usual 3D scenes based in the emergence of simplified models in our brain that speed up the interpretation process but give rise to optical illusions in unusual situations. In this sense, the cognitive processes hypothesis can be considered a framework for an understanding of optical illusions as the signature of the empirical statistical way vision has evolved to solve the inverse problem.<ref name="knowperc">{{cite journal |url=http://www.richardgregory.org/papers/knowl_illusion/knowledge-in-perception.pdf |title=Knowledge in perception and illusion |first=Richard L. |last=Gregory |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |year=1997 |volume=352 |issue=1358 |pages=1121–7 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1997.0095 |pmid=9304679 |pmc=1692018 |bibcode=1997RSPTB.352.1121G |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050404073125/http://www.richardgregory.org/papers/knowl_illusion/knowledge-in-perception.pdf |archive-date=2005-04-04 }}</ref>

Research indicates that 3D vision capabilities emerge and are learned jointly with the planning of movements.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Sweet|first1=Barbara|last2=Kaiser|first2=Mary|date=August 2011|title=Depth Perception, Cueing, and Control|url=https://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/publications/AIAA.2011.DepthPerceptionCueCntrl.pdf|journal=AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference|publisher=NASA Ames Research Center|doi=10.2514/6.2011-6424|isbn=978-1-62410-154-0|via=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|hdl=2060/20180007277|s2cid=16425060 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> That is, as depth cues are better perceived, individuals can develop more efficient patterns of movement and interaction within the 3D environment around them.<ref name=":0" /> After a long process of learning, an internal representation of the world emerges that is well-adjusted to the perceived data coming from closer objects. The representation of distant objects near the horizon is less "adequate".{{explain|reason=What about not near the horizon?|date=March 2019}} In fact, it is not only the [[moon illusion|Moon that seems larger]] when we perceive it near the horizon. In a photo of a distant scene, all distant objects are perceived as smaller than when we observe them directly using our vision.

== Gallery ==
{{Hatnote|Some images need to be viewed in full resolution to see their effect.}}
<gallery>
File:Illusion movie.ogg|[[Motion aftereffect]]: this video produces a distortion illusion when the viewer looks away after watching it.
File:Mond-vergleich.svg|[[Ebbinghaus illusion]]: the orange circle on the left appears smaller than that on the right, but they are in fact the same size.
File:Café wall.svg|[[Café wall illusion]]: the parallel horizontal lines in this image appear sloped.
File:Optical-illusion-checkerboard-twisted-cord.svg|Checker version: the diagonal checker squares at the larger grid points make the grid appear distorted.
File:Optical-illusion-checkerboard-twisted-cord2.svg|Checker version with horizontal and vertical central symmetry
File:Lilac-Chaser.gif|[[Lilac chaser]]: if the viewer focuses on the black cross in the center, the location of the disappearing dot appears green.
File:Motion illusion in star arrangement.png|[[Motion illusion]]: contrasting colors create the illusion of motion.
File:Subjectively constructed water-color.svg|[[Watercolor illusion]]: this shape's yellow and blue border create the illusion of the object being pale yellow rather than white<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Bangio Pinna |author2=Gavin Brelstaff |author3=Lothar Spillman | title=Surface color from boundaries: a new watercolor illusion| journal=Vision Research| year=2001| volume=41| pages=2669–2676| issue=20| pmid=11520512| doi=10.1016/s0042-6989(01)00105-5|s2cid=16534759 }}</ref>
File:Optical illusion - subjectively constructed cyan sqare filter above blue cirles.gif|Subjective cyan filter, left: subjectively constructed cyan square filter above blue circles, right: small cyan circles inhibit filter construction<ref>{{cite book|first1=Donald D.|last1=Hoffmann|title=Visual Intelligence. How we create what we see|publisher=Norton|year=1998}}, p.174</ref><ref>{{cite journal| author1=Stephen Grossberg| author2=Baingio Pinna| title=Neural Dynamics of Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization: From Grouping to Shape and Meaning| journal=Gestalt Theory| year=2012| volume=34| pages=399–482| url=http://gth.krammerbuch.at/sites/default/files/articles/AHAH%20callback/Grossberg_Neural_Dynamics.pdf| issue=3+4| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004222301/http://gth.krammerbuch.at/sites/default/files/articles/AHAH%20callback/Grossberg_Neural_Dynamics.pdf| archive-date=2013-10-04| access-date=2013-07-14}}</ref>
File:Pinna's illusory intertwining effect.gif|Pinna's illusory intertwining effect<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Pinna |first1=B. |last2=Gregory |first2=R.L. |first3=L. |last3=Spillmann| title=Shifts of Edges and Deformations of Patterns| journal=Perception| year=2002| volume=31| pages=1503–1508| pmid=12916675| issue=12| doi = 10.1068/p3112pp| s2cid=220053062}}</ref> and Pinna illusion (scholarpedia).<ref>{{cite journal|title=Pinna illusion|volume=4|issue=2|pages=6656|journal=Scholarpedia|doi=10.4249/scholarpedia.6656|year=2009|last1=Pinna|first1=Baingio|bibcode=2009SchpJ...4.6656P|doi-access=free}}</ref> The picture shows squares spiralling in, although they are arranged in concentric circles.
File:Politeness simulation (LOC cph.3g08085).gif|[[Phenakistoscope]] which is spun displaying the illusion of motion of a man bowing and a woman curtsying to each other in a circle at the outer edge of the disc, 1833
File:Hybrid image decomposition.jpg|A [[hybrid image]] constructed from low-frequency components of a photograph of [[Marilyn Monroe]] (left inset) and high-frequency components of a photograph of [[Albert Einstein]] (right inset). The Einstein image is clearer in [[:File:Hybrid image decomposition.jpg|the full image]].
File:Roman geometric mosaic.jpg|An ancient Roman geometric mosaic. The cubic texture induces a [[Necker cube|Necker-cube]]-like optical illusion.
File:Optical illusion created by spinning disks.webm| A set of colorful spinning disks that create illusion. The disks appear to move backwards and forwards in different regions.
File:Revolving circles.svg|[[Pinna-Brelstaff illusion]]: the two circles seem to move when the viewer's head is moving forwards and backwards while looking at the black dot.<ref>{{cite journal| author1=Baingio Pinna| author2=Gavin J. Brelstaff| title=A new visual illusion of relative motion| journal=Vision Research| year=2000| volume=40| pages=2091–2096| url=http://psy.mq.edu.au/vision/~peterw/corella/315/pinna.pdf| doi=10.1016/S0042-6989(00)00072-9| pmid=10878270| issue=16| s2cid=11034983| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005010254/http://psy.mq.edu.au/vision/~peterw/corella/315/pinna.pdf| archive-date=2013-10-05}}</ref>
File:Spinning Dancer.gif|The [[Spinning Dancer]] appears to move both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
File:Europe 2007 Disk 1 340.jpg|[[Forced perspective]]: the man is made to appear to be supporting the [[Leaning Tower of Pisa]] in the background.
File:Grid_illusion.svg|[[Grid illusion|Scintillating grid illusion]]: Dark dots seem to appear and disappear rapidly at random intersections, hence the label "scintillating".
File:Illusion Museum Antwerp - 3.jpg|Building rooms where the furniture is attached to the ceiling makes it appear the two men are upside down.
Optical illusion on the floor of the Duomo Firenze (61458).jpg|Illusion on the floor of the [[Florence Cathedral]]
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Commons category|Optical illusions|Optical illusion|position=right}}
{{sister project links|d=Q174923|commons=no|wikt=optical illusion|n=no|q=Illusion|auto=yes|collapsible=yes|position=right}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Auditory illusion]]
* [[Barberpole illusion]] (Barber's pole)
* [[Camouflage]]
* [[Chronostasis]] (stopped-clock illusion)
* [[Closed-eye hallucination]]/visualization
* [[Contour rivalry]]
* [[Ebbinghaus illusion]]
* [[Emmert's law]]
* [[Flashed face distortion effect]]
* [[Fraser spiral illusion]]
* [[Gravity hill]]
* [[Infrasound#Suggested relationship to ghost sightings|Human reactions to infrasound]]
* [[Hidden faces]]
* [[Infinity edge pool]]
* [[Kinetic depth effect]]
* [[List of optical illusions]]
* [[Mirage]]
* [[Multistable perception]]
* [[Rabbit–duck illusion]]
* [[Silencing]]
* [[The dress (viral phenomenon)|The dress]]
* [[Troxler's fading]]
* [[Visual space]]
* [[Watercolour illusion]]
}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== References ==
* {{cite journal | last1 = Bach | first1 = Michael | last2 = Poloschek | first2 = C. M. | title = Optical Illusions | journal = Adv. Clin. Neurosci. Rehabil. | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 20–21 | year = 2006 | url = http://www.dfisica.ubi.pt/~hgil/p.v.2/Ilusoes-Visuais/Visual-Illusions.2.pdf | access-date = 2017-12-29 | archive-date = 2021-01-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210120054520/http://www.dfisica.ubi.pt/~hgil/p.v.2/Ilusoes-Visuais/Visual-Illusions.2.pdf | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Changizi | first1 = Mark A. | last2 = Hsieh | first2 = Andrew | last3 = Nijhawan | first3 = Romi | last4 = Kanai | first4 = Ryota | last5 = Shimojo | first5 = Shinsuke | year = 2008 | title = Perceiving the Present and a Systematization of Illusions | url = http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/2008v32/3/HCOG_A_303687_O.pdf | journal = Cognitive Science | volume = 32 | issue = 3| pages = 459–503 | doi=10.1080/03640210802035191| pmid = 21635343 | doi-access = free }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Eagleman | first1 = D. M. | author-link = David Eagleman | year = 2001 | title = Visual Illusions and Neurobiology | url = http://physiology.elte.hu/gyakorlat/cikkek/Visual%20illusions%20and%20neurobiology.pdf | journal = Nature Reviews Neuroscience | volume = 2 | issue = 12| pages = 920–6 | doi=10.1038/35104092 | pmid=11733799| s2cid = 205023280 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Gregory | first1 = Richard | title = Putting illusions in their place | journal = Perception| volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–4 | year = 1991 | doi=10.1068/p200001| pmid = 1945728 | s2cid = 5521054 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Gregory| first1 = Richard | year = 1997 | title = Knowledge in perception and illusion | url = http://www.richardgregory.org/papers/knowl_illusion/knowledge-in-perception.pdf | journal = Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B | volume = 352 | issue = 1358| pages = 1121–1128 | doi=10.1098/rstb.1997.0095| pmid = 9304679 | pmc = 1692018| bibcode = 1997RSPTB.352.1121G }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Purves | first1 = D. | last2 = Lotto | first2 = R.B. | last3 = Nundy | first3 = S. | year = 2002 | title = Why We See What We Do | journal = American Scientist | volume = 90 | issue = 3| pages = 236–242 | doi = 10.1511/2002.9.784 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Purves | first1 = D. | last2 = Williams | first2 = M. S. | last3 = Nundy | first3 = S. | last4 = Lotto | first4 = R. B. | year = 2004 | title = Perceiving the intensity of light | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 111 | issue = 1| pages = 142–158 | doi=10.1037/0033-295x.111.1.142| pmid = 14756591 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.1008.6441 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Renier | first1 = L. | last2 = Laloyaux | first2 = C. | last3 = Collignon | first3 = O. | last4 = Tranduy | first4 = D. | last5 = Vanlierde | first5 = A. | last6 = Bruyer | first6 = R. | last7 = De Volder | first7 = A. G. | year = 2005 | title = The Ponzo illusion using auditory substitution of vision in sighted and early blind subjects | journal = Perception | volume = 34 | issue = 7| pages = 857–867 | doi=10.1068/p5219 | pmid=16124271| s2cid = 17265107 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Renier | first1 = L. | last2 = Bruyer | first2 = R. | last3 = De Volder | first3 = A. G. | year = 2006 | title = Vertical-horizontal illusion present for sighted but not early blind humans using auditory substitution of vision | journal = Perception & Psychophysics | volume = 68 | issue = 4| pages = 535–542 | doi=10.3758/bf03208756| pmid = 16933419 | doi-access = free }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Yang | first1 = Z. | last2 = Purves | first2 = D. | year = 2003 | title = A statistical explanation of visual space | journal = Nature Neuroscience | volume = 6 | issue = 6| pages = 632–640 | doi=10.1038/nn1059| pmid = 12754512 | s2cid = 610068 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Dixon | first1 = E. | last2 = Shapiro | first2 = A. | last3 = Lu | first3 = Z. | year = 2014 | title = Scale-Invariance in brightness illusions implicates object-level visual processing | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 4 | pages = 3900 | doi = 10.1038/srep03900 | pmid=24473496 | pmc=3905277| bibcode = 2014NatSR...4E3900D }}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal | last1 = Purves | first1 = Dale |display-authors=etal | year = 2008| title = Visual illusions:An Empirical Explanation | journal = [[Scholarpedia]] | volume = 3 | issue = 6| page = 3706 | doi = 10.4249/scholarpedia.3706 | bibcode = 2008SchpJ...3.3706P | doi-access = free }}
* David Cycleback. 2018. ''[https://bookboon.com/en/understanding-human-minds-and-their-limits-ebook Understanding Human Minds and Their Limits]''. Publisher Bookboon.com {{ISBN|978-87-403-2286-6}}

{{Optical illusions}}
{{Op art}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Optical illusions| ]]
[[Category:Optical phenomena]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]

Anti-tail

2024-10-17T04:52:51Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Copyedited

{{Short description|Feature of a comet}}
[[File:C2007N3Lulin2panel brimacombe.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Comet Lulin]] antitail to the left, ion tail to right]]

[[File:Anti-tail.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Showing how a comet may appear to exhibit a short tail pointing in the opposite direction to its type II or dust tail as viewed from Earth i.e. an antitail]]

An '''antitail''' is an apparent spike projecting from a [[comet]]'s [[Coma (cometary)|coma]] which seems to go towards the [[Sun]], and thus geometrically opposite to the other [[Comet tail|tails]]: the ''ion tail'' and the ''dust tail''. Despite a common misunderstanding, this phenomenon is not an [[optical illusion]]. The antitail consists of larger [[Comet dust|dust particles]] left behing by the comet. These dust particles are less affected by the Sun's [[Solar radiation pressure|radiation pressure]] and tend to remain roughly in the comet's [[orbital plane]] and eventually form a disc along the comet's orbit due to the ejection speed of the particles from the comet's surface. As Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane, this disc is seen side on, and appears as the characteristic spike.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boehnhardt |first1=Hermann |title=The Anti-Tail of Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp) in 1997/1998 |journal=Earth, Moon, and Planets |date=2003 |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=19-35 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023/B:MOON.0000034496.28985.ef.pdf |access-date=17 October 2024}}</ref>
The other side of the disc can sometimes be seen, though it tends to be lost in the dust tail. The antitail is therefore normally visible for a brief interval only when Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090206-ns-comet-lulin.html|title=Newfound Comet Lulin to Grace Night Skies |last=Rao|first= Joe |date=6 February 2009|publisher=[[SPACE.com]]|access-date=2009-02-25| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090226001704/http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090206-ns-comet-lulin.html| archive-date= 26 February 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yM063m-CN3M/SZ9YzVzA0OI/AAAAAAAAANk/627phmwTv14/s1600-h/antitail.jpg|title=What is an antitail|last=Tosar|first=Borja|author2=Paolo Candy|work=3.bp.blogspot|access-date=2009-02-25| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090225130604/http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yM063m-CN3M/SZ9YzVzA0OI/AAAAAAAAANk/627phmwTv14/s1600-h/antitail.jpg| archive-date= 25 February 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>

Most comets do not develop sufficiently for an antitail to become visible, but notable comets that did display antitails include [[Comet Arend–Roland]] in 1957,<ref name="arendroland"/> [[Comet Kohoutek]] in 1973,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Statement of John E. Naugle, Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA: Comet Kohoutek Program |journal=Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications |first1=John E. |last1=Naugles |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=401 |date=7 March 1974 |location=Washington DC |department=Committee on Science and Astronautics U.S. House of Representatives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVAVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA401 |access-date=2021-11-10 |quote=[drawing on page 403] the Skylab crewmen observed a brilliant spike or anti tail projecting toward the Sun from the head of Kohoutek [...] Dr Zdenek Sekanina concluded that the spike was not wholly due to a perspective or geometrical effect as has been assumed in previous comet studies.}}</ref> [[Comet Hale–Bopp]] in 1997, C/1999 H1 (Lee)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/koj_1999/c1999h1/99h1eaus.htm|title=Analysis of past comet apparitions – C/1999 H1 (Lee)|last=Kammerer|first=Andreas|access-date=2023-11-24}}</ref> in 1999, [[Comet Lulin]] in 2009, [[Comet PANSTARRS]] in 2013, [[C/2022 E3 (ZTF)]] in 2023,<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Harry Baker |date=2023-01-27 |title=Optical illusion gives rare green comet an 'anti-tail' that seemingly defies physics |url=https://www.space.com/green-comet-anti-tail-illusion |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=Space.com |language=en}}</ref>, [[12P/Pons–Brooks]]<ref>{{Cite web |author=Adrien |date=2024-06-15 |url=https://www.techno-science.net/en/news/the-devil-comet-reveals-an-anti-tail-N25126.html |title="The Devil's Comet reveals... an anti-tail" |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=techno-science.net |language=en}}</ref> in 2024 and [[C/2023_A3_(Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)|C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS]]<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Bob King |date=2024-10-15 |url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-climbs-brightens-and-delights/ |title="Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS climbs, brigthens and delights!" |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=SkyAndTelescope.org |language=en |quote="The comet displayed a strikingly narrow antitail the night of October 14th"}}
</ref> in 2024.

==See also==
* [[Comet tail]]
* [[Comet#Coma and tail|The coma and tail]] at the main Comet article.
* [[Limb brightening]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2009/1853.html |author=Emily Lakdawalla|title=Got binoculars? Spot a comet near Saturn tonight|date=2009-02-23}}
* [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/antitail.html Photo of Comet Arend–Roland in 1957 with prominent antitail.]

{{Comets|nonobject=yes}}

[[Category:Comets]]

{{comet-stub}}

Anti-tail

2024-10-17T04:48:38Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Replaced Darling (2016) with Boehnhardt (2003). Darling declared that the anti-tail *is* an illusion contradicting the text. Boehnhardt set forth the physics of the anti-tail.

{{Short description|Feature of a comet}}
[[File:C2007N3Lulin2panel brimacombe.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Comet Lulin]] antitail to the left, ion tail to right]]

[[File:Anti-tail.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Showing how a comet may appear to exhibit a short tail pointing in the opposite direction to its type II or dust tail as viewed from Earth i.e. an antitail]]

An '''antitail''' is an apparent spike projecting from a [[comet]]'s [[Coma (cometary)|coma]] which seems to go towards the [[Sun]], and thus geometrically opposite to the other [[Comet tail|tails]]: the ''ion tail'' and the ''dust tail''. Despite a common misunderstanding, this phenomenon is not an [[optical illusion]]. The antitail consists of larger [[Comet dust|dust particles]], which are less affected by the Sun's [[Solar radiation pressure|radiation pressure]] and tend to remain roughly in the comet's [[orbital plane]] and eventually form a disc along the comet's orbit due to the ejection speed of the particles from the comet's surface. As Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane, this disc is seen side on, and appears as the characteristic spike.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boehnhardt |first1=Hermann |title=The Anti-Tail of Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp) in 1997/1998 |journal=Earth, Moon, and Planets |date=2003 |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=19-35 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023/B:MOON.0000034496.28985.ef.pdf |access-date=17 October 2024}}</ref>
The other side of the disc can sometimes be seen, though it tends to be lost in the dust tail. The antitail is therefore normally visible for a brief interval only when Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090206-ns-comet-lulin.html|title=Newfound Comet Lulin to Grace Night Skies |last=Rao|first= Joe |date=6 February 2009|publisher=[[SPACE.com]]|access-date=2009-02-25| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090226001704/http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090206-ns-comet-lulin.html| archive-date= 26 February 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yM063m-CN3M/SZ9YzVzA0OI/AAAAAAAAANk/627phmwTv14/s1600-h/antitail.jpg|title=What is an antitail|last=Tosar|first=Borja|author2=Paolo Candy|work=3.bp.blogspot|access-date=2009-02-25| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090225130604/http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yM063m-CN3M/SZ9YzVzA0OI/AAAAAAAAANk/627phmwTv14/s1600-h/antitail.jpg| archive-date= 25 February 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>

Most comets do not develop sufficiently for an antitail to become visible, but notable comets that did display antitails include [[Comet Arend–Roland]] in 1957,<ref name="arendroland"/> [[Comet Kohoutek]] in 1973,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Statement of John E. Naugle, Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA: Comet Kohoutek Program |journal=Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications |first1=John E. |last1=Naugles |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=401 |date=7 March 1974 |location=Washington DC |department=Committee on Science and Astronautics U.S. House of Representatives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVAVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA401 |access-date=2021-11-10 |quote=[drawing on page 403] the Skylab crewmen observed a brilliant spike or anti tail projecting toward the Sun from the head of Kohoutek [...] Dr Zdenek Sekanina concluded that the spike was not wholly due to a perspective or geometrical effect as has been assumed in previous comet studies.}}</ref> [[Comet Hale–Bopp]] in 1997, C/1999 H1 (Lee)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/koj_1999/c1999h1/99h1eaus.htm|title=Analysis of past comet apparitions – C/1999 H1 (Lee)|last=Kammerer|first=Andreas|access-date=2023-11-24}}</ref> in 1999, [[Comet Lulin]] in 2009, [[Comet PANSTARRS]] in 2013, [[C/2022 E3 (ZTF)]] in 2023,<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Harry Baker |date=2023-01-27 |title=Optical illusion gives rare green comet an 'anti-tail' that seemingly defies physics |url=https://www.space.com/green-comet-anti-tail-illusion |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=Space.com |language=en}}</ref>, [[12P/Pons–Brooks]]<ref>{{Cite web |author=Adrien |date=2024-06-15 |url=https://www.techno-science.net/en/news/the-devil-comet-reveals-an-anti-tail-N25126.html |title="The Devil's Comet reveals... an anti-tail" |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=techno-science.net |language=en}}</ref> in 2024 and [[C/2023_A3_(Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)|C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS]]<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Bob King |date=2024-10-15 |url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-climbs-brightens-and-delights/ |title="Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS climbs, brigthens and delights!" |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=SkyAndTelescope.org |language=en |quote="The comet displayed a strikingly narrow antitail the night of October 14th"}}
</ref> in 2024.

==See also==
* [[Comet tail]]
* [[Comet#Coma and tail|The coma and tail]] at the main Comet article.
* [[Limb brightening]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2009/1853.html |author=Emily Lakdawalla|title=Got binoculars? Spot a comet near Saturn tonight|date=2009-02-23}}
* [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/antitail.html Photo of Comet Arend–Roland in 1957 with prominent antitail.]

{{Comets|nonobject=yes}}

[[Category:Comets]]

{{comet-stub}}

User:Robert P. O'Shea

2024-10-10T04:43:46Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added Monday demonstrations in East Germany

{{Template:User Wikipedian for|day=10|month=8|year=2004}}
{{-}}
{{Yeoman Editor Userbox}}
{{-}}

I am '''Robert P. O'Shea,''' a researcher, author, and compulsive tinkerer with other people's prose. I work at [[Leipzig University]], [[Germany]]. Robert P. O'Shea is my real name.

I have made more than 5,000 edits to more than 1,300 pages in all parts of Wikipedia. I have created, or made major revisions to, 90 pages, of which 82 still exist (see below). I have also made substantial or significant changes to 51 pages (also see below).

Initial entries and major revisions I have authored include:

#[[2AFC]]
#[[Adelbert Ames, Jr.]]
#[[Aerial perspective]]
#{{interlanguage link|Anneros Meischner-Metge|de}}
#[[Arthur König]]
#[[Australasian Experimental Psychology Society]] (now called [[Australasian Society for Experimental Psychology]])
#[[Autokinetic effect]]
#[[Binocular rivalry]]
#[[Binocular vision]]
#[[Celeste McCollough]]
#[[Convergence micropsia]]
#[[Cyanopsia]]
#[[David Rubinoff]], and [[Dave Rubinoff]], [[Rubinoff]], [[Rubinoff and his Orchestra]], and [[Rubinoff Orchestra]]
#[[Eloise (Barry Ryan song)]] (now called [[Eloise (Paul Ryan song)]])
#[[Emission theory (vision)]]
#[[Endaural phenomena]]
#[[Entopic]]
#[[Equilateral Triathlon]]
#[[Erich Schröger]]
#[[Ernst Leitz II]]
#[[Farm tools (disambiguation)]]
#[[Fergus W. Campbell]]
#[[Ganglion cell]]
#[[Giant retinal ganglion cells]]
#[[Glenn A. Fry]]
#[[Grating]]
#[[Gustav Adolf Wohlgemuth]]
#[[H. Carl Haywood]]
#[[Half-life of knowledge]]
#[[Haploscope]]
#[[Harvey J. Howard]]
#[[Howler (examination)]]
#[[Ian P. Howard]]
#[[Ibn Sahl]]
#[[Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler]]
#[[Illusions of self-motion]]
#[[Induced movement]]
#[[Instrument myopia]] (still under construction)
#[[Irradiation illusion]]
#[[Jeremy Hinton]]
#[[Johannes Theodor Müller]], along with redirect and entry in disambiguation page for Johannes Müller
#[[John Graham Kerr]]
#[[Kenneth N. Ogle]]
#[[Kurt Koffka Medal]], along with four redirects
#[[Law of specific nerve energies]] (major revision)
#[[Lilac chaser]]
#[[Loess curve]]
#[[Lowess]]
#[[Loxene]]
#[[Mary O'Neill (disambiguation)]]
#[[McCollough effect]]
#[[Meridian (perimetry, visual field)]]
#[[Michael Bach (vision scientist)]]
#[[Michael von Grünau]]
#[[Monocular rivalry]]
#[[Motion aftereffect]]
#[[Motion induced blindness]]
#[[Mylestom, New South Wales]]
#[[Neglect]]
#[[Neurotree]] (also Academic family tree as a redirect)
#[[Ogle]]
#[[Pacman]] (original article disappeared when it was moved to a redirect)
#[[Pattern glare]] (stub)
#[[Phosphene]]
#[[Piece of My Heart (disambiguation)]]
#[[Pinocchio illusion]]
#[[Post-micturition convulsion syndrome]] (now overwritten by a later article)
#[[Progressive lenses]]
#[[Purkinje images]]
#[[Receptive field]]
#[[Refraction error]]
#[[Sea legs]]
#[[Self-motion]]
#[[Semir Zeki]]
#[[StatView]]
#[[Stereopsis]]
#[[Stomach stapling]] (now called Vertical banded gastroplasty surgery)
#[[Ternus illusion]]
#[[Tetris effect]]
#[[Troxler]] (Disambiguation)
#[[Troxler's fading]]
#[[Two-body problem (disambiguation)]] (replaced by list of articles at [[Two-body problem]])
#[[Urte]]
#[[Verdell Smith (boxer)]] (now [[Verdell Smith]])
#[[Verdelle Smith (Disambiguation)]]
#[[Verdelle Smith (Singer)]]
#[[Wagon-wheel effect]]
#[[Wike's law of low odd primes]]
#[[WriteNow]]
#[[Zograscope]] (also diagonal mirror, optical pillar machine, and optical diagonal machine as redirects)

Substantial revisions I have made include:

#<li value="91">[[Ames Room]]</li>
#[[Anticrepuscular rays]]
#[[Atmospheric optics]] (the introductory part)
#[[Autostereogram]]
#[[Barry Ryan (singer)]]
#[[Breaststroke]]
#[[Far point]]
#[[Gerald Westheimer]]
#[[Horopter]]
#[[Hyperalgesia]]
#[[Michael Corballis]]
#''[[Philosophische Studien]]'' with redirect for ''Psychologische Studien''
#[[Psychophysics]] (the introductory part)
#[[Richie Poulton]] (Early life, University education and career, and Personal life)
#[[Schultüte]] (also Zuckertüte as a redirect)
#[[Transcranial Doppler]]
#[[University of Queensland]] (Foundation of the university)
#[[Valentino Braitenberg]]
#[[Watercolor illusion]]
#[[Wu Lien-teh]] (Personal life)

Significant revisions I have made include:

#<li value="111">[[AMP Limited]] (History section, and AMP Banking as a redirect)</li>
#[[Angus Young]] (mainly Early life)
#[[Anne Treisman]]
#[[Aurora]]
#[[Bad Dürrenberg]] (History section)
#[[Café wall illusion]] (contribution of Münsterberg, 1894, 1897)
#[[Cape Raoul]]
#[[Carl Bergmann (anatomist)]]
#[[Cathy Freeman]]
#[[Colin Blakemore]]
#[[Dynamic assessment]]
#[[Empiricism]] (the early history)
#[[G. Stanley Hall]]
#[[Gustav Fechner]]
#[[Jack Pettigrew]]
#[[Julian Hochberg]]
#[[Monday demonstrations in East Germany]]
#[[Pick-up sticks]]
#[[Pioneer River]] (mainly Pioneer Valley section)
#[[Random dot stereogram]] (mainly Illustrative example)
#[[Retinal ganglion cell]]
#[[Rhyl Hinwood]]
#[[Sonic Healthcare]] (mainly History section)
#[[Spicks and Specks (TV series)]]
#[[Split-brain]] (to information about JW)
#[[Sprite (lightning)]]
#[[The Kangaroo Chronicles]] (the Movie section)
#[[Thunder]]
#[[Shepard tone]] (the Examples)
#[[Wilhelm Wundt]]
#[[William Forgan Smith]] (with redirect from Forgan-Smith)

[[Category:Wikipedians in Leipzig|Robert P. O'Shea]]

Monday demonstrations in East Germany

2024-10-10T04:38:23Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Overview */ Copyedited including deleting the scare quotation

{{Short description|Periodic protests occurred between 1989 and 1991}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Monday demonstrations helped to bring down the [[Berlin Wall]].]]

The '''Monday demonstrations''' ({{lang-de|Montagsdemonstrationen in der DDR}}) were a series of peaceful [[political protest]]s against the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The demonstrations began in [[Leipzig]] on 4 September 1989, starting the [[Peaceful Revolution]] in the GDR: the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], the collapse of the government, and [[German reunification]].

The demonstrations took place in towns and cities around the GDR on various days of the week from 1989 to 1991. The Leipzig demonstrations, which are the best known, took place on Mondays.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Hoffmeister| editor-first=Hans| editor2-last=Hemple | editor2-first=Mirko |title=Die Wende in Thüringen: ein Rückblick |date=2000 |edition=2nd | publisher=Thüringische Landeszeitung / Rhino Verlag |location=Arnstadt / Weimar}}</ref> The protests are conventionally separated into five cycles.

== Overview ==
[[File:Nikolaikirche Innenansicht Altar Leipzig 2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1113-048, Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration.jpg|thumb|Demonstrators with banners. This demonstration took place after the fall of the wall.]]

Despite the policy of [[state atheism]] in East Germany, the demonstrations grew out of [[Christian prayer|prayer]]s for peace held in [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]] in [[Leipzig]] from 1982 onward.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015"/> The prayer meetings began on September 20, 1982 by pastor {{interlanguage link|Günter Johannsen|de}}, continued in 1986 by pastor {{interlanguage link|Christoph Wonneberger|de}}, and then continued on October 30, 1989 by pastor [[Christian Führer]].

On 4 September 1989, after the prayers, the first demonstration happened in the square of the church.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beckenbach|first1=Niels|editor1-last=Beckenbach|editor1-first=Niels|title=Fremde Brüder : der schwierige Weg zur deutschen Einheit|date=2008|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-428-12727-6}}</ref> It was organized by [[Katrin Hattenhauer]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Bärbel Bohley, Gerald Praschl, Rüdiger|title=Mut : Frauen in der DDR : mit Fotos und Dokumenten|date=2005|publisher=Herbig|location=München|isbn=978-3-7766-2434-2|pages=194–220, esp. 216–218}}</ref> and Gesine Oltmanns. Both women had prepared four banners, had smuggled them into the church circumventing their surveillants from the [[Stasi]], and on exiting the church had unfolded their banner that called for 'Für ein offenes Land mit freien Menschen' (For an Open Country with Free People),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lindner (Hrsg.)|first1=Bernd|title=Zum Herbst 89 : demokratische Bewegung in der DDR|date=1994|publisher=Forum Verlag|location=Leipzig|isbn=978-3-86151-062-8|pages=9–10|edition=1. Aufl.}}</ref><ref>Speech of the German president Joachim Gauk on the German unity day, Gewandhaus Leipzig 2015</ref> while more activists followed them with the other banners.

The demonstrations grew in size, despite authorities barricading the streets leading to the church.<ref name="Welle2009"/> Eventually they filled the nearby Karl Marx Square (today known again as [[Augustusplatz]]). Safe in the knowledge that the [[Lutheran]] Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in front of the church, and [[non-violence|non-violent]] demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the [[freedom to move|freedom to travel]] to foreign countries and to elect a [[democratic government]]. The location of the demonstration contributed to the success of the protests. The secret police issued death threats and even attacked some of the marchers, but the crowd still continued to gather.<ref name="Welle2009"/>

Informed by West German television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities began replicating the Leipzig demonstrations, meeting at [[city square]]s in the evenings. A major turning point was precipitated by the [[Embassy of Germany, Prague#German refugees|events in the West German Embassy of Prague at the time]]. Thousands of East Germans had fled there in September, living in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]] had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, using trains that had to first pass through the GDR. Genscher's speech from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed [[Dresden]]'s central station in early October, police had to stop people from trying to jump on.

Protests around the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR on 7 October were met with a forceful response by the state. Despite the increased foreign attention around this date, there were around 500 arrests throughout East Germany.

Following the events of the weekend attention turned to Leipzig on Monday 9 October. Seeing it as decision day, the State amassed 8000 [[Volkspolizei|police]] and armed [[National People's Army|military]] units with the intent of preventing any demonstrations. Fears of a massacre similar to that of China's [[Tiananmen Square Massacre]] grew as rumours circulated about hospitals stocking extra blood transfusions. A message recorded by six prominent citizens was broadcast throughout the city, urging both sides to remain calm and strive for peaceful dialogue. Initiated by the respected conductor [[Kurt Masur]] the group also included local members of the communist party.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbvF8j2UC9gC&pg=PA175|title=Vom Aufbruch zum Umbruch: die Bürgerbewegung in der DDR 1989|last=Timmer|first=Karsten|date=2000|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3525359259|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/9.-Oktober-1989-Der-Tag-der-Entscheidung|title=9. Oktober 1989 – Der Tag der Entscheidung|website=LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung|date=8 October 2012 |language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

Expectations and preparations of the state were greatly exceeded as more than 40,000 protesters (out of the city's population of 500,000) assembled. The most famous [[chant]] became "{{lang|de|Wir sind das Volk!}}" ({{Lit|We are the people!}}), reminding the leaders of the GDR that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.<ref name="Curry">{{cite web|last=Curry|first=Andrew|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/we-are-the-people-a-peaceful-revolution-in-leipzig-a-654137.html |title=A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig |publisher=SpiegelOnline |date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> Protesters remained completely peaceful as they reached the Stasi Headquarters, avoiding any escalation of the delicate situation.

Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpectedly high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, [[Egon Krenz]] claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.<ref name="Curry" />
[[File:Lichtfest Leipzig 2009.JPG|thumb|159x159px|Installation on the [[City-Hochhaus Leipzig|City Hochhaus]] for Festival of Lights 2009]]
October 9 is often seen as the "beginning of the end" of the GDR and one of the early signs of the state bowing to pressure. Since 2009 the date is commemorated and celebrated with the Festival of Lights drawing up to 200,000 people tracing the steps of the protest. Attendees include dignitaries like [[Kurt Masur]], [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], [[Joachim Gauck]] as well as Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech heads of state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leipziger-freiheit.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/einzelansicht-news/weit-ueber-100000-menschen-auf-dem-leipziger-innenstadtring/|title=Leipzig. The city with no limits.: Weit über 100.000 Menschen auf dem Leipziger Innenstadtring|website=www.leipziger-freiheit.de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leipzig.de/buergerservice-und-verwaltung/unsere-stadt/herbst-89/jubilaeum-2014/lichtfest-leipzig-2014/|title=Lichtfest Leipzig 2014|website=www.leipzig.de|language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

On 9 October 1989, the police and army units were given permission to use force against those assembled, but this did not deter the church service and march from taking place along the [[Inner City Ring Road (Leipzig)|inner city ring road]], which gathered 70,000 people.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015">{{cite web |last1=Crutchley |first1=Peter |title=How prayers helped end the Cold War |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202103325/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|archive-date=2 February 2019|publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=2 February 2019 |language=en |date=9 October 2015}}</ref>

The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 demonstrators turned up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. (Two days after the rally, [[Erich Honecker]], the leader of the SED, was forced to resign.) The week after, the number more than doubled to 320,000. Many of those people started to cross into East Berlin, without a shot being fired.<ref name="Welle2009">{{cite web |last1=Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Peace prayers helped bring down the Wall, says Leipzig pastor |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peace-prayers-helped-bring-down-the-wall-says-leipzig-pastor/a-3805080 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |date=7 January 2009}}</ref> This pressure and other key events eventually led to the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent end of the socialist GDR regime.

The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the [[1990 East German general election|first free multi-party elections]] for the [[Volkskammer]] parliament across the entire GDR. This paved the way to [[German reunification]].


== Cycles of the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig==
* '''First Cycle''' (25 September 1989 to 18 December 1989) Thirteen protests.
* '''Second Cycle''' (8 January 1990 to 12 March 1990) Ten protests.
* ''' Third Cycle''' (10 September 1990 to 22 October 1990) Seven protests.
* '''Fourth Cycle''' (21 January 1991 to 18 February 1991) Five protests.
* '''Fifth Cycle''' (4 March 1991 to 22 April 1991) Seven protests.<ref>Lohmann, S. (1994). "The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91". ''World Politics'', 47(1), 42–101.</ref>

== Role of the church==
During the rule of the GDR, the Church tried to retain its own autonomy and continue organizing, though the [[Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc|practice of religion was generally suppressed]] in keeping with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref name="TomlinsBullivant2016">{{cite book |last1=Tomlins |first1=Steven |last2=Bullivant |first2=Spencer |title=The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses |date=2016 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Press]] |isbn=978-90-04-32853-2 |page=165 |language=en |quote=This passerby refers to the era of communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was characterized by state atheism.}}</ref> During this period, the Church acted on their ideology of "work against injustice and oppression." As a result, the church offered sanctuary to alternative political groups, the victims of the GDR rule. The church also offered them financial aid, support from the congregation and a place to communicate.<ref name="Crutchley">{{cite web|last=Crutchley|first=Peter|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|title=Did a prayer meeting really bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War? |publisher=BBC |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>

Initially, the church did not make statements about the GDR or anything politically related. However, by the middle of 1989 there was a "politicization of the church." Politics started to appear in the sermon of the preachers. More and more people started to gather in the churches. This helped spread information about the injustices that were occurring in the state. The gathering of people after the peace prayers, and the spread of information, spurred the formation of spontaneous demonstrations.<ref name="Crutchley"/><ref>Karl-Dieter Opp, Peter Voss, Christiane Gern (1995). ''Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany, 1989''. University of Michigan Press. {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany]]
* [[Alexanderplatz demonstration]]
* [[Revolutions of 1989]]
* [[Peaceful Revolution]]
* [[History of the German Democratic Republic]]

== Literature ==
* Wolfgang Schneider et al. (Hrsg.): ''Leipziger Demontagebuch. Demo – Montag – Tagebuch – Demontage'', Leipzig/Weimar: [[Gustav Kiepenheuer]] 1990
* Norbert Heber: ''Keine Gewalt! Der friedliche Weg zur Demokratie – eine Chronologie in Bildern'', Berlin: Verbum 1990
* ''Jetzt oder nie – Demokratie''. Leipziger Herbst 1989, Leipzig: [[C. Bertelsmann Verlag]] 1989
* Ekkehard Kuhn: ''Der Tag der Entscheidung''. Leipzig, 9. Oktober 1989, Berlin: [[Ullstein Verlag|Ullstein]] 1992
* Karl Czok: ''Nikolaikirche – offen für alle. Eine Gemeinde im Zentrum der Wende'', Leipzig: [[Evangelische Verlagsanstalt]] 1999
* Tobias Hollitzer: ''Der friedliche Verlauf des 9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig – Kapitulation oder Reformbereitschaft?'' Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Nachwirkung, in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai und Werner Müller (Hrsg.) ''Revolution und Transformation in der DDR 1989/90'', Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, S. 247–288
* Martin Jankowski: "Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung". Roman. München: via verbis, 1999, {{ISBN|3-933902-03-7}}
* Thomas Küttler, Jean Curt Röder (Hrsg.): "Die Wende in Plauen", Plauen: Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert Plauen 1991
* Martin Jankowski: Der Tag, der Deutschland veränderte – 9. Oktober 1989. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-374-02506-0}}
* Schmemann, Serge, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D91330F93AA25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all ''Upheaval in the East; Leipzig Marchers Tiptoe Around Reunification''] [[New York Times]], December 19, 1989.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Monday demonstrations in the Germany Democratic Republic}}
* [http://www.chronikderwende.de/_/lexikon/glossar/glossar_jsp/key=montagsdemo.html Chronik und Zeitzeugenberichte]
* [http://avp-ptr.de/mondaywalks.html The Monday Walks of Leipzig – Visualization of the demonstrations]

{{portalbar|East Germany}}
{{Fall of Communism}}

[[Category:Protests in Germany]]
[[Category:Peaceful Revolution]]
[[Category:Lutheran pacifists]]
[[Category:1989 in East Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in East Germany]]
[[Category:History of Lutheranism in Germany]]
[[Category:Christian nonviolence]]
[[Category:History of Leipzig]]
[[Category:1989 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1990 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1989 in politics]]
[[Category:1990 in politics]]

Monday demonstrations in East Germany

2024-10-10T04:35:50Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Overview */ Moved link to the Stasi to earlier in the section

{{Short description|Periodic protests occurred between 1989 and 1991}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Monday demonstrations helped to bring down the [[Berlin Wall]].]]

The '''Monday demonstrations''' ({{lang-de|Montagsdemonstrationen in der DDR}}) were a series of peaceful [[political protest]]s against the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The demonstrations began in [[Leipzig]] on 4 September 1989, starting the [[Peaceful Revolution]] in the GDR: the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], the collapse of the government, and [[German reunification]].

The demonstrations took place in towns and cities around the GDR on various days of the week from 1989 to 1991. The Leipzig demonstrations, which are the best known, took place on Mondays.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Hoffmeister| editor-first=Hans| editor2-last=Hemple | editor2-first=Mirko |title=Die Wende in Thüringen: ein Rückblick |date=2000 |edition=2nd | publisher=Thüringische Landeszeitung / Rhino Verlag |location=Arnstadt / Weimar}}</ref> The protests are conventionally separated into five cycles.

== Overview ==
[[File:Nikolaikirche Innenansicht Altar Leipzig 2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1113-048, Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration.jpg|thumb|Demonstrators with banners. This demonstration took place after the fall of the wall.]]

Despite the policy of [[state atheism]] in East Germany, the demonstrations grew out of [[Christian prayer|prayer]]s for peace held in [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]] in [[Leipzig]] from 1982 onward.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015"/> The prayer meetings began on September 20, 1982 by pastor {{interlanguage link|Günter Johannsen|de}}, continued in 1986 by pastor {{interlanguage link|Christoph Wonneberger|de}}, and then continued on October 30, 1989 by pastor [[Christian Führer]].

On 4 September 1989, after the prayers, the first demonstration happened in the square of the church.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beckenbach|first1=Niels|editor1-last=Beckenbach|editor1-first=Niels|title=Fremde Brüder : der schwierige Weg zur deutschen Einheit|date=2008|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-428-12727-6}}</ref> It was organized by [[Katrin Hattenhauer]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Bärbel Bohley, Gerald Praschl, Rüdiger|title=Mut : Frauen in der DDR : mit Fotos und Dokumenten|date=2005|publisher=Herbig|location=München|isbn=978-3-7766-2434-2|pages=194–220, esp. 216–218}}</ref> and Gesine Oltmanns. Both women had prepared four banners, had smuggled them into the church circumventing their surveillants from the [[Stasi]], and on exiting the church had unfolded their banner that called for 'Für ein offenes Land mit freien Menschen' (For an Open Country with Free People),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lindner (Hrsg.)|first1=Bernd|title=Zum Herbst 89 : demokratische Bewegung in der DDR|date=1994|publisher=Forum Verlag|location=Leipzig|isbn=978-3-86151-062-8|pages=9–10|edition=1. Aufl.}}</ref><ref>Speech of the German president Joachim Gauk on the German unity day, Gewandhaus Leipzig 2015</ref> while more activists followed them with the other banners.

The demonstrations grew in size, despite authorities barricading the streets leading to the church.<ref name="Welle2009"/> Eventually they filled the nearby Karl Marx Square (today known again as [[Augustusplatz]]). Safe in the knowledge that the [[Lutheran]] Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in front of the church, and [[non-violence|non-violent]] demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the [[freedom to move|freedom to travel]] to foreign countries and to elect a [[democratic government]]. The location of the demonstration contributed to the success of the protests. The secret police issued death threats and even attacked some of the marchers, but the crowd still continued to gather.<ref name="Welle2009"/>

Informed by West German television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities began replicating the Leipzig demonstrations, meeting at [[city square]]s in the evenings. A major turning point was precipitated by the [[Embassy of Germany, Prague#German refugees|events in the West German Embassy of Prague at the time]]. Thousands of East Germans had fled there in September, living in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]] had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, using trains that had to first pass through the GDR. Genscher's speech from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed [[Dresden]]'s central station in early October, police had to stop people from trying to jump on.

Protests around the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR on 7 October were met with a forceful response by the state. Despite the increased foreign attention around this date, there were around 500 arrests throughout East Germany.

Following the events of the weekend attention turned to Leipzig on Monday 9 October. Seeing it as decision day, the State amassed 8000 [[Volkspolizei|police]] and armed [[National People's Army|military]] units with the intent of preventing any demonstrations. Fears of a "[[Tiananmen Square Massacre|Chinese Solution]]" grew as rumours about hospitals stocking extra blood transfusions circulated. A message recorded by six prominent citizens was broadcast throughout the city, urging both sides to remain calm and strive for peaceful dialogue. Initiated by the respected conductor [[Kurt Masur]] the group also included local members of the communist party.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbvF8j2UC9gC&pg=PA175|title=Vom Aufbruch zum Umbruch: die Bürgerbewegung in der DDR 1989|last=Timmer|first=Karsten|date=2000|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3525359259|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/9.-Oktober-1989-Der-Tag-der-Entscheidung|title=9. Oktober 1989 – Der Tag der Entscheidung|website=LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung|date=8 October 2012 |language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

Expectations and preparations of the state were greatly exceeded as more than 40,000 protesters (out of the city's population of 500,000) assembled. The most famous [[chant]] became "{{lang|de|Wir sind das Volk!}}" ({{Lit|We are the people!}}), reminding the leaders of the GDR that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.<ref name="Curry">{{cite web|last=Curry|first=Andrew|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/we-are-the-people-a-peaceful-revolution-in-leipzig-a-654137.html |title=A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig |publisher=SpiegelOnline |date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> Protesters remained completely peaceful as they reached the Stasi Headquarters, avoiding any escalation of the delicate situation.

Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpectedly high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, [[Egon Krenz]] claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.<ref name="Curry" />
[[File:Lichtfest Leipzig 2009.JPG|thumb|159x159px|Installation on the [[City-Hochhaus Leipzig|City Hochhaus]] for Festival of Lights 2009]]
October 9 is often seen as the "beginning of the end" of the GDR and one of the early signs of the state bowing to pressure. Since 2009 the date is commemorated and celebrated with the Festival of Lights drawing up to 200,000 people tracing the steps of the protest. Attendees include dignitaries like [[Kurt Masur]], [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], [[Joachim Gauck]] as well as Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech heads of state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leipziger-freiheit.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/einzelansicht-news/weit-ueber-100000-menschen-auf-dem-leipziger-innenstadtring/|title=Leipzig. The city with no limits.: Weit über 100.000 Menschen auf dem Leipziger Innenstadtring|website=www.leipziger-freiheit.de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leipzig.de/buergerservice-und-verwaltung/unsere-stadt/herbst-89/jubilaeum-2014/lichtfest-leipzig-2014/|title=Lichtfest Leipzig 2014|website=www.leipzig.de|language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

On 9 October 1989, the police and army units were given permission to use force against those assembled, but this did not deter the church service and march from taking place along the [[Inner City Ring Road (Leipzig)|inner city ring road]], which gathered 70,000 people.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015">{{cite web |last1=Crutchley |first1=Peter |title=How prayers helped end the Cold War |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202103325/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|archive-date=2 February 2019|publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=2 February 2019 |language=en |date=9 October 2015}}</ref>

The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 demonstrators turned up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. (Two days after the rally, [[Erich Honecker]], the leader of the SED, was forced to resign.) The week after, the number more than doubled to 320,000. Many of those people started to cross into East Berlin, without a shot being fired.<ref name="Welle2009">{{cite web |last1=Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Peace prayers helped bring down the Wall, says Leipzig pastor |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peace-prayers-helped-bring-down-the-wall-says-leipzig-pastor/a-3805080 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |date=7 January 2009}}</ref> This pressure and other key events eventually led to the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent end of the socialist GDR regime.

The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the [[1990 East German general election|first free multi-party elections]] for the [[Volkskammer]] parliament across the entire GDR. This paved the way to [[German reunification]].


== Cycles of the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig==
* '''First Cycle''' (25 September 1989 to 18 December 1989) Thirteen protests.
* '''Second Cycle''' (8 January 1990 to 12 March 1990) Ten protests.
* ''' Third Cycle''' (10 September 1990 to 22 October 1990) Seven protests.
* '''Fourth Cycle''' (21 January 1991 to 18 February 1991) Five protests.
* '''Fifth Cycle''' (4 March 1991 to 22 April 1991) Seven protests.<ref>Lohmann, S. (1994). "The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91". ''World Politics'', 47(1), 42–101.</ref>

== Role of the church==
During the rule of the GDR, the Church tried to retain its own autonomy and continue organizing, though the [[Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc|practice of religion was generally suppressed]] in keeping with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref name="TomlinsBullivant2016">{{cite book |last1=Tomlins |first1=Steven |last2=Bullivant |first2=Spencer |title=The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses |date=2016 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Press]] |isbn=978-90-04-32853-2 |page=165 |language=en |quote=This passerby refers to the era of communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was characterized by state atheism.}}</ref> During this period, the Church acted on their ideology of "work against injustice and oppression." As a result, the church offered sanctuary to alternative political groups, the victims of the GDR rule. The church also offered them financial aid, support from the congregation and a place to communicate.<ref name="Crutchley">{{cite web|last=Crutchley|first=Peter|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|title=Did a prayer meeting really bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War? |publisher=BBC |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>

Initially, the church did not make statements about the GDR or anything politically related. However, by the middle of 1989 there was a "politicization of the church." Politics started to appear in the sermon of the preachers. More and more people started to gather in the churches. This helped spread information about the injustices that were occurring in the state. The gathering of people after the peace prayers, and the spread of information, spurred the formation of spontaneous demonstrations.<ref name="Crutchley"/><ref>Karl-Dieter Opp, Peter Voss, Christiane Gern (1995). ''Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany, 1989''. University of Michigan Press. {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany]]
* [[Alexanderplatz demonstration]]
* [[Revolutions of 1989]]
* [[Peaceful Revolution]]
* [[History of the German Democratic Republic]]

== Literature ==
* Wolfgang Schneider et al. (Hrsg.): ''Leipziger Demontagebuch. Demo – Montag – Tagebuch – Demontage'', Leipzig/Weimar: [[Gustav Kiepenheuer]] 1990
* Norbert Heber: ''Keine Gewalt! Der friedliche Weg zur Demokratie – eine Chronologie in Bildern'', Berlin: Verbum 1990
* ''Jetzt oder nie – Demokratie''. Leipziger Herbst 1989, Leipzig: [[C. Bertelsmann Verlag]] 1989
* Ekkehard Kuhn: ''Der Tag der Entscheidung''. Leipzig, 9. Oktober 1989, Berlin: [[Ullstein Verlag|Ullstein]] 1992
* Karl Czok: ''Nikolaikirche – offen für alle. Eine Gemeinde im Zentrum der Wende'', Leipzig: [[Evangelische Verlagsanstalt]] 1999
* Tobias Hollitzer: ''Der friedliche Verlauf des 9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig – Kapitulation oder Reformbereitschaft?'' Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Nachwirkung, in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai und Werner Müller (Hrsg.) ''Revolution und Transformation in der DDR 1989/90'', Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, S. 247–288
* Martin Jankowski: "Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung". Roman. München: via verbis, 1999, {{ISBN|3-933902-03-7}}
* Thomas Küttler, Jean Curt Röder (Hrsg.): "Die Wende in Plauen", Plauen: Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert Plauen 1991
* Martin Jankowski: Der Tag, der Deutschland veränderte – 9. Oktober 1989. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-374-02506-0}}
* Schmemann, Serge, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D91330F93AA25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all ''Upheaval in the East; Leipzig Marchers Tiptoe Around Reunification''] [[New York Times]], December 19, 1989.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Monday demonstrations in the Germany Democratic Republic}}
* [http://www.chronikderwende.de/_/lexikon/glossar/glossar_jsp/key=montagsdemo.html Chronik und Zeitzeugenberichte]
* [http://avp-ptr.de/mondaywalks.html The Monday Walks of Leipzig – Visualization of the demonstrations]

{{portalbar|East Germany}}
{{Fall of Communism}}

[[Category:Protests in Germany]]
[[Category:Peaceful Revolution]]
[[Category:Lutheran pacifists]]
[[Category:1989 in East Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in East Germany]]
[[Category:History of Lutheranism in Germany]]
[[Category:Christian nonviolence]]
[[Category:History of Leipzig]]
[[Category:1989 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1990 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1989 in politics]]
[[Category:1990 in politics]]

Monday demonstrations in East Germany

2024-10-10T04:29:03Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Overview */ Imported information from German Wikipedia

{{Short description|Periodic protests occurred between 1989 and 1991}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Monday demonstrations helped to bring down the [[Berlin Wall]].]]

The '''Monday demonstrations''' ({{lang-de|Montagsdemonstrationen in der DDR}}) were a series of peaceful [[political protest]]s against the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The demonstrations began in [[Leipzig]] on 4 September 1989, starting the [[Peaceful Revolution]] in the GDR: the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], the collapse of the government, and [[German reunification]].

The demonstrations took place in towns and cities around the GDR on various days of the week from 1989 to 1991. The Leipzig demonstrations, which are the best known, took place on Mondays.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Hoffmeister| editor-first=Hans| editor2-last=Hemple | editor2-first=Mirko |title=Die Wende in Thüringen: ein Rückblick |date=2000 |edition=2nd | publisher=Thüringische Landeszeitung / Rhino Verlag |location=Arnstadt / Weimar}}</ref> The protests are conventionally separated into five cycles.

== Overview ==
[[File:Nikolaikirche Innenansicht Altar Leipzig 2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1113-048, Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration.jpg|thumb|Demonstrators with banners. This demonstration took place after the fall of the wall.]]

Despite the policy of [[state atheism]] in East Germany, the demonstrations grew out of [[Christian prayer|prayer]]s for peace held in [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]] in [[Leipzig]] from 1982 onward.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015"/> The prayer meetings began on September 20, 1982 by pastor {{interlanguage link|Günter Johannsen|de}}, continued in 1986 by pastor {{interlanguage link|Christoph Wonneberger|de}}, and then continued on October 30, 1989 by pastor [[Christian Führer]].

On 4 September 1989, after the prayers, the first demonstration happened in the square of the church.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beckenbach|first1=Niels|editor1-last=Beckenbach|editor1-first=Niels|title=Fremde Brüder : der schwierige Weg zur deutschen Einheit|date=2008|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-428-12727-6}}</ref> It was organized by [[Katrin Hattenhauer]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Bärbel Bohley, Gerald Praschl, Rüdiger|title=Mut : Frauen in der DDR : mit Fotos und Dokumenten|date=2005|publisher=Herbig|location=München|isbn=978-3-7766-2434-2|pages=194–220, esp. 216–218}}</ref> and Gesine Oltmanns. Both women had prepared four banners, had smuggled them into the church circumventing their surveillants from the Stasi, and on exiting the church had unfolded their banner that called for 'Für ein offenes Land mit freien Menschen' (For an Open Country with Free People),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lindner (Hrsg.)|first1=Bernd|title=Zum Herbst 89 : demokratische Bewegung in der DDR|date=1994|publisher=Forum Verlag|location=Leipzig|isbn=978-3-86151-062-8|pages=9–10|edition=1. Aufl.}}</ref><ref>Speech of the German president Joachim Gauk on the German unity day, Gewandhaus Leipzig 2015</ref> while more activists followed them with the other banners.

The demonstrations grew in size, despite authorities barricading the streets leading to the church.<ref name="Welle2009"/> Eventually they filled the nearby Karl Marx Square (today known again as [[Augustusplatz]]). Safe in the knowledge that the [[Lutheran]] Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in front of the church, and [[non-violence|non-violent]] demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the [[freedom to move|freedom to travel]] to foreign countries and to elect a [[democratic government]]. The location of the demonstration contributed to the success of the protests. The secret police issued death threats and even attacked some of the marchers, but the crowd still continued to gather.<ref name="Welle2009"/>

Informed by West German television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities began replicating the Leipzig demonstrations, meeting at [[city square]]s in the evenings. A major turning point was precipitated by the [[Embassy of Germany, Prague#German refugees|events in the West German Embassy of Prague at the time]]. Thousands of East Germans had fled there in September, living in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]] had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, using trains that had to first pass through the GDR. Genscher's speech from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed [[Dresden]]'s central station in early October, police had to stop people from trying to jump on.

Protests around the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR on 7 October were met with a forceful response by the state. Despite the increased foreign attention around this date, there were around 500 arrests throughout East Germany.

Following the events of the weekend attention turned to Leipzig on Monday 9 October. Seeing it as decision day, the State amassed 8000 [[Volkspolizei|police]] and armed [[National People's Army|military]] units with the intent of preventing any demonstrations. Fears of a "[[Tiananmen Square Massacre|Chinese Solution]]" grew as rumours about hospitals stocking extra blood transfusions circulated. A message recorded by six prominent citizens was broadcast throughout the city, urging both sides to remain calm and strive for peaceful dialogue. Initiated by the respected conductor [[Kurt Masur]] the group also included local members of the communist party.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbvF8j2UC9gC&pg=PA175|title=Vom Aufbruch zum Umbruch: die Bürgerbewegung in der DDR 1989|last=Timmer|first=Karsten|date=2000|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3525359259|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/9.-Oktober-1989-Der-Tag-der-Entscheidung|title=9. Oktober 1989 – Der Tag der Entscheidung|website=LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung|date=8 October 2012 |language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

Expectations and preparations of the state were greatly exceeded as more than 40,000 protesters (out of the city's population of 500,000) assembled. The most famous [[chant]] became "{{lang|de|Wir sind das Volk!}}" ({{Lit|We are the people!}}), reminding the leaders of the GDR that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.<ref name="Curry">{{cite web|last=Curry|first=Andrew|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/we-are-the-people-a-peaceful-revolution-in-leipzig-a-654137.html |title=A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig |publisher=SpiegelOnline |date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> Protesters remained completely peaceful as they reached the [[Stasi]] Headquarters, avoiding any escalation of the delicate situation.

Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpectedly high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, [[Egon Krenz]] claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.<ref name="Curry" />
[[File:Lichtfest Leipzig 2009.JPG|thumb|159x159px|Installation on the [[City-Hochhaus Leipzig|City Hochhaus]] for Festival of Lights 2009]]
October 9 is often seen as the "beginning of the end" of the GDR and one of the early signs of the state bowing to pressure. Since 2009 the date is commemorated and celebrated with the Festival of Lights drawing up to 200,000 people tracing the steps of the protest. Attendees include dignitaries like [[Kurt Masur]], [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], [[Joachim Gauck]] as well as Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech heads of state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leipziger-freiheit.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/einzelansicht-news/weit-ueber-100000-menschen-auf-dem-leipziger-innenstadtring/|title=Leipzig. The city with no limits.: Weit über 100.000 Menschen auf dem Leipziger Innenstadtring|website=www.leipziger-freiheit.de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leipzig.de/buergerservice-und-verwaltung/unsere-stadt/herbst-89/jubilaeum-2014/lichtfest-leipzig-2014/|title=Lichtfest Leipzig 2014|website=www.leipzig.de|language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

On 9 October 1989, the police and army units were given permission to use force against those assembled, but this did not deter the church service and march from taking place along the [[Inner City Ring Road (Leipzig)|inner city ring road]], which gathered 70,000 people.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015">{{cite web |last1=Crutchley |first1=Peter |title=How prayers helped end the Cold War |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202103325/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|archive-date=2 February 2019|publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=2 February 2019 |language=en |date=9 October 2015}}</ref>

The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 demonstrators turned up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. (Two days after the rally, [[Erich Honecker]], the leader of the SED, was forced to resign.) The week after, the number more than doubled to 320,000. Many of those people started to cross into East Berlin, without a shot being fired.<ref name="Welle2009">{{cite web |last1=Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Peace prayers helped bring down the Wall, says Leipzig pastor |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peace-prayers-helped-bring-down-the-wall-says-leipzig-pastor/a-3805080 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |date=7 January 2009}}</ref> This pressure and other key events eventually led to the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent end of the socialist GDR regime.

The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the [[1990 East German general election|first free multi-party elections]] for the [[Volkskammer]] parliament across the entire GDR. This paved the way to [[German reunification]].


== Cycles of the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig==
* '''First Cycle''' (25 September 1989 to 18 December 1989) Thirteen protests.
* '''Second Cycle''' (8 January 1990 to 12 March 1990) Ten protests.
* ''' Third Cycle''' (10 September 1990 to 22 October 1990) Seven protests.
* '''Fourth Cycle''' (21 January 1991 to 18 February 1991) Five protests.
* '''Fifth Cycle''' (4 March 1991 to 22 April 1991) Seven protests.<ref>Lohmann, S. (1994). "The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91". ''World Politics'', 47(1), 42–101.</ref>

== Role of the church==
During the rule of the GDR, the Church tried to retain its own autonomy and continue organizing, though the [[Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc|practice of religion was generally suppressed]] in keeping with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref name="TomlinsBullivant2016">{{cite book |last1=Tomlins |first1=Steven |last2=Bullivant |first2=Spencer |title=The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses |date=2016 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Press]] |isbn=978-90-04-32853-2 |page=165 |language=en |quote=This passerby refers to the era of communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was characterized by state atheism.}}</ref> During this period, the Church acted on their ideology of "work against injustice and oppression." As a result, the church offered sanctuary to alternative political groups, the victims of the GDR rule. The church also offered them financial aid, support from the congregation and a place to communicate.<ref name="Crutchley">{{cite web|last=Crutchley|first=Peter|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|title=Did a prayer meeting really bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War? |publisher=BBC |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>

Initially, the church did not make statements about the GDR or anything politically related. However, by the middle of 1989 there was a "politicization of the church." Politics started to appear in the sermon of the preachers. More and more people started to gather in the churches. This helped spread information about the injustices that were occurring in the state. The gathering of people after the peace prayers, and the spread of information, spurred the formation of spontaneous demonstrations.<ref name="Crutchley"/><ref>Karl-Dieter Opp, Peter Voss, Christiane Gern (1995). ''Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany, 1989''. University of Michigan Press. {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany]]
* [[Alexanderplatz demonstration]]
* [[Revolutions of 1989]]
* [[Peaceful Revolution]]
* [[History of the German Democratic Republic]]

== Literature ==
* Wolfgang Schneider et al. (Hrsg.): ''Leipziger Demontagebuch. Demo – Montag – Tagebuch – Demontage'', Leipzig/Weimar: [[Gustav Kiepenheuer]] 1990
* Norbert Heber: ''Keine Gewalt! Der friedliche Weg zur Demokratie – eine Chronologie in Bildern'', Berlin: Verbum 1990
* ''Jetzt oder nie – Demokratie''. Leipziger Herbst 1989, Leipzig: [[C. Bertelsmann Verlag]] 1989
* Ekkehard Kuhn: ''Der Tag der Entscheidung''. Leipzig, 9. Oktober 1989, Berlin: [[Ullstein Verlag|Ullstein]] 1992
* Karl Czok: ''Nikolaikirche – offen für alle. Eine Gemeinde im Zentrum der Wende'', Leipzig: [[Evangelische Verlagsanstalt]] 1999
* Tobias Hollitzer: ''Der friedliche Verlauf des 9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig – Kapitulation oder Reformbereitschaft?'' Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Nachwirkung, in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai und Werner Müller (Hrsg.) ''Revolution und Transformation in der DDR 1989/90'', Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, S. 247–288
* Martin Jankowski: "Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung". Roman. München: via verbis, 1999, {{ISBN|3-933902-03-7}}
* Thomas Küttler, Jean Curt Röder (Hrsg.): "Die Wende in Plauen", Plauen: Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert Plauen 1991
* Martin Jankowski: Der Tag, der Deutschland veränderte – 9. Oktober 1989. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-374-02506-0}}
* Schmemann, Serge, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D91330F93AA25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all ''Upheaval in the East; Leipzig Marchers Tiptoe Around Reunification''] [[New York Times]], December 19, 1989.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Monday demonstrations in the Germany Democratic Republic}}
* [http://www.chronikderwende.de/_/lexikon/glossar/glossar_jsp/key=montagsdemo.html Chronik und Zeitzeugenberichte]
* [http://avp-ptr.de/mondaywalks.html The Monday Walks of Leipzig – Visualization of the demonstrations]

{{portalbar|East Germany}}
{{Fall of Communism}}

[[Category:Protests in Germany]]
[[Category:Peaceful Revolution]]
[[Category:Lutheran pacifists]]
[[Category:1989 in East Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in East Germany]]
[[Category:History of Lutheranism in Germany]]
[[Category:Christian nonviolence]]
[[Category:History of Leipzig]]
[[Category:1989 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1990 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1989 in politics]]
[[Category:1990 in politics]]

Monday demonstrations in East Germany

2024-10-10T03:46:24Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Explained that the demonstrations began in Leipzig

{{Short description|Periodic protests occurred between 1989 and 1991}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Monday demonstrations helped to bring down the [[Berlin Wall]].]]

The '''Monday demonstrations''' ({{lang-de|Montagsdemonstrationen in der DDR}}) were a series of peaceful [[political protest]]s against the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The demonstrations began in [[Leipzig]] on 4 September 1989, starting the [[Peaceful Revolution]] in the GDR: the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], the collapse of the government, and [[German reunification]].

The demonstrations took place in towns and cities around the GDR on various days of the week from 1989 to 1991. The Leipzig demonstrations, which are the best known, took place on Mondays.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Hoffmeister| editor-first=Hans| editor2-last=Hemple | editor2-first=Mirko |title=Die Wende in Thüringen: ein Rückblick |date=2000 |edition=2nd | publisher=Thüringische Landeszeitung / Rhino Verlag |location=Arnstadt / Weimar}}</ref> The protests are conventionally separated into five cycles.

== Overview ==
[[File:Nikolaikirche Innenansicht Altar Leipzig 2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1113-048, Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration.jpg|thumb|Demonstrators with banners. This demonstration took place after the fall of the wall.]]

Despite the policy of [[state atheism]] in East Germany, Christian pastor [[Christian Führer]] regularly met his congregation at [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]] in [[Leipzig]] for [[Christian prayer|prayer]] from 1982 onward.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015"/> In Leipzig the demonstrations began on 4 September 1989 after the weekly {{lang|de|Friedensgebet}} (prayer for peace) in the St. Nicholas Church with [[parson]] Christian Führer and eventually filled the nearby Karl Marx Square (today known again as [[Augustusplatz]]). Safe in the knowledge that the [[Lutheran]] Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in front of the church, and [[non-violence|non-violent]] demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the [[freedom to move|freedom to travel]] to foreign countries and to elect a [[democratic government]]. The location of the demonstration contributed to the success of the protests. Over the next seven years the Church grew, despite authorities barricading the streets leading to it, and after [[church service]]s peaceful candlelit marches took place.<ref name="Welle2009"/> The secret police issued death threats and even attacked some of the marchers, but the crowd still continued to gather.<ref name="Welle2009"/>

Informed by West German television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities began replicating the Leipzig demonstrations, meeting at [[city square]]s in the evenings. A major turning point was precipitated by the [[Embassy of Germany, Prague#German refugees|events in the West German Embassy of Prague at the time]]. Thousands of East Germans had fled there in September, living in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]] had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, using trains that had to first pass through the GDR. Genscher's speech from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed [[Dresden]]'s central station in early October, police had to stop people from trying to jump on.

Protests around the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR on 7 October were met with a forceful response by the state. Despite the increased foreign attention around this date, there were around 500 arrests throughout East Germany.

Following the events of the weekend attention turned to Leipzig on Monday 9 October. Seeing it as decision day, the State amassed 8000 [[Volkspolizei|police]] and armed [[National People's Army|military]] units with the intent of preventing any demonstrations. Fears of a "[[Tiananmen Square Massacre|Chinese Solution]]" grew as rumours about hospitals stocking extra blood transfusions circulated. A message recorded by six prominent citizens was broadcast throughout the city, urging both sides to remain calm and strive for peaceful dialogue. Initiated by the respected conductor [[Kurt Masur]] the group also included local members of the communist party.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbvF8j2UC9gC&pg=PA175|title=Vom Aufbruch zum Umbruch: die Bürgerbewegung in der DDR 1989|last=Timmer|first=Karsten|date=2000|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3525359259|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/9.-Oktober-1989-Der-Tag-der-Entscheidung|title=9. Oktober 1989 – Der Tag der Entscheidung|website=LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung|date=8 October 2012 |language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

Expectations and preparations of the state were greatly exceeded as more than 40,000 protesters (out of the city's population of 500,000) assembled. The most famous [[chant]] became "{{lang|de|Wir sind das Volk!}}" ({{Lit|We are the people!}}), reminding the leaders of the GDR that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.<ref name="Curry">{{cite web|last=Curry|first=Andrew|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/we-are-the-people-a-peaceful-revolution-in-leipzig-a-654137.html |title=A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig |publisher=SpiegelOnline |date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> Protesters remained completely peaceful as they reached the [[Stasi]] Headquarters, avoiding any escalation of the delicate situation.

Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpectedly high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, [[Egon Krenz]] claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.<ref name="Curry" />
[[File:Lichtfest Leipzig 2009.JPG|thumb|159x159px|Installation on the [[City-Hochhaus Leipzig|City Hochhaus]] for Festival of Lights 2009]]
October 9 is often seen as the "beginning of the end" of the GDR and one of the early signs of the state bowing to pressure. Since 2009 the date is commemorated and celebrated with the Festival of Lights drawing up to 200,000 people tracing the steps of the protest. Attendees include dignitaries like [[Kurt Masur]], [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], [[Joachim Gauck]] as well as Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech heads of state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leipziger-freiheit.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/einzelansicht-news/weit-ueber-100000-menschen-auf-dem-leipziger-innenstadtring/|title=Leipzig. The city with no limits.: Weit über 100.000 Menschen auf dem Leipziger Innenstadtring|website=www.leipziger-freiheit.de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leipzig.de/buergerservice-und-verwaltung/unsere-stadt/herbst-89/jubilaeum-2014/lichtfest-leipzig-2014/|title=Lichtfest Leipzig 2014|website=www.leipzig.de|language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

On 9 October 1989, the police and army units were given permission to use force against those assembled, but this did not deter the church service and march from taking place along the [[Inner City Ring Road (Leipzig)|inner city ring road]], which gathered 70,000 people.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015">{{cite web |last1=Crutchley |first1=Peter |title=How prayers helped end the Cold War |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202103325/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|archive-date=2 February 2019|publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=2 February 2019 |language=en |date=9 October 2015}}</ref>

The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 demonstrators turned up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. (Two days after the rally, [[Erich Honecker]], the leader of the SED, was forced to resign.) The week after, the number more than doubled to 320,000. Many of those people started to cross into East Berlin, without a shot being fired.<ref name="Welle2009">{{cite web |last1=Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Peace prayers helped bring down the Wall, says Leipzig pastor |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peace-prayers-helped-bring-down-the-wall-says-leipzig-pastor/a-3805080 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |date=7 January 2009}}</ref> This pressure and other key events eventually led to the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent end of the socialist GDR regime.

The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the [[1990 East German general election|first free multi-party elections]] for the [[Volkskammer]] parliament across the entire GDR. This paved the way to [[German reunification]].


== Cycles of the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig==
* '''First Cycle''' (25 September 1989 to 18 December 1989) Thirteen protests.
* '''Second Cycle''' (8 January 1990 to 12 March 1990) Ten protests.
* ''' Third Cycle''' (10 September 1990 to 22 October 1990) Seven protests.
* '''Fourth Cycle''' (21 January 1991 to 18 February 1991) Five protests.
* '''Fifth Cycle''' (4 March 1991 to 22 April 1991) Seven protests.<ref>Lohmann, S. (1994). "The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91". ''World Politics'', 47(1), 42–101.</ref>

== Role of the church==
During the rule of the GDR, the Church tried to retain its own autonomy and continue organizing, though the [[Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc|practice of religion was generally suppressed]] in keeping with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref name="TomlinsBullivant2016">{{cite book |last1=Tomlins |first1=Steven |last2=Bullivant |first2=Spencer |title=The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses |date=2016 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Press]] |isbn=978-90-04-32853-2 |page=165 |language=en |quote=This passerby refers to the era of communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was characterized by state atheism.}}</ref> During this period, the Church acted on their ideology of "work against injustice and oppression." As a result, the church offered sanctuary to alternative political groups, the victims of the GDR rule. The church also offered them financial aid, support from the congregation and a place to communicate.<ref name="Crutchley">{{cite web|last=Crutchley|first=Peter|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|title=Did a prayer meeting really bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War? |publisher=BBC |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>

Initially, the church did not make statements about the GDR or anything politically related. However, by the middle of 1989 there was a "politicization of the church." Politics started to appear in the sermon of the preachers. More and more people started to gather in the churches. This helped spread information about the injustices that were occurring in the state. The gathering of people after the peace prayers, and the spread of information, spurred the formation of spontaneous demonstrations.<ref name="Crutchley"/><ref>Karl-Dieter Opp, Peter Voss, Christiane Gern (1995). ''Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany, 1989''. University of Michigan Press. {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany]]
* [[Alexanderplatz demonstration]]
* [[Revolutions of 1989]]
* [[Peaceful Revolution]]
* [[History of the German Democratic Republic]]

== Literature ==
* Wolfgang Schneider et al. (Hrsg.): ''Leipziger Demontagebuch. Demo – Montag – Tagebuch – Demontage'', Leipzig/Weimar: [[Gustav Kiepenheuer]] 1990
* Norbert Heber: ''Keine Gewalt! Der friedliche Weg zur Demokratie – eine Chronologie in Bildern'', Berlin: Verbum 1990
* ''Jetzt oder nie – Demokratie''. Leipziger Herbst 1989, Leipzig: [[C. Bertelsmann Verlag]] 1989
* Ekkehard Kuhn: ''Der Tag der Entscheidung''. Leipzig, 9. Oktober 1989, Berlin: [[Ullstein Verlag|Ullstein]] 1992
* Karl Czok: ''Nikolaikirche – offen für alle. Eine Gemeinde im Zentrum der Wende'', Leipzig: [[Evangelische Verlagsanstalt]] 1999
* Tobias Hollitzer: ''Der friedliche Verlauf des 9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig – Kapitulation oder Reformbereitschaft?'' Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Nachwirkung, in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai und Werner Müller (Hrsg.) ''Revolution und Transformation in der DDR 1989/90'', Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, S. 247–288
* Martin Jankowski: "Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung". Roman. München: via verbis, 1999, {{ISBN|3-933902-03-7}}
* Thomas Küttler, Jean Curt Röder (Hrsg.): "Die Wende in Plauen", Plauen: Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert Plauen 1991
* Martin Jankowski: Der Tag, der Deutschland veränderte – 9. Oktober 1989. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-374-02506-0}}
* Schmemann, Serge, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D91330F93AA25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all ''Upheaval in the East; Leipzig Marchers Tiptoe Around Reunification''] [[New York Times]], December 19, 1989.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Monday demonstrations in the Germany Democratic Republic}}
* [http://www.chronikderwende.de/_/lexikon/glossar/glossar_jsp/key=montagsdemo.html Chronik und Zeitzeugenberichte]
* [http://avp-ptr.de/mondaywalks.html The Monday Walks of Leipzig – Visualization of the demonstrations]

{{portalbar|East Germany}}
{{Fall of Communism}}

[[Category:Protests in Germany]]
[[Category:Peaceful Revolution]]
[[Category:Lutheran pacifists]]
[[Category:1989 in East Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in East Germany]]
[[Category:History of Lutheranism in Germany]]
[[Category:Christian nonviolence]]
[[Category:History of Leipzig]]
[[Category:1989 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1990 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1989 in politics]]
[[Category:1990 in politics]]

Monday demonstrations in East Germany

2024-10-10T03:44:29Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Copyedited second sentence

{{Short description|Periodic protests occurred between 1989 and 1991}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Monday demonstrations helped to bring down the [[Berlin Wall]].]]

The '''Monday demonstrations''' ({{lang-de|Montagsdemonstrationen in der DDR}}) were a series of peaceful [[political protest]]s against the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The demonstrations began on 4 September 1989, starting the [[Peaceful Revolution]] in the GDR: the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], the collapse of the government, and [[German reunification]].

The demonstrations took place in towns and cities around the GDR on various days of the week from 1989 to 1991. The Leipzig demonstrations, which are the best known, took place on Mondays.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Hoffmeister| editor-first=Hans| editor2-last=Hemple | editor2-first=Mirko |title=Die Wende in Thüringen: ein Rückblick |date=2000 |edition=2nd | publisher=Thüringische Landeszeitung / Rhino Verlag |location=Arnstadt / Weimar}}</ref> The protests are conventionally separated into five cycles.

== Overview ==
[[File:Nikolaikirche Innenansicht Altar Leipzig 2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1113-048, Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration.jpg|thumb|Demonstrators with banners. This demonstration took place after the fall of the wall.]]

Despite the policy of [[state atheism]] in East Germany, Christian pastor [[Christian Führer]] regularly met his congregation at [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]] in [[Leipzig]] for [[Christian prayer|prayer]] from 1982 onward.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015"/> In Leipzig the demonstrations began on 4 September 1989 after the weekly {{lang|de|Friedensgebet}} (prayer for peace) in the St. Nicholas Church with [[parson]] Christian Führer and eventually filled the nearby Karl Marx Square (today known again as [[Augustusplatz]]). Safe in the knowledge that the [[Lutheran]] Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in front of the church, and [[non-violence|non-violent]] demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the [[freedom to move|freedom to travel]] to foreign countries and to elect a [[democratic government]]. The location of the demonstration contributed to the success of the protests. Over the next seven years the Church grew, despite authorities barricading the streets leading to it, and after [[church service]]s peaceful candlelit marches took place.<ref name="Welle2009"/> The secret police issued death threats and even attacked some of the marchers, but the crowd still continued to gather.<ref name="Welle2009"/>

Informed by West German television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities began replicating the Leipzig demonstrations, meeting at [[city square]]s in the evenings. A major turning point was precipitated by the [[Embassy of Germany, Prague#German refugees|events in the West German Embassy of Prague at the time]]. Thousands of East Germans had fled there in September, living in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]] had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, using trains that had to first pass through the GDR. Genscher's speech from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed [[Dresden]]'s central station in early October, police had to stop people from trying to jump on.

Protests around the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR on 7 October were met with a forceful response by the state. Despite the increased foreign attention around this date, there were around 500 arrests throughout East Germany.

Following the events of the weekend attention turned to Leipzig on Monday 9 October. Seeing it as decision day, the State amassed 8000 [[Volkspolizei|police]] and armed [[National People's Army|military]] units with the intent of preventing any demonstrations. Fears of a "[[Tiananmen Square Massacre|Chinese Solution]]" grew as rumours about hospitals stocking extra blood transfusions circulated. A message recorded by six prominent citizens was broadcast throughout the city, urging both sides to remain calm and strive for peaceful dialogue. Initiated by the respected conductor [[Kurt Masur]] the group also included local members of the communist party.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbvF8j2UC9gC&pg=PA175|title=Vom Aufbruch zum Umbruch: die Bürgerbewegung in der DDR 1989|last=Timmer|first=Karsten|date=2000|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3525359259|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/9.-Oktober-1989-Der-Tag-der-Entscheidung|title=9. Oktober 1989 – Der Tag der Entscheidung|website=LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung|date=8 October 2012 |language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

Expectations and preparations of the state were greatly exceeded as more than 40,000 protesters (out of the city's population of 500,000) assembled. The most famous [[chant]] became "{{lang|de|Wir sind das Volk!}}" ({{Lit|We are the people!}}), reminding the leaders of the GDR that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.<ref name="Curry">{{cite web|last=Curry|first=Andrew|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/we-are-the-people-a-peaceful-revolution-in-leipzig-a-654137.html |title=A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig |publisher=SpiegelOnline |date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> Protesters remained completely peaceful as they reached the [[Stasi]] Headquarters, avoiding any escalation of the delicate situation.

Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpectedly high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, [[Egon Krenz]] claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.<ref name="Curry" />
[[File:Lichtfest Leipzig 2009.JPG|thumb|159x159px|Installation on the [[City-Hochhaus Leipzig|City Hochhaus]] for Festival of Lights 2009]]
October 9 is often seen as the "beginning of the end" of the GDR and one of the early signs of the state bowing to pressure. Since 2009 the date is commemorated and celebrated with the Festival of Lights drawing up to 200,000 people tracing the steps of the protest. Attendees include dignitaries like [[Kurt Masur]], [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], [[Joachim Gauck]] as well as Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech heads of state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leipziger-freiheit.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/einzelansicht-news/weit-ueber-100000-menschen-auf-dem-leipziger-innenstadtring/|title=Leipzig. The city with no limits.: Weit über 100.000 Menschen auf dem Leipziger Innenstadtring|website=www.leipziger-freiheit.de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leipzig.de/buergerservice-und-verwaltung/unsere-stadt/herbst-89/jubilaeum-2014/lichtfest-leipzig-2014/|title=Lichtfest Leipzig 2014|website=www.leipzig.de|language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

On 9 October 1989, the police and army units were given permission to use force against those assembled, but this did not deter the church service and march from taking place along the [[Inner City Ring Road (Leipzig)|inner city ring road]], which gathered 70,000 people.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015">{{cite web |last1=Crutchley |first1=Peter |title=How prayers helped end the Cold War |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202103325/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|archive-date=2 February 2019|publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=2 February 2019 |language=en |date=9 October 2015}}</ref>

The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 demonstrators turned up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. (Two days after the rally, [[Erich Honecker]], the leader of the SED, was forced to resign.) The week after, the number more than doubled to 320,000. Many of those people started to cross into East Berlin, without a shot being fired.<ref name="Welle2009">{{cite web |last1=Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Peace prayers helped bring down the Wall, says Leipzig pastor |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peace-prayers-helped-bring-down-the-wall-says-leipzig-pastor/a-3805080 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |date=7 January 2009}}</ref> This pressure and other key events eventually led to the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent end of the socialist GDR regime.

The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the [[1990 East German general election|first free multi-party elections]] for the [[Volkskammer]] parliament across the entire GDR. This paved the way to [[German reunification]].


== Cycles of the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig==
* '''First Cycle''' (25 September 1989 to 18 December 1989) Thirteen protests.
* '''Second Cycle''' (8 January 1990 to 12 March 1990) Ten protests.
* ''' Third Cycle''' (10 September 1990 to 22 October 1990) Seven protests.
* '''Fourth Cycle''' (21 January 1991 to 18 February 1991) Five protests.
* '''Fifth Cycle''' (4 March 1991 to 22 April 1991) Seven protests.<ref>Lohmann, S. (1994). "The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91". ''World Politics'', 47(1), 42–101.</ref>

== Role of the church==
During the rule of the GDR, the Church tried to retain its own autonomy and continue organizing, though the [[Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc|practice of religion was generally suppressed]] in keeping with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref name="TomlinsBullivant2016">{{cite book |last1=Tomlins |first1=Steven |last2=Bullivant |first2=Spencer |title=The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses |date=2016 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Press]] |isbn=978-90-04-32853-2 |page=165 |language=en |quote=This passerby refers to the era of communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was characterized by state atheism.}}</ref> During this period, the Church acted on their ideology of "work against injustice and oppression." As a result, the church offered sanctuary to alternative political groups, the victims of the GDR rule. The church also offered them financial aid, support from the congregation and a place to communicate.<ref name="Crutchley">{{cite web|last=Crutchley|first=Peter|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|title=Did a prayer meeting really bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War? |publisher=BBC |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>

Initially, the church did not make statements about the GDR or anything politically related. However, by the middle of 1989 there was a "politicization of the church." Politics started to appear in the sermon of the preachers. More and more people started to gather in the churches. This helped spread information about the injustices that were occurring in the state. The gathering of people after the peace prayers, and the spread of information, spurred the formation of spontaneous demonstrations.<ref name="Crutchley"/><ref>Karl-Dieter Opp, Peter Voss, Christiane Gern (1995). ''Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany, 1989''. University of Michigan Press. {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany]]
* [[Alexanderplatz demonstration]]
* [[Revolutions of 1989]]
* [[Peaceful Revolution]]
* [[History of the German Democratic Republic]]

== Literature ==
* Wolfgang Schneider et al. (Hrsg.): ''Leipziger Demontagebuch. Demo – Montag – Tagebuch – Demontage'', Leipzig/Weimar: [[Gustav Kiepenheuer]] 1990
* Norbert Heber: ''Keine Gewalt! Der friedliche Weg zur Demokratie – eine Chronologie in Bildern'', Berlin: Verbum 1990
* ''Jetzt oder nie – Demokratie''. Leipziger Herbst 1989, Leipzig: [[C. Bertelsmann Verlag]] 1989
* Ekkehard Kuhn: ''Der Tag der Entscheidung''. Leipzig, 9. Oktober 1989, Berlin: [[Ullstein Verlag|Ullstein]] 1992
* Karl Czok: ''Nikolaikirche – offen für alle. Eine Gemeinde im Zentrum der Wende'', Leipzig: [[Evangelische Verlagsanstalt]] 1999
* Tobias Hollitzer: ''Der friedliche Verlauf des 9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig – Kapitulation oder Reformbereitschaft?'' Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Nachwirkung, in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai und Werner Müller (Hrsg.) ''Revolution und Transformation in der DDR 1989/90'', Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, S. 247–288
* Martin Jankowski: "Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung". Roman. München: via verbis, 1999, {{ISBN|3-933902-03-7}}
* Thomas Küttler, Jean Curt Röder (Hrsg.): "Die Wende in Plauen", Plauen: Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert Plauen 1991
* Martin Jankowski: Der Tag, der Deutschland veränderte – 9. Oktober 1989. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-374-02506-0}}
* Schmemann, Serge, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D91330F93AA25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all ''Upheaval in the East; Leipzig Marchers Tiptoe Around Reunification''] [[New York Times]], December 19, 1989.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Monday demonstrations in the Germany Democratic Republic}}
* [http://www.chronikderwende.de/_/lexikon/glossar/glossar_jsp/key=montagsdemo.html Chronik und Zeitzeugenberichte]
* [http://avp-ptr.de/mondaywalks.html The Monday Walks of Leipzig – Visualization of the demonstrations]

{{portalbar|East Germany}}
{{Fall of Communism}}

[[Category:Protests in Germany]]
[[Category:Peaceful Revolution]]
[[Category:Lutheran pacifists]]
[[Category:1989 in East Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in East Germany]]
[[Category:History of Lutheranism in Germany]]
[[Category:Christian nonviolence]]
[[Category:History of Leipzig]]
[[Category:1989 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1990 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1989 in politics]]
[[Category:1990 in politics]]

Monday demonstrations in East Germany

2024-10-09T07:00:56Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Explained what the demonstrations achieved, with links

{{Short description|Periodic protests occurred between 1989 and 1991}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Monday demonstrations helped to bring down the [[Berlin Wall]].]]

The '''Monday demonstrations''' ({{lang-de|Montagsdemonstrationen in der DDR}}) were a series of peaceful [[political protest]]s against the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The demonstrations began on 4 September 1989, leading to the [[Peaceful Revolution]] in the GDR: the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], the collapse of the government, and [[German reunification]].

The demonstrations took place in towns and cities around the GDR on various days of the week from 1989 to 1991. The Leipzig demonstrations, which are the best known, took place on Mondays.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Hoffmeister| editor-first=Hans| editor2-last=Hemple | editor2-first=Mirko |title=Die Wende in Thüringen: ein Rückblick |date=2000 |edition=2nd | publisher=Thüringische Landeszeitung / Rhino Verlag |location=Arnstadt / Weimar}}</ref> The protests are conventionally separated into five cycles.

== Overview ==
[[File:Nikolaikirche Innenansicht Altar Leipzig 2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1113-048, Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration.jpg|thumb|Demonstrators with banners. This demonstration took place after the fall of the wall.]]

Despite the policy of [[state atheism]] in East Germany, Christian pastor [[Christian Führer]] regularly met his congregation at [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]] in [[Leipzig]] for [[Christian prayer|prayer]] from 1982 onward.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015"/> In Leipzig the demonstrations began on 4 September 1989 after the weekly {{lang|de|Friedensgebet}} (prayer for peace) in the St. Nicholas Church with [[parson]] Christian Führer and eventually filled the nearby Karl Marx Square (today known again as [[Augustusplatz]]). Safe in the knowledge that the [[Lutheran]] Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in front of the church, and [[non-violence|non-violent]] demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the [[freedom to move|freedom to travel]] to foreign countries and to elect a [[democratic government]]. The location of the demonstration contributed to the success of the protests. Over the next seven years the Church grew, despite authorities barricading the streets leading to it, and after [[church service]]s peaceful candlelit marches took place.<ref name="Welle2009"/> The secret police issued death threats and even attacked some of the marchers, but the crowd still continued to gather.<ref name="Welle2009"/>

Informed by West German television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities began replicating the Leipzig demonstrations, meeting at [[city square]]s in the evenings. A major turning point was precipitated by the [[Embassy of Germany, Prague#German refugees|events in the West German Embassy of Prague at the time]]. Thousands of East Germans had fled there in September, living in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]] had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, using trains that had to first pass through the GDR. Genscher's speech from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed [[Dresden]]'s central station in early October, police had to stop people from trying to jump on.

Protests around the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR on 7 October were met with a forceful response by the state. Despite the increased foreign attention around this date, there were around 500 arrests throughout East Germany.

Following the events of the weekend attention turned to Leipzig on Monday 9 October. Seeing it as decision day, the State amassed 8000 [[Volkspolizei|police]] and armed [[National People's Army|military]] units with the intent of preventing any demonstrations. Fears of a "[[Tiananmen Square Massacre|Chinese Solution]]" grew as rumours about hospitals stocking extra blood transfusions circulated. A message recorded by six prominent citizens was broadcast throughout the city, urging both sides to remain calm and strive for peaceful dialogue. Initiated by the respected conductor [[Kurt Masur]] the group also included local members of the communist party.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbvF8j2UC9gC&pg=PA175|title=Vom Aufbruch zum Umbruch: die Bürgerbewegung in der DDR 1989|last=Timmer|first=Karsten|date=2000|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3525359259|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/9.-Oktober-1989-Der-Tag-der-Entscheidung|title=9. Oktober 1989 – Der Tag der Entscheidung|website=LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung|date=8 October 2012 |language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

Expectations and preparations of the state were greatly exceeded as more than 40,000 protesters (out of the city's population of 500,000) assembled. The most famous [[chant]] became "{{lang|de|Wir sind das Volk!}}" ({{Lit|We are the people!}}), reminding the leaders of the GDR that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.<ref name="Curry">{{cite web|last=Curry|first=Andrew|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/we-are-the-people-a-peaceful-revolution-in-leipzig-a-654137.html |title=A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig |publisher=SpiegelOnline |date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> Protesters remained completely peaceful as they reached the [[Stasi]] Headquarters, avoiding any escalation of the delicate situation.

Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpectedly high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, [[Egon Krenz]] claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.<ref name="Curry" />
[[File:Lichtfest Leipzig 2009.JPG|thumb|159x159px|Installation on the [[City-Hochhaus Leipzig|City Hochhaus]] for Festival of Lights 2009]]
October 9 is often seen as the "beginning of the end" of the GDR and one of the early signs of the state bowing to pressure. Since 2009 the date is commemorated and celebrated with the Festival of Lights drawing up to 200,000 people tracing the steps of the protest. Attendees include dignitaries like [[Kurt Masur]], [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], [[Joachim Gauck]] as well as Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech heads of state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leipziger-freiheit.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/einzelansicht-news/weit-ueber-100000-menschen-auf-dem-leipziger-innenstadtring/|title=Leipzig. The city with no limits.: Weit über 100.000 Menschen auf dem Leipziger Innenstadtring|website=www.leipziger-freiheit.de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leipzig.de/buergerservice-und-verwaltung/unsere-stadt/herbst-89/jubilaeum-2014/lichtfest-leipzig-2014/|title=Lichtfest Leipzig 2014|website=www.leipzig.de|language=de|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

On 9 October 1989, the police and army units were given permission to use force against those assembled, but this did not deter the church service and march from taking place along the [[Inner City Ring Road (Leipzig)|inner city ring road]], which gathered 70,000 people.<ref name="Welle2009"/><ref name="Crutchley2015">{{cite web |last1=Crutchley |first1=Peter |title=How prayers helped end the Cold War |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202103325/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|archive-date=2 February 2019|publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=2 February 2019 |language=en |date=9 October 2015}}</ref>

The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 demonstrators turned up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. (Two days after the rally, [[Erich Honecker]], the leader of the SED, was forced to resign.) The week after, the number more than doubled to 320,000. Many of those people started to cross into East Berlin, without a shot being fired.<ref name="Welle2009">{{cite web |last1=Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Peace prayers helped bring down the Wall, says Leipzig pastor |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peace-prayers-helped-bring-down-the-wall-says-leipzig-pastor/a-3805080 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |date=7 January 2009}}</ref> This pressure and other key events eventually led to the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent end of the socialist GDR regime.

The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the [[1990 East German general election|first free multi-party elections]] for the [[Volkskammer]] parliament across the entire GDR. This paved the way to [[German reunification]].


== Cycles of the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig==
* '''First Cycle''' (25 September 1989 to 18 December 1989) Thirteen protests.
* '''Second Cycle''' (8 January 1990 to 12 March 1990) Ten protests.
* ''' Third Cycle''' (10 September 1990 to 22 October 1990) Seven protests.
* '''Fourth Cycle''' (21 January 1991 to 18 February 1991) Five protests.
* '''Fifth Cycle''' (4 March 1991 to 22 April 1991) Seven protests.<ref>Lohmann, S. (1994). "The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91". ''World Politics'', 47(1), 42–101.</ref>

== Role of the church==
During the rule of the GDR, the Church tried to retain its own autonomy and continue organizing, though the [[Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc|practice of religion was generally suppressed]] in keeping with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref name="TomlinsBullivant2016">{{cite book |last1=Tomlins |first1=Steven |last2=Bullivant |first2=Spencer |title=The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses |date=2016 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Press]] |isbn=978-90-04-32853-2 |page=165 |language=en |quote=This passerby refers to the era of communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was characterized by state atheism.}}</ref> During this period, the Church acted on their ideology of "work against injustice and oppression." As a result, the church offered sanctuary to alternative political groups, the victims of the GDR rule. The church also offered them financial aid, support from the congregation and a place to communicate.<ref name="Crutchley">{{cite web|last=Crutchley|first=Peter|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24661333|title=Did a prayer meeting really bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War? |publisher=BBC |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>

Initially, the church did not make statements about the GDR or anything politically related. However, by the middle of 1989 there was a "politicization of the church." Politics started to appear in the sermon of the preachers. More and more people started to gather in the churches. This helped spread information about the injustices that were occurring in the state. The gathering of people after the peace prayers, and the spread of information, spurred the formation of spontaneous demonstrations.<ref name="Crutchley"/><ref>Karl-Dieter Opp, Peter Voss, Christiane Gern (1995). ''Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany, 1989''. University of Michigan Press. {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany]]
* [[Alexanderplatz demonstration]]
* [[Revolutions of 1989]]
* [[Peaceful Revolution]]
* [[History of the German Democratic Republic]]

== Literature ==
* Wolfgang Schneider et al. (Hrsg.): ''Leipziger Demontagebuch. Demo – Montag – Tagebuch – Demontage'', Leipzig/Weimar: [[Gustav Kiepenheuer]] 1990
* Norbert Heber: ''Keine Gewalt! Der friedliche Weg zur Demokratie – eine Chronologie in Bildern'', Berlin: Verbum 1990
* ''Jetzt oder nie – Demokratie''. Leipziger Herbst 1989, Leipzig: [[C. Bertelsmann Verlag]] 1989
* Ekkehard Kuhn: ''Der Tag der Entscheidung''. Leipzig, 9. Oktober 1989, Berlin: [[Ullstein Verlag|Ullstein]] 1992
* Karl Czok: ''Nikolaikirche – offen für alle. Eine Gemeinde im Zentrum der Wende'', Leipzig: [[Evangelische Verlagsanstalt]] 1999
* Tobias Hollitzer: ''Der friedliche Verlauf des 9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig – Kapitulation oder Reformbereitschaft?'' Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Nachwirkung, in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai und Werner Müller (Hrsg.) ''Revolution und Transformation in der DDR 1989/90'', Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, S. 247–288
* Martin Jankowski: "Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung". Roman. München: via verbis, 1999, {{ISBN|3-933902-03-7}}
* Thomas Küttler, Jean Curt Röder (Hrsg.): "Die Wende in Plauen", Plauen: Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert Plauen 1991
* Martin Jankowski: Der Tag, der Deutschland veränderte – 9. Oktober 1989. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-374-02506-0}}
* Schmemann, Serge, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D91330F93AA25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all ''Upheaval in the East; Leipzig Marchers Tiptoe Around Reunification''] [[New York Times]], December 19, 1989.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Monday demonstrations in the Germany Democratic Republic}}
* [http://www.chronikderwende.de/_/lexikon/glossar/glossar_jsp/key=montagsdemo.html Chronik und Zeitzeugenberichte]
* [http://avp-ptr.de/mondaywalks.html The Monday Walks of Leipzig – Visualization of the demonstrations]

{{portalbar|East Germany}}
{{Fall of Communism}}

[[Category:Protests in Germany]]
[[Category:Peaceful Revolution]]
[[Category:Lutheran pacifists]]
[[Category:1989 in East Germany]]
[[Category:1990 in East Germany]]
[[Category:History of Lutheranism in Germany]]
[[Category:Christian nonviolence]]
[[Category:History of Leipzig]]
[[Category:1989 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1990 in Christianity]]
[[Category:1989 in politics]]
[[Category:1990 in politics]]

Tachistoscope

2024-10-06T07:01:46Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Deleted {{oneref|date=July 2010}} after adding more references

[[File:Manual of mental and physical tests - in two parts - a book of directions compiled with special reference to the experimental study of children in the laboratory or classroom (1921) (14597524180).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{center|1921 tachistoscope,}}]]

A '''tachistoscope''' is a [[device]] that displays a [[picture]], [[Text (literary theory)|text]], or an object for a specific amount of time. It can be used for various purposes such as to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of a display are memorable.

Early tachistoscopes were mechanical, using a flat masking screen that containing a window. The screen concealed the picture or text until the sceen moved, at a known speed, the window over the picture or text, revealing it. The screen continued to move until it hid the picture or text again. Later tachistoscopes used a [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] system typical of a [[camera]] in conjunction with a [[Slide projector|slide]] or [[Overhead projector|transparency projector]]. Even later, tachistoscopes used brief illumination, such as from fast-onset and fast-offset [[fluorescent lamp]]s, of the material to be displayed. By the late 1990s, tachistoscopes had largely been replaced by computers for displaying pictures and text.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hutner, Nancy, et al. |title=Comparing visual perception on conventional cabinet tachistoscopes and computer monitor tachistoscopes |journal=Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers |date=1999 |volume=31 |issue=3 |page=400-409 |pages=400-409 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03200718.pdf |access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref>

== History ==
The first tachistoscope was originally described by the German physiologist [[A.W. Volkmann]] in 1859.<ref>Benschop, R. (1998). What is a tachistoscope? Historical explorations of an instrument". ''Science in Context'', '''11''':23–50.</ref> [[Samuel Renshaw]] used it during [[World War II]] in the training of fighter pilots to help them identify aircraft silhouettes as friend or foe.<ref>Edward C. Godnig, "The Tachistoscope: Its History and Uses", ''Journal of Behavioral Optometry'' '''14''':2:39 (2003) [http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/journals/jbo-volume-14-issue-2/14-2%20Godnig.pdf full text]</ref>

== Applications ==
Before [[Personal computer|computers]] became universal, tachistoscopes were used extensively in [[Psychology|psychological research]] to present visual stimuli for controlled durations. Some experiments employed pairs of tachistoscopes so that an experimental participant could be given different stimulation in each [[visual field]].

Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for [[speed reading]]. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words, and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.<ref>Brown, James I, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018033 "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope"], ''Journal of Developmental Reading'', Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18</ref>

Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
* the increased fidelity of the image which can be displayed in this way and
* the opportunity to show large or life-size images.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* https://web.archive.org/web/20220328115006/http://www.sykronix.com/researching/tscope.htm How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]

[[Category:Photography equipment]]
[[Category:Optical devices]]

Tachistoscope

2024-10-06T06:48:59Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Explained the principles of types of tachistoscopes and added a reference

{{oneref|date=July 2010}}

[[File:Manual of mental and physical tests - in two parts - a book of directions compiled with special reference to the experimental study of children in the laboratory or classroom (1921) (14597524180).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{center|1921 tachistoscope,}}]]

A '''tachistoscope''' is a [[device]] that displays a [[picture]], [[Text (literary theory)|text]], or an object for a specific amount of time. It can be used for various purposes such as to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of a display are memorable.

Early tachistoscopes were mechanical, using a flat masking screen that containing a window. The screen concealed the picture or text until the sceen moved, at a known speed, the window over the picture or text, revealing it. The screen continued to move until it hid the picture or text again. Later tachistoscopes used a [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] system typical of a [[camera]] in conjunction with a [[Slide projector|slide]] or [[Overhead projector|transparency projector]]. Even later, tachistoscopes used brief illumination, such as from fast-onset and fast-offset [[fluorescent lamp]]s, of the material to be displayed. By the late 1990s, tachistoscopes had largely been replaced by computers for displaying pictures and text.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hutner, Nancy, et al. |title=Comparing visual perception on conventional cabinet tachistoscopes and computer monitor tachistoscopes |journal=Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers |date=1999 |volume=31 |issue=3 |page=400-409 |pages=400-409 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03200718.pdf |access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref>

== History ==
The first tachistoscope was originally described by the German physiologist [[A.W. Volkmann]] in 1859.<ref>Benschop, R. (1998). What is a tachistoscope? Historical explorations of an instrument". ''Science in Context'', '''11''':23–50.</ref> [[Samuel Renshaw]] used it during [[World War II]] in the training of fighter pilots to help them identify aircraft silhouettes as friend or foe.<ref>Edward C. Godnig, "The Tachistoscope: Its History and Uses", ''Journal of Behavioral Optometry'' '''14''':2:39 (2003) [http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/journals/jbo-volume-14-issue-2/14-2%20Godnig.pdf full text]</ref>

== Applications ==
Before [[Personal computer|computers]] became universal, tachistoscopes were used extensively in [[Psychology|psychological research]] to present visual stimuli for controlled durations. Some experiments employed pairs of tachistoscopes so that an experimental participant could be given different stimulation in each [[visual field]].

Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for [[speed reading]]. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words, and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.<ref>Brown, James I, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018033 "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope"], ''Journal of Developmental Reading'', Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18</ref>

Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
* the increased fidelity of the image which can be displayed in this way and
* the opportunity to show large or life-size images.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* https://web.archive.org/web/20220328115006/http://www.sykronix.com/researching/tscope.htm How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]

[[Category:Photography equipment]]
[[Category:Optical devices]]

Tachistoscope

2024-10-05T22:22:14Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* External links */ Replaced dead link with one from archive.org

{{oneref|date=July 2010}}

[[File:Manual of mental and physical tests - in two parts - a book of directions compiled with special reference to the experimental study of children in the laboratory or classroom (1921) (14597524180).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{center|1921 tachistoscope,}}]]

A '''tachistoscope''' is a [[device]] that displays a [[picture]] or an object for a specific amount of time. It can be used for various purposes such as to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of a display are memorable.

Early tachistoscopes were mechanical, using a flat masking screen containing a window that moved over a picture at a known speed, or using a [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] system typical of a [[camera]] in conjunction with a [[Slide projector|slide]] or [[Overhead projector|transparency projector]]. Later tachistoscopes used brief illumination, such as from fast-onset and fast-offset [[fluorescent lamp]]s of the material to be displayed. In the 21st century, tachistoscopes have largely been replaced by computers for displaying pictures.

== History ==
The first tachistoscope was originally described by the German physiologist [[A.W. Volkmann]] in 1859.<ref>Benschop, R. (1998). What is a tachistoscope? Historical explorations of an instrument". ''Science in Context'', '''11''':23–50.</ref> [[Samuel Renshaw]] used it during [[World War II]] in the training of fighter pilots to help them identify aircraft silhouettes as friend or foe.<ref>Edward C. Godnig, "The Tachistoscope: Its History and Uses", ''Journal of Behavioral Optometry'' '''14''':2:39 (2003) [http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/journals/jbo-volume-14-issue-2/14-2%20Godnig.pdf full text]</ref>

== Applications ==
Before [[Personal computer|computers]] became universal, tachistoscopes were used extensively in [[Psychology|psychological research]] to present visual stimuli for controlled durations. Some experiments employed pairs of tachistoscopes so that an experimental participant could be given different stimulation in each [[visual field]].

Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for [[speed reading]]. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words, and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.<ref>Brown, James I, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018033 "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope"], ''Journal of Developmental Reading'', Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18</ref>

Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
* the increased fidelity of the image which can be displayed in this way and
* the opportunity to show large or life-size images.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* https://web.archive.org/web/20220328115006/http://www.sykronix.com/researching/tscope.htm How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]

[[Category:Photography equipment]]
[[Category:Optical devices]]

Tachistoscope

2024-10-05T22:21:16Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Copyedited

{{oneref|date=July 2010}}

[[File:Manual of mental and physical tests - in two parts - a book of directions compiled with special reference to the experimental study of children in the laboratory or classroom (1921) (14597524180).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{center|1921 tachistoscope,}}]]

A '''tachistoscope''' is a [[device]] that displays a [[picture]] or an object for a specific amount of time. It can be used for various purposes such as to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of a display are memorable.

Early tachistoscopes were mechanical, using a flat masking screen containing a window that moved over a picture at a known speed, or using a [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] system typical of a [[camera]] in conjunction with a [[Slide projector|slide]] or [[Overhead projector|transparency projector]]. Later tachistoscopes used brief illumination, such as from fast-onset and fast-offset [[fluorescent lamp]]s of the material to be displayed. In the 21st century, tachistoscopes have largely been replaced by computers for displaying pictures.

== History ==
The first tachistoscope was originally described by the German physiologist [[A.W. Volkmann]] in 1859.<ref>Benschop, R. (1998). What is a tachistoscope? Historical explorations of an instrument". ''Science in Context'', '''11''':23–50.</ref> [[Samuel Renshaw]] used it during [[World War II]] in the training of fighter pilots to help them identify aircraft silhouettes as friend or foe.<ref>Edward C. Godnig, "The Tachistoscope: Its History and Uses", ''Journal of Behavioral Optometry'' '''14''':2:39 (2003) [http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/journals/jbo-volume-14-issue-2/14-2%20Godnig.pdf full text]</ref>

== Applications ==
Before [[Personal computer|computers]] became universal, tachistoscopes were used extensively in [[Psychology|psychological research]] to present visual stimuli for controlled durations. Some experiments employed pairs of tachistoscopes so that an experimental participant could be given different stimulation in each [[visual field]].

Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for [[speed reading]]. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words, and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.<ref>Brown, James I, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018033 "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope"], ''Journal of Developmental Reading'', Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18</ref>

Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
* the increased fidelity of the image which can be displayed in this way and
* the opportunity to show large or life-size images.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.sykronix.com/researching/tscope.htm How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]

[[Category:Photography equipment]]
[[Category:Optical devices]]

Tachistoscope

2024-10-05T22:14:02Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Copyedited, mainly the introductory section

{{oneref|date=July 2010}}

[[File:Manual of mental and physical tests - in two parts - a book of directions compiled with special reference to the experimental study of children in the laboratory or classroom (1921) (14597524180).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{center|1921 tachistoscope,}}]]

A '''tachistoscope''' is a [[device]] that displays a [[picture]] or an object for a specific amount of time. It can be used for various purposes such as to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of a display are memorable.

Early tachistoscopes were mechanical, using a flat masking screen containing a window that moved over a picture at a known speed, or using a [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] system typical of a [[camera]] in conjunction with a [[Slide projector|slide]] or [[Overhead projector|transparency projector]]. Later tachistoscopes used brief illumination, such as from fast-onset and fast-offset [[fluorescent lamp]]s of the material to be displayed. In the 21st century, tachistoscopes have largely been replaced for displaying pictures by computers.

== History ==
The first tachistoscope was originally described by the German physiologist [[A.W. Volkmann]] in 1859.<ref>Benschop, R. (1998). What is a tachistoscope? Historical explorations of an instrument". ''Science in Context'', '''11''':23–50.</ref> [[Samuel Renshaw]] used it during [[World War II]] in the training of fighter pilots to help them identify aircraft silhouettes as friend or foe.<ref>Edward C. Godnig, "The Tachistoscope: Its History and Uses", ''Journal of Behavioral Optometry'' '''14''':2:39 (2003) [http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/journals/jbo-volume-14-issue-2/14-2%20Godnig.pdf full text]</ref>

== Applications ==
Before [[Personal computer|computers]] became universal, tachistoscopes were used extensively in [[Psychology|psychological research]] to present visual stimuli for controlled durations. Some experiments employed pairs of tachistoscopes so that an experimental participant could be given different stimulation in each [[visual field]].

Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for [[speed reading]]. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words, and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.<ref>Brown, James I, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018033 "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope"], ''Journal of Developmental Reading'', Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18</ref>

Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
* the increased fidelity of the image which can be displayed in this way and
* the opportunity to show large or life-size images.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.sykronix.com/researching/tscope.htm How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]

[[Category:Photography equipment]]
[[Category:Optical devices]]

Tachistoscope

2024-10-05T21:38:16Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* History */ Deleted space after period before first reference

{{oneref|date=July 2010}}

[[File:Manual of mental and physical tests - in two parts - a book of directions compiled with special reference to the experimental study of children in the laboratory or classroom (1921) (14597524180).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{center|1921 tachistoscope,}}]]

A '''tachistoscope''' is a [[machine|device]] that displays an [[image]] for a specific amount of time. It can be used to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of an image are memorable. Projection tachistoscopes use a [[Slide projector|slide]] or [[Overhead projector|transparency projector]] equipped with the mechanical [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] system typical of a [[camera]]. The slide is loaded, the shutter locked open, and focusing and alignment are adjusted, then the shutter is closed. When ready for the test, a [[shutter speed]] is selected, and the shutter is tripped normally.

== History ==
The first tachistoscope was originally described by the German physiologist [[A.W. Volkmann]] in 1859.<ref>Benschop, R. (1998). What is a tachistoscope? Historical explorations of an instrument". ''Science in Context'', '''11''':23–50.</ref> [[Samuel Renshaw]] used it during [[World War II]] in the training of fighter pilots to help them identify aircraft silhouettes as friend or foe.<ref>Edward C. Godnig, "The Tachistoscope: Its History and Uses", ''Journal of Behavioral Optometry'' '''14''':2:39 (2003) [http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/journals/jbo-volume-14-issue-2/14-2%20Godnig.pdf full text]</ref>

== Applications ==
Before [[Personal computer|computers]] became universal, tachistoscopes were used extensively in [[Psychology|psychological research]] to present visual stimuli for controlled durations. Some experiments employed pairs of tachistoscopes so that an experimental participant could be given different stimulation in each [[visual field]].

Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for [[speed reading]]. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.<ref>Brown, James I, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018033 "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope"], ''Journal of Developmental Reading'', Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18</ref>

Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
* the increased fidelity of the image which can be displayed in this way and
* the opportunity to show large or life-size images.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.sykronix.com/researching/tscope.htm How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]

[[Category:Photography equipment]]
[[Category:Optical devices]]

Tachistoscope

2024-10-05T21:37:10Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added Benschop (1998) to Reflist

{{oneref|date=July 2010}}

[[File:Manual of mental and physical tests - in two parts - a book of directions compiled with special reference to the experimental study of children in the laboratory or classroom (1921) (14597524180).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{center|1921 tachistoscope,}}]]

A '''tachistoscope''' is a [[machine|device]] that displays an [[image]] for a specific amount of time. It can be used to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of an image are memorable. Projection tachistoscopes use a [[Slide projector|slide]] or [[Overhead projector|transparency projector]] equipped with the mechanical [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] system typical of a [[camera]]. The slide is loaded, the shutter locked open, and focusing and alignment are adjusted, then the shutter is closed. When ready for the test, a [[shutter speed]] is selected, and the shutter is tripped normally.

== History ==
The first tachistoscope was originally described by the German physiologist [[A.W. Volkmann]] in 1859.
<ref>Benschop, R. (1998). What is a tachistoscope? Historical explorations of an instrument". ''Science in Context'', '''11''':23–50.</ref> [[Samuel Renshaw]] used it during [[World War II]] in the training of fighter pilots to help them identify aircraft silhouettes as friend or foe.<ref>Edward C. Godnig, "The Tachistoscope: Its History and Uses", ''Journal of Behavioral Optometry'' '''14''':2:39 (2003) [http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/journals/jbo-volume-14-issue-2/14-2%20Godnig.pdf full text]</ref>

== Applications ==
Before [[Personal computer|computers]] became universal, tachistoscopes were used extensively in [[Psychology|psychological research]] to present visual stimuli for controlled durations. Some experiments employed pairs of tachistoscopes so that an experimental participant could be given different stimulation in each [[visual field]].

Tachistoscopes were used during the late 1960s in public schools as an aid to increased reading comprehension for [[speed reading]]. There were two types: the student would look through a lens similar to an aircraft bombsight viewfinder and read letters, words and phrases using manually advanced slide film. The second type projected words and phrases on a screen in sequence. Both types were followed up with comprehension and vocabulary testing.<ref>Brown, James I, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018033 "Teaching Reading With the Tachistoscope"], ''Journal of Developmental Reading'', Winter, 1958, 1(2)8–18</ref>

Tachistoscopes continue to be used in market research, where they are typically used to compare the visual impact, or memorability of marketing materials or packaging designs. Tachistoscopes used for this purpose still typically employ slide projectors rather than computer monitors, due to
* the increased fidelity of the image which can be displayed in this way and
* the opportunity to show large or life-size images.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.sykronix.com/researching/tscope.htm How to Build and Use a Tachistoscope]

[[Category:Photography equipment]]
[[Category:Optical devices]]

Color

2024-09-30T09:26:23Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Color of objects */ Fixed typo

{{Short description|Visual perception of the light spectrum}}
{{hatnote group|
{{Redirect|Colorful|other uses|Color (disambiguation)|and|Colorful (disambiguation)}}
}}
{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

[[File:Colouring pencils.jpg|thumb|300x300px|[[Colored pencil]]s]]

'''Color''' ([[American English]]) or '''colour''' ([[British English|British]] and [[Commonwealth English]]) is the [[visual perception]] based on the [[electromagnetic spectrum]]. Though color is not an inherent property of [[matter]], color perception is related to an object's [[light absorption]], [[reflectance|reflection]], [[emission spectra]], and [[wave interference|interference]]. For most humans, colors are perceived in the visible [[light]] spectrum with three types of [[cone cell]]s ([[trichromacy]]). Other animals may have a different number of cone cell types or have eyes sensitive to different wavelengths, such as bees that can distinguish [[ultraviolet]], and thus have a different color sensitivity range. Animal perception of color originates from different light [[wavelength]] or [[spectral sensitivity]] in cone cell types, which is then processed by the [[brain]].

Colors have perceived properties such as [[hue]], [[colorfulness]] (saturation), and [[luminance]]. Colors can also be [[additive color|additively mixed]] (commonly used for actual light) or [[subtractive color|subtractively mixed]] (commonly used for materials). If the colors are mixed in the right proportions, because of [[metamerism (color)|metamerism]], they may look the same as a single-wavelength light. For convenience, colors can be organized in a [[color space]], which when being abstracted as a mathematical [[color model]] can assign each region of color with a corresponding set of numbers. As such, color spaces are an essential tool for [[color reproduction]] in [[color printing|print]], [[color photography|photography]], computer monitors, and [[color television|television]]. The most well-known color models are [[RGB]], [[CMYK]], [[YUV]], [[HSL and HSV|HSL, and HSV]].

Because the perception of color is an important aspect of human life, different colors have been associated with [[emotion]]s, activity, and [[nationality]]. Names of [[color term|color regions]] in different cultures can have different, sometimes overlapping areas. In [[visual arts]], [[color theory]] is used to govern the use of colors in an [[aesthetics|aesthetically pleasing]] and [[harmony (color)|harmonious]] way. The theory of color includes the [[complementary colors|color complements]]; [[color balance]]; and classification of [[primary color]]s (traditionally [[red]], [[yellow]], [[blue]]), [[secondary color]]s (traditionally [[orange (colour)|orange]], [[green]], [[purple]]), and [[tertiary color]]s. The study of colors in general is called [[color science]].

== Physical properties ==
[[File:Visible spectrum 390-710 nm linear perceptual.svg|alt=gray fading to rainbow colors (red to violet), then fade back to gray|center|thumb|600x600px|The visible spectrum perceived from 390 to 710 nm [[wavelength]]]]
[[Electromagnetic radiation]] is characterized by its [[wavelength]] (or [[frequency]]) and its [[luminous intensity|intensity]]. When the wavelength is within the [[visible spectrum]] (the range of wavelengths humans can perceive, approximately from 390 [[nanometre|nm]] to 700 nm), it is known as "visible [[light]]".<ref name="Bettini">{{cite book |last1=Bettini |first1=Alessandro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip9xDQAAQBAJ&q=%22electromagnetic+waves%22+charges+accelerating&pg=PA95 |title=A Course in Classical Physics, Vol. 4 – Waves and Light |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-48329-0 |pages=95, 103}}</ref>

Most light sources emit light at many different wavelengths; a source's ''spectrum'' is a distribution giving its intensity at each wavelength. Although the spectrum of light arriving at the eye from a given direction determines the color [[wikt:sensation|sensation]] in that direction, there are many more possible spectral combinations than color sensations. In fact, one may formally define a color as a class of spectra that give rise to the same color sensation, although such classes would vary widely among different species, and to a lesser extent among individuals within the same species. In each such class, the members are called ''[[metamerism (color)|metamer]]s'' of the color in question. This effect can be visualized by comparing the light sources' [[spectral power distribution]]s and the resulting colors.

=== Spectral colors ===
{{main|Spectral color}}
The familiar colors of the [[rainbow]] in the [[visible spectrum|spectrum]]—named using the [[Latin]] word for ''appearance'' or ''apparition'' by [[Isaac Newton]] in 1671—include all those colors that can be produced by visible [[light]] of a single wavelength only, the [[spectral color|''pure spectral'' or ''monochromatic'' color]]s. The spectrum above shows approximate wavelengths (in [[nanometre|nm]]) for spectral colors in the visible range. Spectral colors have 100% [[colorfulness#Excitation purity|purity]], and are fully [[colorfulness|saturate]]d. A complex mixture of spectral colors can be used to describe any color, which is the definition of a light [[power spectrum]].

The spectral colors form a continuous spectrum, and how it is divided into [[color term|distinct colors linguistically]] is a matter of culture and historical contingency.<ref>[[Brent Berlin|Berlin, B.]] and [[Paul Kay|Kay, P.]], ''[[Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution]]'', Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1969.</ref> Despite the ubiquitous [[ROYGBIV]] mnemonic used to remember the spectral colors in English, the inclusion or exclusion of colors is contentious, with disagreement often focused on [[indigo#Classification as a spectral color|indigo]] and cyan.<ref>{{cite book|last=Waldman|first=Gary|title=Introduction to light: the physics of light, vision, and color|year=2002|publisher=Dover Publications|location=Mineola|isbn=978-0486421186|page=193|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbsoAXWbnr4C&pg=PA193}}</ref> Even if the subset of color terms is agreed, their wavelength ranges and borders between them may not be.

The ''intensity'' of a spectral color, relative to the context in which it is viewed, may alter its perception considerably. For example, a low-intensity orange-yellow is [[brown]], and a low-intensity yellow-green is [[olive green]]. Additionally, hue shifts towards yellow or blue happen if the intensity of a spectral light is increased; this is called [[Bezold–Brücke shift]]. In [[color models]] capable of representing spectral colors,<ref>{{cite web |title=Perceiving Color |url=http://courses.washington.edu/psy333/lecture_pdfs/chapter7_Color.pdf#page=72 |website=courses.washington.edu}}</ref> such as [[CIELUV]], a spectral color has the maximal saturation. In [[Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect#Helmholtz color coordinates|Helmholtz coordinates]], this is described as 100% [[Colorfulness#Excitation purity|purity]].

=== Color of objects ===

The physical color of an object depends on how it [[absorbance|absorb]]s and [[scattering|scatter]]s light. Most objects scatter light to some degree and do not reflect or transmit light [[specular]]ly like [[glass]]es or [[mirror]]s. A [[transparency (optics)|transparent]] object allows almost all light to [[transmittance|transmit]] or pass through, thus transparent objects are perceived as colorless. Conversely, an [[opacity (optics)|opaque]] object does not allow light to transmit through and instead absorbs or [[reflection (physics)|reflects]] the light it receives. Like transparent objects, [[translucent]] objects allow light to transmit through, but translucent objects are seen colored because they scatter or absorb certain wavelengths of light via internal scattering. The absorbed light is often dissipated as [[heat]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Berns |first=Roy S. |url= |title=Billmeyer and Saltzman's Principles of Color Technology |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |others=Fred W. Billmeyer, Max Saltzman |year=2019 |isbn=978-1119366683 |edition=4th |location=Hoboken, NJ |oclc=1080250734|pages=5–9, 12}}</ref>

== Color vision ==
{{main|Color vision}}

=== Development of theories of color vision ===
{{main|Color theory}}
[[File:Optical grey squares orange brown.svg|right|thumb|250px|The upper disk and the lower disk have exactly the same objective color, and are in identical gray surroundings; based on context differences, humans perceive the squares as having different reflectances, and may interpret the colors as different color categories; see [[checker shadow illusion]]]]
Although [[Aristotle]] and other ancient scientists had already written on the nature of light and [[color vision]], it was not until [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] that light was identified as the source of the color sensation. In 1810, [[Goethe]] published his comprehensive ''[[Theory of Colors]]'' in which he provided a rational description of color experience, which 'tells us how it originates, not what it is'. (Schopenhauer)

In 1801 [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]] proposed his [[trichromacy|trichromatic theory]], based on the observation that any color could be matched with a combination of three lights. This theory was later refined by [[James Clerk Maxwell]] and [[Hermann von Helmholtz]]. As Helmholtz puts it, "the principles of Newton's law of mixture were experimentally confirmed by Maxwell in 1856. Young's theory of color sensations, like so much else that this marvelous investigator achieved in advance of his time, remained unnoticed until Maxwell directed attention to it."<ref>Hermann von Helmholtz, ''Physiological Optics: The Sensations of Vision'', 1866, as translated in ''Sources of Color Science'', David L. MacAdam, ed., Cambridge: [[MIT Press]], 1970.</ref>

At the same time as Helmholtz, [[Ewald Hering]] developed the [[opponent process]] theory of color, noting that [[color blindness]] and afterimages typically come in opponent pairs (red-green, blue-orange, yellow-violet, and black-white). Ultimately these two theories were synthesized in 1957 by Hurvich and Jameson, who showed that retinal processing corresponds to the trichromatic theory, while processing at the level of the [[lateral geniculate nucleus]] corresponds to the opponent theory.<ref>Palmer, S.E. (1999). ''Vision Science: Photons to Phenomenology'', Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. {{ISBN|0262161834}}.</ref>

In 1931, an international group of experts known as the ''Commission internationale de l'éclairage'' ([[International Commission on Illumination|CIE]]) developed a mathematical color model, which mapped out the space of observable colors and assigned a set of three numbers to each.

=== Color in the eye ===
{{main|Color vision#Cone cells in the human eye}}
[[File:Cones SMJ2 E.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Normalized typical human [[cone cell]] responses (''S'', ''M'', and ''L types'') to monochromatic spectral stimuli]]

The ability of the [[human eye]] to distinguish colors is based upon the varying sensitivity of different cells in the [[retina]] to light of different [[wavelength]]s. Humans are [[trichromatic]]—the retina contains three types of color receptor cells, or [[cone cell|cone]]s. One type, relatively distinct from the other two, is most responsive to light that is perceived as blue or blue-violet, with wavelengths around 450 [[nanometre|nm]]; cones of this type are sometimes called ''short-wavelength cones'' or ''S cones'' (or misleadingly, ''blue cones''). The other two types are closely related genetically and chemically: ''middle-wavelength cones'', ''M cones'', or ''green cones'' are most sensitive to light perceived as green, with wavelengths around 540 nm, while the ''long-wavelength cones'', ''L cones'', or ''red cones'', are most sensitive to light that is perceived as greenish yellow, with wavelengths around 570 nm.

Light, no matter how complex its composition of wavelengths, is reduced to three color components by the eye. Each cone type adheres to the [[principle of univariance]], which is that each cone's output is determined by the amount of light that falls on it over all wavelengths. For each location in the visual field, the three types of cones yield three signals based on the extent to which each is stimulated. These amounts of stimulation are sometimes called ''tristimulus values''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Nicola Jones, Knowable |title=Color Is in the Eye, and Brain, of the Beholder |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/color-is-in-the-eye-and-brain-of-the-beholder/ |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref>

The response curve as a function of wavelength varies for each type of cone. Because the curves overlap, some tristimulus values do not occur for any incoming light combination. For example, it is not possible to stimulate ''only'' the mid-wavelength (so-called "green") cones; the other cones will inevitably be stimulated to some degree at the same time. The set of all possible tristimulus values determines the human ''color space''. It has been estimated that humans can distinguish roughly 10 million different colors.<ref name="business">{{cite book|last1=Judd|first1=Deane B.|title=Color in Business, Science and Industry|last2=Wyszecki|first2=Günter|publisher=[[Wiley-Interscience]]|year=1975|isbn=978-0471452126|edition=3rd|series=Wiley Series in Pure and Applied Optics|location=New York|page=388}}</ref>

The other type of light-sensitive cell in the eye, the [[rod cell|rod]], has a different response curve. In normal situations, when light is bright enough to strongly stimulate the cones, rods play virtually no role in vision at all.<ref>"Under well-lit viewing conditions (photopic vision), cones  ...are highly active and rods are inactive."{{cite conference|last=Hirakawa|first=K.|author2=Parks, T.W.|title=IEEE International Conference on Image Processing 2005|chapter=Chromatic Adaptation and White-Balance Problem|conference=IEEE ICIP|year=2005|pages=iii-984|doi=10.1109/ICIP.2005.1530559|isbn=0780391349|chapter-url=http://www.accidentalmark.com/research/papers/Hirakawa05WBICIP.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128184104/http://www.accidentalmark.com/research/papers/Hirakawa05WBICIP.pdf|archive-date=November 28, 2006}}</ref> On the other hand, in dim light, the cones are understimulated leaving only the signal from the rods, resulting in a [[black-and-white|colorless]] response (furthermore, the rods are barely sensitive to light in the "red" range). In certain conditions of intermediate illumination, the rod response and a weak cone response can together result in color discriminations not accounted for by cone responses alone. These effects, combined, are summarized also in the [[Kruithof curve]], which describes the change of color perception and pleasingness of light as a function of temperature and intensity.

=== Color in the brain ===
{{main|Color vision#Color in the primate brain}}

While the mechanisms of [[color vision]] at the level of the [[retina]] are well-described in terms of tristimulus values, color processing after that point is organized differently. A dominant theory of color vision proposes that color information is transmitted out of the eye by three [[opponent process]]es, or opponent channels, each constructed from the raw output of the cones: a red–green channel, a blue–yellow channel, and a black–white "luminance" channel. This theory has been supported by neurobiology, and accounts for the structure of our subjective color experience. Specifically, it explains why humans cannot perceive a "reddish green" or "yellowish blue", and it predicts the [[color wheel]]: it is the collection of colors for which at least one of the two color channels measures a value at one of its extremes.

The exact nature of color perception beyond the processing already described, and indeed the status of color as a feature of the perceived world or rather as a feature of our ''perception'' of the world—a type of [[qualia]]—is a matter of complex and continuing philosophical dispute.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Ventral-dorsal streams.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|The visual [[two-streams hypothesis#Dorsal stream|dorsal stream]] (green) and [[ventral stream]] (purple) are shown; the ventral stream is responsible for color perception]]
From the V1 blobs, color information is sent to cells in the second visual area, V2. The cells in V2 that are most strongly color tuned are clustered in the "thin stripes" that, like the blobs in V1, stain for the enzyme cytochrome oxidase (separating the thin stripes are interstripes and thick stripes, which seem to be concerned with other visual information like motion and high-resolution form). Neurons in V2 then synapse onto cells in the extended V4. This area includes not only V4, but two other areas in the posterior inferior temporal cortex, anterior to area V3, the dorsal posterior inferior temporal cortex, and posterior TEO.<ref name="Conway_2007">{{cite journal |vauthors=Conway BR, Moeller S, Tsao DY |date=November 2007 |title=Specialized color modules in macaque extrastriate cortex |url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/100800/ |journal=Neuron |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=560–73 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2007.10.008 |pmc=8162777 |pmid=17988638 |s2cid=11724926 |access-date=2023-12-08 |archive-date=2022-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010104403/https://authors.library.caltech.edu/100800/ |url-status=dead |issn = 0896-6273}}</ref><ref name="Conway_2009">{{cite journal |vauthors=Conway BR, Tsao DY |date=October 2009 |title=Color-tuned neurons are spatially clustered according to color preference within alert macaque posterior inferior temporal cortex |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=106 |issue=42 |pages=18034–9 |bibcode=2009PNAS..10618034C |doi=10.1073/pnas.0810943106 |pmc=2764907 |pmid=19805195 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Area V4 was initially suggested by [[Semir Zeki]] to be exclusively dedicated to color,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zeki SM |date=April 1973 |title=Colour coding in rhesus monkey prestriate cortex |journal=Brain Research |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=422–7 |doi=10.1016/0006-8993(73)90227-8 |pmid=4196224}}</ref> and he later showed that V4 can be subdivided into subregions with very high concentrations of color cells separated from each other by zones with lower concentration of such cells though even the latter cells respond better to some wavelengths than to others,<ref name="Zeki_1983">{{cite journal |vauthors=Zeki S |date=March 1983 |title=The distribution of wavelength and orientation selective cells in different areas of monkey visual cortex |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=217 |issue=1209 |pages=449–70 |bibcode=1983RSPSB.217..449Z |doi=10.1098/rspb.1983.0020 |pmid=6134287 |s2cid=39700958}}</ref> a finding confirmed by subsequent studies.<ref name="Conway_2007" /><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bushnell BN, Harding PJ, Kosai Y, Bair W, Pasupathy A |date=August 2011 |title=Equiluminance cells in visual cortical area v4 |journal=The Journal of Neuroscience |volume=31 |issue=35 |pages=12398–412 |doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1890-11.2011 |pmc=3171995 |pmid=21880901}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Tanigawa H, Lu HD, Roe AW |date=December 2010 |title=Functional organization for color and orientation in macaque V4 |journal=Nature Neuroscience |volume=13 |issue=12 |pages=1542–8 |doi=10.1038/nn.2676 |pmc=3005205 |pmid=21076422}}</ref> The presence in V4 of orientation-selective cells led to the view that V4 is involved in processing both color and form associated with color<ref name="Zeki_2005">{{cite journal |vauthors=Zeki S |date=June 2005 |title=The Ferrier Lecture 1995 behind the seen: the functional specialization of the brain in space and time |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=360 |issue=1458 |pages=1145–83 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2005.1666 |pmc=1609195 |pmid=16147515}}</ref> but it is worth noting that the orientation selective cells within V4 are more broadly tuned than their counterparts in V1, V2, and V3.<ref name="Zeki_1983" /> Color processing in the extended V4 occurs in millimeter-sized color modules called [[Glob (visual system)|globs]].<ref name="Conway_2007" /><ref name="Conway_2009" /> This is the part of the brain in which color is first processed into the full range of [[hue]]s found in [[color space]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zeki |first=S. |date=1980 |title=The representation of colours in the cerebral cortex |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/284412a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=284 |issue=5755 |pages=412–418 |bibcode=1980Natur.284..412Z |doi=10.1038/284412a0 |issn=1476-4687 |pmid=6767195 |s2cid=4310049}}</ref><ref name="Conway_2007" /><ref name="Conway_2009" />

=== Nonstandard color perception ===

==== Color vision deficiency ====
{{main|Color blindness}}
A color vision deficiency causes an individual to perceive a smaller [[gamut]] of colors than the standard observer with normal color vision. The effect can be mild, having lower "color resolution" (i.e. [[anomalous trichromacy]]), moderate, lacking an entire dimension or channel of color (e.g. [[dichromacy]]), or complete, lacking all color perception (i.e. [[monochromacy]]). Most forms of color blindness derive from one or more of the three classes of cone cells either being missing, having a shifted [[spectral sensitivity]] or having lower responsiveness to incoming light. In addition, [[cerebral achromatopsia]] is caused by neural anomalies in those parts of the brain where visual processing takes place.

Some colors that appear distinct to an individual with normal color vision will appear [[metamerism (color)|metameric]] to the color blind. The most common form of color blindness is [[congenital red–green color blindness]], affecting ~8% of males. Individuals with the strongest form of this condition ([[dichromacy]]) will experience blue and purple, green and yellow, teal, and gray as colors of confusion, i.e. metamers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Flück |first1=Daniel |title=Colorblind colors of confusion |url=https://www.color-blindness.com/2009/01/19/colorblind-colors-of-confusion/ |website=Colblindor |date=19 January 2009 |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref>

==== Tetrachromacy ====
{{main|Tetrachromacy}}
Outside of humans, which are mostly ''trichromatic'' (having three types of cones), most mammals are dichromatic, possessing only two cones. However, outside of mammals, most vertebrates are ''[[tetrachromatic]]'', having four types of cones. This includes most [[bird]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Andrew T. D. |last2=Cuthill |first2=Innes C. |last3=Partridge |first3=Julian C. |last4=Maier |first4=Erhard J. |year=1996 |title=Ultraviolet vision and mate choice in zebra finches |journal=Nature |volume=380 |issue=6573 |pages=433–435 |bibcode=1996Natur.380..433B |doi=10.1038/380433a0 |s2cid=4347875}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Andrew T. D. |last2=Théry |first2=Marc |year=2007 |title=Avian Color Vision and Coloration: Multidisciplinary Evolutionary Biology |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02889396/file/Bennett%20%26%20Thery%20Am%20Nat%202007.pdf |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=169 |issue=S1 |pages=S1–S6 |doi=10.1086/510163 |issn=0003-0147 |jstor=510163 |s2cid=2484928}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cuthill |first1=Innes C. |title=Ultraviolet Vision in Birds |last2=Partridge |first2=Julian C. |last3=Bennett |first3=Andrew T. D. |last4=Church |first4=Stuart C. |last5=Hart |first5=Nathan S. |last6=Hunt |first6=Sarah |date=2000 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-004529-7 |editor1-last=J. B. Slater |editor1-first=Peter |series=Advances in the Study of Behavior |volume=29 |page=159 |doi=10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60105-9 |editor2-last=Rosenblatt |editor2-first=Jay S. |editor3-last=Snowdon |editor3-first=Charles T. |editor4-last=Roper |editor4-first=Timothy J.}}</ref> [[reptile]]s, [[amphibian]]s, and [[teleost|bony fish]].<ref name="Bowm1">{{cite journal |last1=Bowmaker |first1=James K. |date=September 2008 |title=Evolution of vertebrate visual pigments |journal=Vision Research |volume=48 |issue=20 |pages=2022–2041 |doi=10.1016/j.visres.2008.03.025 |pmid=18590925 |s2cid=52808112 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Vorobyev |first=M. |date=November 1998 |title=Tetrachromacy, oil droplets and bird plumage colours |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology A |volume=183 |issue=5 |pages=621–33 |doi=10.1007/s003590050286 |pmid=9839454 |s2cid=372159}}</ref> An extra dimension of color vision means these vertebrates can see two distinct colors that a normal human would view as [[metamerism (color)|metamer]]s. Some invertebrates, such as the [[mantis shrimp]], have an even higher number of cones (12) that could lead to a richer color [[gamut]] than even imaginable by humans.

The existence of human tetrachromats is a contentious notion. As many as [[tetrachromacy#Tetrachromacy in carriers of CVD|half of all human females have 4 distinct cone classes]], which could enable tetrachromacy.<ref name="Jameson">{{cite journal|last1=Jameson|first1=K.A.|last2=Highnote|first2=S.M.|last3=Wasserman|first3=L.M.|year=2001|title=Richer color experience in observers with multiple photopigment opsin genes.|doi=10.3758/BF03196159|journal=Psychonomic Bulletin and Review|volume=8|issue=2|pages=244–261 [256]|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03196159.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220637/http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03196159.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-04 |url-status=live|pmid=11495112|s2cid=2389566|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, a distinction must be made between ''retinal'' (or ''weak'') ''tetrachromats'', which express four cone classes in the retina, and ''functional'' (or ''strong'') ''tetrachromats'', which are able to make the enhanced color discriminations expected of tetrachromats. In fact, there is only one peer-reviewed report of a functional tetrachromat.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jordan|first1=G.|last2=Deeb|first2=S.S.|last3=Bosten|first3=J.M.|last4=Mollon|first4=J.D.|title=The dimensionality of color vision in carriers of anomalous trichromacy|journal=Journal of Vision|date=20 July 2010|volume=10|issue=8|page=12|doi=10.1167/10.8.12|pmid=20884587|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is estimated that while the average person is able to see one million colors, someone with functional tetrachromacy could see a hundred million colors.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kershner|first=Kate|title=Lucky Tetrachromats See World With Up to 100 Million Colors|date=26 July 2016|url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/lucky-tetrachromats-see-world-100-million-colors.htm|access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref>

==== Synesthesia ====
{{main|Synesthesia}}

In certain forms of [[synesthesia]], perceiving letters and numbers ([[grapheme–color synesthesia]]) or hearing sounds ([[chromesthesia]]) will evoke a perception of color. Behavioral and [[functional neuroimaging]] experiments have demonstrated that these color experiences lead to changes in behavioral tasks and lead to increased activation of brain regions involved in color perception, thus demonstrating their reality, and similarity to real color percepts, albeit evoked through a non-standard route. Synesthesia can occur genetically, with 4% of the population having variants associated with the condition. Synesthesia has also been known to occur with brain damage, drugs, and sensory deprivation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brang|first1=David|title=Survival of the Synesthesia Gene: Why Do People Hear Colors and Taste Words?|journal=PLOS Biology|date=22 November 2011|volume=9|issue=11|pages=e1001205|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001205|pmid=22131906|pmc=3222625|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The philosopher Pythagoras experienced synesthesia and provided one of the first written accounts of the condition in approximately 550 BCE. He created mathematical equations for musical notes that could form part of a scale, such as an octave.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Brief History of Synesthesia in the Arts|url=http://www.daysyn.com/history.html|access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref>

=== Afterimages ===
{{main|Afterimage}}

After exposure to strong light in their sensitivity range, [[photoreceptor cell|photoreceptor]]s of a given type become desensitized.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gersztenkorn |first1=D |last2=Lee |first2=AG |date=Jul 2, 2014 |title=Palinopsia revamped: A systematic review of the literature. |journal=Survey of Ophthalmology |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=1–35 |doi=10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.06.003 |pmid=25113609}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bender |first1=MB |last2=Feldman |first2=M |last3=Sobin |first3=AJ |date=Jun 1968 |title=Palinopsia. |journal=Brain: A Journal of Neurology |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=321–38 |doi=10.1093/brain/91.2.321 |pmid=5721933}}</ref> For a few seconds after the light ceases, they will continue to signal less strongly than they otherwise would. Colors observed during that period will appear to lack the color component detected by the desensitized photoreceptors. This effect is responsible for the phenomenon of [[afterimage]]s, in which the eye may continue to see a bright figure after looking away from it, but in a [[complementary color]]. Afterimage effects have also been used by artists, including [[Vincent van Gogh]].

=== Color constancy ===
{{main|Color constancy}}
When an artist uses a limited [[color palette]], the human [[visual system]] tends to compensate by seeing any gray or neutral color as the color which is missing from the color wheel. For example, in a limited palette consisting of red, yellow, black, and white, a mixture of yellow and black will appear as a variety of green, a mixture of red and black will appear as a variety of purple, and pure gray will appear bluish.<ref>{{cite web|last=Depauw|first=Robert C.|title=United States Patent|url=http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT3815265&id=tSEzAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=mixing+paint+colors&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=mixing%20paint%20colors&f=false|access-date=20 March 2011|archive-date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106111021/http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT3815265&id=tSEzAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=mixing+paint+colors&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=mixing%20paint%20colors&f=false|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The trichromatic theory is strictly true when the visual system is in a fixed state of adaptation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walters |first=H. V. |date=1942 |title=Some Experiments on the Trichromatic Theory of Vision |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/82365 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=131 |issue=862 |pages=27–50 |doi=10.1098/rspb.1942.0016 |jstor=82365 |bibcode=1942RSPSB.131...27W |s2cid=120320368 |issn=0080-4649}}</ref> In reality, the visual system is constantly adapting to changes in the environment and compares the various colors in a scene to reduce the effects of the illumination. If a scene is illuminated with one light, and then with another, as long as the difference between the light sources stays within a reasonable range, the colors in the scene appear relatively constant to us. This was studied by [[Edwin H. Land]] in the 1970s and led to his retinex theory of [[color constancy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edwin H. Land {{!}} Optica |url=https://www.optica.org/History/Biographies/bios/Edwin-H--Land |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=www.optica.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Campbell |first=F. W. |date=1994 |title=Edwin Herbert Land. 7 May 1909-1 March 1991 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/770305 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=40 |pages=197–219 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1994.0035 |jstor=770305 |s2cid=72500555 |issn=0080-4606}}</ref>

Both phenomena are readily explained and mathematically modeled with modern theories of chromatic adaptation and color appearance (e.g. [[CIECAM02]], iCAM).<ref name="CAM">M.D. Fairchild, [http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470012161.html Color Appearance Models] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505034940/http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470012161.html|date=May 5, 2011}}, 2nd Ed., Wiley, Chichester (2005).</ref> There is no need to dismiss the trichromatic theory of vision, but rather it can be enhanced with an understanding of how the visual system adapts to changes in the viewing environment.

== Reproduction ==
{{main|Color reproduction}}
[[File:CIE chromaticity diagram 2012 version.png|thumb|upright=1.25|The [[CIE 1931 color space]] xy [[chromaticity]] diagram with the visual locus plotted using the CIE (2006) physiologically relevant LMS fundamental color matching functions transformed into the CIE 1931 xy [[color space]] and converted into [[Adobe RGB]]; the triangle shows the [[gamut]] of Adobe RGB, the [[Planckian locus]] is shown with color temperatures labeled in [[Kelvin]]s, the outer curved boundary is the spectral (or monochromatic) locus, with wavelengths shown in nanometers, the colors in this file are being specified using Adobe RGB, areas outside the triangle cannot be accurately rendered since they are outside the gamut of Adobe RGB, therefore they have been interpreted, the colors depicted depend on the gamut and color accuracy of your display]]

Color reproduction is the science of creating colors for the human eye that faithfully represent the desired color. It focuses on how to construct a spectrum of wavelengths that will best evoke a certain color in an observer. Most colors are not [[#Spectral colors|spectral color]]s, meaning they are mixtures of various wavelengths of light. However, these non-spectral colors are often described by their [[dominant wavelength]], which identifies the single wavelength of light that produces a sensation most similar to the non-spectral color. Dominant wavelength is roughly akin to [[hue]].

There are many color perceptions that by definition cannot be pure spectral colors due to [[colorfulness|desaturation]] or because they are [[purple]]s (mixtures of red and violet light, from opposite ends of the spectrum). Some examples of necessarily non-spectral colors are the achromatic colors ([[black]], [[gray]], and [[white]]) and colors such as [[pink]], [[tan (color)|tan]], and [[magenta]].

Two different light spectra that have the same effect on the three color receptors in the human eye will be perceived as the same color. They are [[metamerism (color)|metamer]]s of that color. This is exemplified by the white light emitted by fluorescent lamps, which typically has a spectrum of a few narrow bands, while daylight has a continuous spectrum. The human eye cannot tell the difference between such light spectra just by looking into the light source, although the [[color rendering index]] of each light source may affect the color of objects illuminated by these metameric light sources.

Similarly, most human color perceptions can be generated by a mixture of three colors called ''primaries''. This is used to reproduce color scenes in photography, printing, television, and other media. There are a number of methods or [[color space]]s for specifying a color in terms of three particular [[primary color]]s. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the particular application.

No mixture of colors, however, can produce a response truly identical to that of a spectral color, although one can get close, especially for the longer wavelengths, where the [[CIE 1931 color space]] chromaticity diagram has a nearly straight edge. For example, mixing green light (530 nm) and blue light (460 nm) produces cyan light that is slightly desaturated, because response of the red color receptor would be greater to the green and blue light in the mixture than it would be to a pure cyan light at 485 nm that has the same intensity as the mixture of blue and green.

Because of this, and because the ''primaries'' in [[color printing]] systems generally are not pure themselves, the colors reproduced are never perfectly saturated spectral colors, and so spectral colors cannot be matched exactly. However, natural scenes rarely contain fully saturated colors, thus such scenes can usually be approximated well by these systems. The range of colors that can be reproduced with a given color reproduction system is called the [[gamut]]. The [[International Commission on Illumination|CIE]] chromaticity diagram can be used to describe the gamut.

Another problem with color reproduction systems is connected with the initial measurement of color, or [[colorimetry]]. The characteristics of the color sensors in measurement devices (e.g. cameras, scanners) are often very far from the characteristics of the receptors in the human eye.

A color reproduction system "tuned" to a human with normal color vision may give very inaccurate results for other observers, according to color vision deviations to the standard observer.

The different color response of different devices can be problematic if not properly managed. For color information stored and transferred in digital form, [[color management]] techniques, such as those based on [[ICC profile]]s, can help to avoid distortions of the reproduced colors. Color management does not circumvent the gamut limitations of particular output devices, but can assist in finding good mapping of input colors into the gamut that can be reproduced.

=== Additive coloring ===
[[File:AdditiveColor.svg|thumb|Additive color mixing: combining red and green yields yellow; combining all three primary colors together yields white]]
[[Additive color]] is light created by mixing together [[light]] of two or more different colors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=MacEvoy |first1=Bruce |title=handprint : colormaking attributes |url=https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color5.html#theoryadd |access-date=26 February 2019 |website=www.handprint.com}}</ref><ref name="briggs">{{cite web |author=David Briggs |year=2007 |title=The Dimensions of Color |url=http://www.huevaluechroma.com/044.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928031404/http://www.huevaluechroma.com/044.php |archive-date=2015-09-28 |access-date=2011-11-23}}</ref> [[Red]], [[green]], and [[blue]] are the additive [[primary color]]s normally used in additive color systems such as projectors, televisions, and computer terminals.

=== Subtractive coloring ===
[[File:SubtractiveColor.svg|thumb|Subtractive color mixing: combining yellow and magenta yields red; combining all three primary colors together yields black]]
[[File:Color Classification.jpg|thumb|Twelve main pigment colors]]
[[Subtractive color]]ing uses dyes, inks, pigments, or filters to absorb some wavelengths of light and not others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Molecular Expressions Microscopy Primer: Physics of Light and Color – Introduction to the Primary Colors |url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/primarycolorsintro.html |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=micro.magnet.fsu.edu}}</ref> The color that a surface displays comes from the parts of the visible spectrum that are not absorbed and therefore remain visible. Without pigments or dye, fabric fibers, paint base and paper are usually made of particles that scatter white light (all colors) well in all directions. When a pigment or ink is added, wavelengths are absorbed or "subtracted" from white light, so light of another color reaches the eye.

If the light is not a pure white source (the case of nearly all forms of artificial lighting), the resulting spectrum will appear a slightly different color. [[Red]] paint, viewed under [[blue]] light, may appear [[black]]. Red paint is red because it scatters only the red components of the spectrum. If red paint is illuminated by blue light, it will be absorbed by the red paint, creating the appearance of a black object.

The subtractive model also predicts the color resulting from a mixture of paints, or similar medium such as fabric dye, whether applied in layers or mixed together prior to application. In the case of paint mixed before application, incident light interacts with many different pigment particles at various depths inside the paint layer before emerging.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williamson |first1=Samuel J |title=Light and Color in Nature and Art |last2=Cummins |first2=Herman Z |date=1983 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |isbn=0-471-08374-7 |location=New York |pages=28–30 |quote="Thus subtractive color mixing laws that successfully describe how light is altered by nonspectral filters also describes how light is altered by pigments."}}</ref>

=== Structural color ===
{{further|Structural coloration|Animal coloration}}
Structural colors are colors caused by interference effects rather than by pigments. Color effects are produced when a material is scored with fine parallel lines, formed of one or more parallel thin layers, or otherwise composed of microstructures on the scale of the color's [[wavelength]]. If the microstructures are spaced randomly, light of shorter wavelengths will be scattered preferentially to produce [[Tyndall effect]] colors: the blue of the sky (Rayleigh scattering, caused by structures much smaller than the wavelength of light, in this case, air molecules), the luster of [[opal]]s, and the blue of human irises. If the microstructures are aligned in arrays, for example, the array of pits in a CD, they behave as a [[diffraction grating]]: the grating reflects different wavelengths in different directions due to [[wave interference|interference]] phenomena, separating mixed "white" light into light of different wavelengths. If the structure is one or more thin layers then it will reflect some wavelengths and transmit others, depending on the layers' thickness.

Structural color is studied in the field of [[thin-film optics]]. The most ordered or the most changeable structural colors are [[iridescent]]. Structural color is responsible for the blues and greens of the feathers of many birds (the blue jay, for example), as well as certain butterfly wings and beetle shells. Variations in the pattern's spacing often give rise to an iridescent effect, as seen in [[peacock]] feathers, [[soap bubble]]s, films of oil, and [[mother of pearl]], because the reflected color depends upon the viewing angle. Numerous scientists have carried out research in butterfly wings and beetle shells, including Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke. Since 1942, [[electron microscope|electron micrography]] has been used, advancing the development of products that exploit structural color, such as "[[photonic]]" cosmetics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/events/FSS/2006/science.aspx?ComponentId=14867&SourcePageId=14865|title=Economic and Social Research Council: Science in the Dock, Art in the Stocks|access-date=2007-10-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102025015/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/events/FSS/2006/science.aspx?ComponentId=14867&SourcePageId=14865|archive-date=November 2, 2007}}</ref>

== Optimal colors ==

The [[gamut]] of the [[human color vision]] is bounded by optimal colors. They are the most chromatic colors that humans are able to see.

The [[Emission spectrum|emission]] or [[reflectance spectrum]] of a color is the amount of light of each wavelength that it emits or reflects, in proportion to a given maximum, which has the value of 1 (100%). If the emission or reflectance spectrum of a color is 0 (0%) or 1 (100%) across the entire visible spectrum, and it has no more than two transitions between 0 and 1, or 1 and 0, then it is an optimal color. With the current state of technology, we are unable to produce any material or pigment with these properties.<ref name="sch">{{cite journal |last=Schrödinger |first=Erwin |year=1919 |title=Theorie der Pigmente größter Leuchtkraft |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1424357 |journal=Annalen der Physik |volume=367 |issue=15 |pages=603–622 |bibcode=1920AnP...367..603S |doi=10.1002/andp.19203671504}}</ref>

Thus, four types of "optimal color" spectra are possible: In the first, the transition goes from 0 at both ends of the spectrum to 1 in the middle, as shown in the image at right. In the second, it goes from 1 at the ends to 0 in the middle. In the third type, it starts at 1 at the red end of the spectrum, and it changes to 0 at a given wavelength. In the fourth type, it starts at 0 in the red end of the spectrum, and it changes to 1 at a given wavelength. The first type produces colors that are similar to the [[spectral colors]] and follow roughly the horseshoe-shaped portion of the [[Chromaticity diagram#The CIE xy chromaticity diagram|CIE xy chromaticity diagram]] (the [[spectral locus]]), but are generally more [[colorfulness|chromatic]], although less [[Visible spectrum|spectrally]] pure. The second type produces colors that are similar to (but generally more chromatic and less spectrally pure than) the colors on the straight line in the CIE xy chromaticity diagram (the "[[line of purples]]"), leading to [[magenta]] or [[purple]]-like colors. The third type produces the colors located in the "warm" sharp edge of the optimal color solid (this will be explained later in the article). The fourth type produces the colors located in the "cold" sharp edge of the optimal color solid.

[[File:Rechteckspektrum_sRGB.svg|right|thumb|268x268px|Spectrum of a color-optimal reflective material. There is no known material with these properties, they are, for what we know, only theoretical<ref name="thi">{{cite journal |last1=Koenderink |first1=Jan |last2=van Doorn |first2=Andrea J. |last3=Gegenfurtner |first3=Karl |year=2021 |title=RGB Colors and Ecological Optics |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351231527 |journal=Frontiers in Computer Science |volume=3 |doi=10.3389/fcomp.2021.630370 |doi-access=free }}</ref>]]

The optimal [[color solid]], [[Siegfried Rösch|Rösch]]–[[David MacAdam|MacAdam]] color solid, or simply visible [[gamut]], is a type of color solid that contains all the colors that [[Human color vision|humans are able to see]]. The optimal color solid is bounded by the set of all optimal colors.<ref name="new">{{cite journal |last1=Perales |first1=Esther |last2=Mora Estevan |first2=Teresa |last3=Viqueira Pérez |first3=Valentin |last4=de Fez |first4=Dolores |last5=Gilabert Pérez |first5=Eduardo José |last6=Martínez-Verdú |first6=Francisco M. |year=2005 |title=A new algorithm for calculating the MacAdam limits for any luminance factor, hue angle and illuminant |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/39435417 |journal=Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante }}</ref>

In optimal color solids, the colors of the visible spectrum are theoretically black, because their emission or reflection spectrum is 1 (100%) in only one wavelength, and 0 in all of the other infinite visible wavelengths that there are, meaning that they have a lightness of 0 with respect to white, and will also have 0 chroma, but, of course, 100% of spectral purity. In short: In optimal color solids, spectral colors are equivalent to black (0% lightness, 0 chroma), but have full spectral purity (they are located in the horseshoe-shaped spectral locus of the chromaticiy diagram).<ref name="thi" />

In linear color spaces that contain all colors visible by humans, such as [[LMS color space|LMS]] or [[CIE 1931 XYZ]], the set of [[half-line (geometry)|half-lines]] that start at the origin (black, (0, 0, 0)) and pass through all the points that represent the colors of the visible spectrum, and the portion of a plane that passes through the violet half-line and the red half-line (both ends of the visible spectrum), generate the "spectrum cone". The black point (coordinates (0, 0, 0)) of the optimal color solid (and only the black point) is tangent to the "spectrum cone", and the white point (1, 1, 1) (only the white point) is tangent to the "inverted spectrum cone", with the "inverted spectrum cone" being [[symmetrical]] to the "spectrum cone" with respect to the middle [[gray]] point (0.5, 0.5, 0.5). This means that, in linear color spaces, the optimal color solid is centrally symmetric.<ref name="thi" />

In most color spaces, the surface of the optimal color solid is smooth, except for two points (black and white); and two sharp edges: the "[[Heat|warm]]" edge, which goes from black, to [[red]], to [[Orange (colour)|orange]], to [[yellow]], to white; and the "[[cold]]" edge, which goes from [[black]], to deep [[Violet (color)|violet]], to [[blue]], to [[cyan]], to [[white]]. This is due to the following: If the portion of the emission or reflection spectrum of a color is spectral red (which is located at one end of the spectrum), it will be seen as black. If the size of the portion of total emission or reflectance is increased, now covering from the red end of the spectrum to the yellow wavelengths, it will be seen as red or orange. If the portion is expanded more, covering the green wavelengths, it will be seen as yellow. If it is expanded even more, it will cover more wavelengths than the yellow [[Color solid#Maximum chroma colors, semichromes, or full colors|semichrome]] does, approaching white, until it is reached when the full spectrum is emitted or reflected. The described process is called "cumulation". Cumulation can be started at either end of the visible spectrum (we just described cumulation starting from the red end of the spectrum, generating the "warm" sharp edge), cumulation starting at the violet end of the spectrum will generate the "cold" sharp edge.<ref name="thi" />

[[File:Visible gamut within CIELUV color space D65 whitepoint mesh.webm|thumb|[[Color solid]] of the entire [[human eye]] [[color vision]] [[gamut]] (the optimal color solid) plotted within the [[CIELUV color space|CIE L* u* v* color space]], with [[Illuminant D65|D65]] [[white point]]; because it is approximately [[perceptually uniform]], it has an irregular, not [[spherical]], shape, notice that it has two sharp edges, one with warm colors, and the other one with cold colors|200x200px]]

=== Maximum chroma colors, semichromes, or full colors ===
Each hue has a maximum chroma color, also known as maximum chroma point, semichrome, or full color; there are no colors of that hue with a higher chroma. They are the most chromatic, vibrant optimal colors (and thus the most vibrant colors that we are able to see). Although we are, for now, unable to produce them, these are the colors that would be located in an ideal color wheel. They were called '''semichromes''' or '''full colors''' by the German chemist and philosopher [[Wilhelm Ostwald]] in the early 20th century.<ref name="thi" /><ref name="Ost">{{cite journal |last1=Liberini |first1=Simone |last2=Rizzi |first2=Alessandro |year=2023 |title=Munsell and Ostwald colour spaces: A comparison in the field of hair colouring |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/col.22818|journal=Color Research and Application|volume=48 |pages=6–20 |doi=10.1002/col.22818 |hdl=2434/940227 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

If B is the complementary wavelength of wavelength A, then the straight line that connects A and B passes through the achromatic axis in a linear color space, such as LMS or CIE 1931 XYZ. If the emission or reflection spectrum of a color is 1 (100%) for all the wavelengths between A and B, and 0 for all the wavelengths in the other [[half]] of the color space, then that color is a maximum chroma color, semichrome, or full color (this is the explanation to why they were called ''semi''chromes). So maximum chroma colors are a type of optimal colors.<ref name="thi" /><ref name="Ost" />

As explained, full colors are physically (not perceptually) far from being spectral colors. If the spectral purity of a maximum chroma color is increased, its [[colorfulness|chroma]] will decrease, because it will approach the visible spectrum, ergo, it will approach black.<ref name="thi" />

In perceptually uniform color spaces, the lightness of the full colors varies from around 30% in the [[Violet (color)|violetish]] [[blue]] hues, to around 90% in the [[yellow]]ish hues. The chroma of each maximum chroma point also varies depending on the hue; in optimal color solids plotted in perceptually uniform color spaces, semichromes like [[red]], [[green]], [[blue]], [[Violet (color)|violet]], and [[magenta]] have a high chroma, while semichromes like [[yellow]], [[Orange (color)|orange]], and [[cyan]] have a slightly lower chroma.

[[File:Munsell 5 PB 5Y.png|thumb|Slice of the Munsell color space in the hues of 5PB and 5Y; the point farthest from the achromatic axis in each of these two hue slices is the maximum chroma color, semichrome, or full color of that hue|200x200px]]

In color spaces such as the [[HSL color space]], the maximum chroma colors are located around the equator at the periphery of the [[color solid]]. This makes color solids with a spherical shape inherently non-[[perceptually uniform]], since they imply that all full colors have a [[lightness]] of 50%, when, as humans perceive them, there are full colors with a lightness from around 30% to around 90%. A perceptually uniform color solid has an irregular shape.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.huevaluechroma.com/081.php | title=The Dimensions of Colour, lightness, value }}</ref><ref>Munsell (1912), [https://books.google.com/books?id=FdQLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA239 p. 239]</ref>

== Cultural perspective ==
The meanings and associations of colors can play a major role in works of art, including literature.<ref name="Westfahl2005">{{cite book |first=Gary |last=Westfahl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQMQQyIaACYC&pg=PA142 |title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2005 |isbn=978-0313329517 |pages=142–143}}</ref>

=== Associations ===
Individual colors have a variety of cultural associations such as [[national colors]] (in general described in individual color articles and [[color symbolism]]). The field of [[color psychology]] attempts to identify the effects of color on human emotion and activity. [[Chromotherapy]] is a form of [[alternative medicine]] attributed to various Eastern traditions. Colors have different associations in different countries and cultures.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chart: Color Meanings by Culture |url=http://www.globalization-group.com/edge/resources/color-meanings-by-culture/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20101012003744/http://www.globalization-group.com/edge/resources/color-meanings-by-culture/ |archive-date=2010-10-12 |access-date=2010-06-29}}</ref>

Different colors have been demonstrated to have effects on cognition. For example, researchers at the University of Linz in Austria demonstrated that the color red significantly decreases cognitive functioning in men.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dzulkifli |first1=Mariam |last2=Mustafar |first2=Muhammad |year=2013 |title=The Influence of Colour on Memory Performance: A Review |journal=The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=3–9 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.010|s2cid=17764339 }}</ref> The combination of the colors red and yellow together can induce hunger, which has been capitalized on by a number of chain restaurants.<ref>{{cite web |title=There's a sneaky reason why you always see red and yellow on fast food logos |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-colors-make-you-hungry-2018-9?r=MX&IR=T#:~:text=There's%20a%20sneaky%20reason%20why,yellow%20on%20fast%20food%20logos&text=Fast%20food%20chains%2C%20from%20McDonald's,feel%20more%20hungry%20and%20impulsive. |access-date=2022-02-09 |website=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref>

Color plays a role in memory development too. A photograph that is in black and white is slightly less memorable than one in color.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gnambs |first1=Timo |last2=Appel |first2=Markus |last3=Batinic |first3=Bernad |year=2010 |title=Color red in web-based knowledge testing |journal=Computers in Human Behavior |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=1625–1631 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.010|s2cid=17764339 }}</ref> Studies also show that wearing bright colors makes you more memorable to people you meet.

=== Terminology ===
{{main|Color term}}
{{see also|Lists of colors|Web colors}}
Colors vary in several different ways, including [[hue]] (shades of [[red]], [[orange (colour)|orange]], [[yellow]], [[green]], [[blue]], and [[violet (color)|violet]], etc.), [[colorfulness|saturation]], [[brightness]]. Some color words are derived from the name of an object of that color, such as "[[orange (colour)|orange]]" or "[[salmon (color)|salmon]]", while others are abstract, like "red".

In the 1969 study ''[[Basic Color Terms]]: Their Universality and Evolution'', [[Brent Berlin]] and [[Paul Kay]] describe a pattern in naming "basic" colors (like "red" but not "red-orange" or "dark red" or "blood red", which are "shades" of red). All languages that have two "basic" color names distinguish dark/cool colors from bright/warm colors. The next colors to be distinguished are usually red and then yellow or green. All languages with six "basic" colors include black, white, red, green, blue, and yellow. The pattern holds up to a set of twelve: black, gray, white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and [[azure (color)|azure]] (distinct from blue in [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Italian language|Italian]], but not English).

==Unusual colors==

Some colors are objectively unusual or special. For example [[orpiment]] was a pigment used by painters in the 16th century, but is now considered dangerous due to arsenic. [[Sonoluminescence]] is a blue-purple created by the energy of sound waves from tiny bubbles in extreme experimental conditions, and was discovered in 1934. <ref name="davis"> [https://news.artnet.com/art-world/amazing-colors-tyler-thrasher-2525875 There Are So Many Amazing Colors You Don’t Even Know About!], by Ben Davis, August 20, 2024, Artnet website. </ref>

== See also ==
* [[Chromophore]]
* [[Color analysis]]
* [[Color in Chinese culture]]
* [[Color mapping]]
* [[Complementary colors]]
* [[Impossible color]]
* [[International Color Consortium]]
* [[International Commission on Illumination]]
* [[Lists of colors]] [[list of colors (compact)|(compact version)]]
* [[Neutral color]]
* [[Pearlescent coating]] including Metal effect pigments
* [[Pseudocolor]]
* [[Primary color|Primary]], [[secondary color|secondary]] and [[tertiary color]]s

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Britannica|id=126658|title=Color}}
* {{cite SEP|url-id=color|title=Color|last=Maund|first=Barry}}
* {{cite IEP|url-id=color|title=Color}}

{{Subject bar|auto=yes|Technology|Books|Electronics|Physics|Painting}}
{{Color topics}}
{{Photography}}
{{Color shades}}
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[[Category:Color| ]]
[[Category:Image processing]]
[[Category:Vision]]

Color

2024-09-30T09:25:34Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Color of objects */ Copyedited

{{Short description|Visual perception of the light spectrum}}
{{hatnote group|
{{Redirect|Colorful|other uses|Color (disambiguation)|and|Colorful (disambiguation)}}
}}
{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

[[File:Colouring pencils.jpg|thumb|300x300px|[[Colored pencil]]s]]

'''Color''' ([[American English]]) or '''colour''' ([[British English|British]] and [[Commonwealth English]]) is the [[visual perception]] based on the [[electromagnetic spectrum]]. Though color is not an inherent property of [[matter]], color perception is related to an object's [[light absorption]], [[reflectance|reflection]], [[emission spectra]], and [[wave interference|interference]]. For most humans, colors are perceived in the visible [[light]] spectrum with three types of [[cone cell]]s ([[trichromacy]]). Other animals may have a different number of cone cell types or have eyes sensitive to different wavelengths, such as bees that can distinguish [[ultraviolet]], and thus have a different color sensitivity range. Animal perception of color originates from different light [[wavelength]] or [[spectral sensitivity]] in cone cell types, which is then processed by the [[brain]].

Colors have perceived properties such as [[hue]], [[colorfulness]] (saturation), and [[luminance]]. Colors can also be [[additive color|additively mixed]] (commonly used for actual light) or [[subtractive color|subtractively mixed]] (commonly used for materials). If the colors are mixed in the right proportions, because of [[metamerism (color)|metamerism]], they may look the same as a single-wavelength light. For convenience, colors can be organized in a [[color space]], which when being abstracted as a mathematical [[color model]] can assign each region of color with a corresponding set of numbers. As such, color spaces are an essential tool for [[color reproduction]] in [[color printing|print]], [[color photography|photography]], computer monitors, and [[color television|television]]. The most well-known color models are [[RGB]], [[CMYK]], [[YUV]], [[HSL and HSV|HSL, and HSV]].

Because the perception of color is an important aspect of human life, different colors have been associated with [[emotion]]s, activity, and [[nationality]]. Names of [[color term|color regions]] in different cultures can have different, sometimes overlapping areas. In [[visual arts]], [[color theory]] is used to govern the use of colors in an [[aesthetics|aesthetically pleasing]] and [[harmony (color)|harmonious]] way. The theory of color includes the [[complementary colors|color complements]]; [[color balance]]; and classification of [[primary color]]s (traditionally [[red]], [[yellow]], [[blue]]), [[secondary color]]s (traditionally [[orange (colour)|orange]], [[green]], [[purple]]), and [[tertiary color]]s. The study of colors in general is called [[color science]].

== Physical properties ==
[[File:Visible spectrum 390-710 nm linear perceptual.svg|alt=gray fading to rainbow colors (red to violet), then fade back to gray|center|thumb|600x600px|The visible spectrum perceived from 390 to 710 nm [[wavelength]]]]
[[Electromagnetic radiation]] is characterized by its [[wavelength]] (or [[frequency]]) and its [[luminous intensity|intensity]]. When the wavelength is within the [[visible spectrum]] (the range of wavelengths humans can perceive, approximately from 390 [[nanometre|nm]] to 700 nm), it is known as "visible [[light]]".<ref name="Bettini">{{cite book |last1=Bettini |first1=Alessandro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip9xDQAAQBAJ&q=%22electromagnetic+waves%22+charges+accelerating&pg=PA95 |title=A Course in Classical Physics, Vol. 4 – Waves and Light |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-48329-0 |pages=95, 103}}</ref>

Most light sources emit light at many different wavelengths; a source's ''spectrum'' is a distribution giving its intensity at each wavelength. Although the spectrum of light arriving at the eye from a given direction determines the color [[wikt:sensation|sensation]] in that direction, there are many more possible spectral combinations than color sensations. In fact, one may formally define a color as a class of spectra that give rise to the same color sensation, although such classes would vary widely among different species, and to a lesser extent among individuals within the same species. In each such class, the members are called ''[[metamerism (color)|metamer]]s'' of the color in question. This effect can be visualized by comparing the light sources' [[spectral power distribution]]s and the resulting colors.

=== Spectral colors ===
{{main|Spectral color}}
The familiar colors of the [[rainbow]] in the [[visible spectrum|spectrum]]—named using the [[Latin]] word for ''appearance'' or ''apparition'' by [[Isaac Newton]] in 1671—include all those colors that can be produced by visible [[light]] of a single wavelength only, the [[spectral color|''pure spectral'' or ''monochromatic'' color]]s. The spectrum above shows approximate wavelengths (in [[nanometre|nm]]) for spectral colors in the visible range. Spectral colors have 100% [[colorfulness#Excitation purity|purity]], and are fully [[colorfulness|saturate]]d. A complex mixture of spectral colors can be used to describe any color, which is the definition of a light [[power spectrum]].

The spectral colors form a continuous spectrum, and how it is divided into [[color term|distinct colors linguistically]] is a matter of culture and historical contingency.<ref>[[Brent Berlin|Berlin, B.]] and [[Paul Kay|Kay, P.]], ''[[Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution]]'', Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1969.</ref> Despite the ubiquitous [[ROYGBIV]] mnemonic used to remember the spectral colors in English, the inclusion or exclusion of colors is contentious, with disagreement often focused on [[indigo#Classification as a spectral color|indigo]] and cyan.<ref>{{cite book|last=Waldman|first=Gary|title=Introduction to light: the physics of light, vision, and color|year=2002|publisher=Dover Publications|location=Mineola|isbn=978-0486421186|page=193|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbsoAXWbnr4C&pg=PA193}}</ref> Even if the subset of color terms is agreed, their wavelength ranges and borders between them may not be.

The ''intensity'' of a spectral color, relative to the context in which it is viewed, may alter its perception considerably. For example, a low-intensity orange-yellow is [[brown]], and a low-intensity yellow-green is [[olive green]]. Additionally, hue shifts towards yellow or blue happen if the intensity of a spectral light is increased; this is called [[Bezold–Brücke shift]]. In [[color models]] capable of representing spectral colors,<ref>{{cite web |title=Perceiving Color |url=http://courses.washington.edu/psy333/lecture_pdfs/chapter7_Color.pdf#page=72 |website=courses.washington.edu}}</ref> such as [[CIELUV]], a spectral color has the maximal saturation. In [[Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect#Helmholtz color coordinates|Helmholtz coordinates]], this is described as 100% [[Colorfulness#Excitation purity|purity]].

=== Color of objects ===

The physical color of an object depends on how it [[absorbance|absorb]]s and [[scattering|scatter]]s light. Most objects scatter light to some degree and do not reflect or transmit light [[specular]]ly like [[glass]]es or [[mirror]]s. A [[transparency (optics)|transparent]] object allows almost all light to [[transmittance|transmit]] or pass through, thus transparent objects are perceived as colorless. Conversely, an [[opacity (optics)|opaque]] object does not allow light to transmit through and instead absorbs or [[reflection (physics)|reflects]]ing the light it receives. Like transparent objects, [[translucent]] objects allow light to transmit through, but translucent objects are seen colored because they scatter or absorb certain wavelengths of light via internal scattering. The absorbed light is often dissipated as [[heat]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Berns |first=Roy S. |url= |title=Billmeyer and Saltzman's Principles of Color Technology |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |others=Fred W. Billmeyer, Max Saltzman |year=2019 |isbn=978-1119366683 |edition=4th |location=Hoboken, NJ |oclc=1080250734|pages=5–9, 12}}</ref>

== Color vision ==
{{main|Color vision}}

=== Development of theories of color vision ===
{{main|Color theory}}
[[File:Optical grey squares orange brown.svg|right|thumb|250px|The upper disk and the lower disk have exactly the same objective color, and are in identical gray surroundings; based on context differences, humans perceive the squares as having different reflectances, and may interpret the colors as different color categories; see [[checker shadow illusion]]]]
Although [[Aristotle]] and other ancient scientists had already written on the nature of light and [[color vision]], it was not until [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] that light was identified as the source of the color sensation. In 1810, [[Goethe]] published his comprehensive ''[[Theory of Colors]]'' in which he provided a rational description of color experience, which 'tells us how it originates, not what it is'. (Schopenhauer)

In 1801 [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]] proposed his [[trichromacy|trichromatic theory]], based on the observation that any color could be matched with a combination of three lights. This theory was later refined by [[James Clerk Maxwell]] and [[Hermann von Helmholtz]]. As Helmholtz puts it, "the principles of Newton's law of mixture were experimentally confirmed by Maxwell in 1856. Young's theory of color sensations, like so much else that this marvelous investigator achieved in advance of his time, remained unnoticed until Maxwell directed attention to it."<ref>Hermann von Helmholtz, ''Physiological Optics: The Sensations of Vision'', 1866, as translated in ''Sources of Color Science'', David L. MacAdam, ed., Cambridge: [[MIT Press]], 1970.</ref>

At the same time as Helmholtz, [[Ewald Hering]] developed the [[opponent process]] theory of color, noting that [[color blindness]] and afterimages typically come in opponent pairs (red-green, blue-orange, yellow-violet, and black-white). Ultimately these two theories were synthesized in 1957 by Hurvich and Jameson, who showed that retinal processing corresponds to the trichromatic theory, while processing at the level of the [[lateral geniculate nucleus]] corresponds to the opponent theory.<ref>Palmer, S.E. (1999). ''Vision Science: Photons to Phenomenology'', Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. {{ISBN|0262161834}}.</ref>

In 1931, an international group of experts known as the ''Commission internationale de l'éclairage'' ([[International Commission on Illumination|CIE]]) developed a mathematical color model, which mapped out the space of observable colors and assigned a set of three numbers to each.

=== Color in the eye ===
{{main|Color vision#Cone cells in the human eye}}
[[File:Cones SMJ2 E.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Normalized typical human [[cone cell]] responses (''S'', ''M'', and ''L types'') to monochromatic spectral stimuli]]

The ability of the [[human eye]] to distinguish colors is based upon the varying sensitivity of different cells in the [[retina]] to light of different [[wavelength]]s. Humans are [[trichromatic]]—the retina contains three types of color receptor cells, or [[cone cell|cone]]s. One type, relatively distinct from the other two, is most responsive to light that is perceived as blue or blue-violet, with wavelengths around 450 [[nanometre|nm]]; cones of this type are sometimes called ''short-wavelength cones'' or ''S cones'' (or misleadingly, ''blue cones''). The other two types are closely related genetically and chemically: ''middle-wavelength cones'', ''M cones'', or ''green cones'' are most sensitive to light perceived as green, with wavelengths around 540 nm, while the ''long-wavelength cones'', ''L cones'', or ''red cones'', are most sensitive to light that is perceived as greenish yellow, with wavelengths around 570 nm.

Light, no matter how complex its composition of wavelengths, is reduced to three color components by the eye. Each cone type adheres to the [[principle of univariance]], which is that each cone's output is determined by the amount of light that falls on it over all wavelengths. For each location in the visual field, the three types of cones yield three signals based on the extent to which each is stimulated. These amounts of stimulation are sometimes called ''tristimulus values''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Nicola Jones, Knowable |title=Color Is in the Eye, and Brain, of the Beholder |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/color-is-in-the-eye-and-brain-of-the-beholder/ |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref>

The response curve as a function of wavelength varies for each type of cone. Because the curves overlap, some tristimulus values do not occur for any incoming light combination. For example, it is not possible to stimulate ''only'' the mid-wavelength (so-called "green") cones; the other cones will inevitably be stimulated to some degree at the same time. The set of all possible tristimulus values determines the human ''color space''. It has been estimated that humans can distinguish roughly 10 million different colors.<ref name="business">{{cite book|last1=Judd|first1=Deane B.|title=Color in Business, Science and Industry|last2=Wyszecki|first2=Günter|publisher=[[Wiley-Interscience]]|year=1975|isbn=978-0471452126|edition=3rd|series=Wiley Series in Pure and Applied Optics|location=New York|page=388}}</ref>

The other type of light-sensitive cell in the eye, the [[rod cell|rod]], has a different response curve. In normal situations, when light is bright enough to strongly stimulate the cones, rods play virtually no role in vision at all.<ref>"Under well-lit viewing conditions (photopic vision), cones  ...are highly active and rods are inactive."{{cite conference|last=Hirakawa|first=K.|author2=Parks, T.W.|title=IEEE International Conference on Image Processing 2005|chapter=Chromatic Adaptation and White-Balance Problem|conference=IEEE ICIP|year=2005|pages=iii-984|doi=10.1109/ICIP.2005.1530559|isbn=0780391349|chapter-url=http://www.accidentalmark.com/research/papers/Hirakawa05WBICIP.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128184104/http://www.accidentalmark.com/research/papers/Hirakawa05WBICIP.pdf|archive-date=November 28, 2006}}</ref> On the other hand, in dim light, the cones are understimulated leaving only the signal from the rods, resulting in a [[black-and-white|colorless]] response (furthermore, the rods are barely sensitive to light in the "red" range). In certain conditions of intermediate illumination, the rod response and a weak cone response can together result in color discriminations not accounted for by cone responses alone. These effects, combined, are summarized also in the [[Kruithof curve]], which describes the change of color perception and pleasingness of light as a function of temperature and intensity.

=== Color in the brain ===
{{main|Color vision#Color in the primate brain}}

While the mechanisms of [[color vision]] at the level of the [[retina]] are well-described in terms of tristimulus values, color processing after that point is organized differently. A dominant theory of color vision proposes that color information is transmitted out of the eye by three [[opponent process]]es, or opponent channels, each constructed from the raw output of the cones: a red–green channel, a blue–yellow channel, and a black–white "luminance" channel. This theory has been supported by neurobiology, and accounts for the structure of our subjective color experience. Specifically, it explains why humans cannot perceive a "reddish green" or "yellowish blue", and it predicts the [[color wheel]]: it is the collection of colors for which at least one of the two color channels measures a value at one of its extremes.

The exact nature of color perception beyond the processing already described, and indeed the status of color as a feature of the perceived world or rather as a feature of our ''perception'' of the world—a type of [[qualia]]—is a matter of complex and continuing philosophical dispute.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Ventral-dorsal streams.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|The visual [[two-streams hypothesis#Dorsal stream|dorsal stream]] (green) and [[ventral stream]] (purple) are shown; the ventral stream is responsible for color perception]]
From the V1 blobs, color information is sent to cells in the second visual area, V2. The cells in V2 that are most strongly color tuned are clustered in the "thin stripes" that, like the blobs in V1, stain for the enzyme cytochrome oxidase (separating the thin stripes are interstripes and thick stripes, which seem to be concerned with other visual information like motion and high-resolution form). Neurons in V2 then synapse onto cells in the extended V4. This area includes not only V4, but two other areas in the posterior inferior temporal cortex, anterior to area V3, the dorsal posterior inferior temporal cortex, and posterior TEO.<ref name="Conway_2007">{{cite journal |vauthors=Conway BR, Moeller S, Tsao DY |date=November 2007 |title=Specialized color modules in macaque extrastriate cortex |url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/100800/ |journal=Neuron |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=560–73 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2007.10.008 |pmc=8162777 |pmid=17988638 |s2cid=11724926 |access-date=2023-12-08 |archive-date=2022-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010104403/https://authors.library.caltech.edu/100800/ |url-status=dead |issn = 0896-6273}}</ref><ref name="Conway_2009">{{cite journal |vauthors=Conway BR, Tsao DY |date=October 2009 |title=Color-tuned neurons are spatially clustered according to color preference within alert macaque posterior inferior temporal cortex |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=106 |issue=42 |pages=18034–9 |bibcode=2009PNAS..10618034C |doi=10.1073/pnas.0810943106 |pmc=2764907 |pmid=19805195 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Area V4 was initially suggested by [[Semir Zeki]] to be exclusively dedicated to color,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zeki SM |date=April 1973 |title=Colour coding in rhesus monkey prestriate cortex |journal=Brain Research |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=422–7 |doi=10.1016/0006-8993(73)90227-8 |pmid=4196224}}</ref> and he later showed that V4 can be subdivided into subregions with very high concentrations of color cells separated from each other by zones with lower concentration of such cells though even the latter cells respond better to some wavelengths than to others,<ref name="Zeki_1983">{{cite journal |vauthors=Zeki S |date=March 1983 |title=The distribution of wavelength and orientation selective cells in different areas of monkey visual cortex |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=217 |issue=1209 |pages=449–70 |bibcode=1983RSPSB.217..449Z |doi=10.1098/rspb.1983.0020 |pmid=6134287 |s2cid=39700958}}</ref> a finding confirmed by subsequent studies.<ref name="Conway_2007" /><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bushnell BN, Harding PJ, Kosai Y, Bair W, Pasupathy A |date=August 2011 |title=Equiluminance cells in visual cortical area v4 |journal=The Journal of Neuroscience |volume=31 |issue=35 |pages=12398–412 |doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1890-11.2011 |pmc=3171995 |pmid=21880901}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Tanigawa H, Lu HD, Roe AW |date=December 2010 |title=Functional organization for color and orientation in macaque V4 |journal=Nature Neuroscience |volume=13 |issue=12 |pages=1542–8 |doi=10.1038/nn.2676 |pmc=3005205 |pmid=21076422}}</ref> The presence in V4 of orientation-selective cells led to the view that V4 is involved in processing both color and form associated with color<ref name="Zeki_2005">{{cite journal |vauthors=Zeki S |date=June 2005 |title=The Ferrier Lecture 1995 behind the seen: the functional specialization of the brain in space and time |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=360 |issue=1458 |pages=1145–83 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2005.1666 |pmc=1609195 |pmid=16147515}}</ref> but it is worth noting that the orientation selective cells within V4 are more broadly tuned than their counterparts in V1, V2, and V3.<ref name="Zeki_1983" /> Color processing in the extended V4 occurs in millimeter-sized color modules called [[Glob (visual system)|globs]].<ref name="Conway_2007" /><ref name="Conway_2009" /> This is the part of the brain in which color is first processed into the full range of [[hue]]s found in [[color space]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zeki |first=S. |date=1980 |title=The representation of colours in the cerebral cortex |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/284412a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=284 |issue=5755 |pages=412–418 |bibcode=1980Natur.284..412Z |doi=10.1038/284412a0 |issn=1476-4687 |pmid=6767195 |s2cid=4310049}}</ref><ref name="Conway_2007" /><ref name="Conway_2009" />

=== Nonstandard color perception ===

==== Color vision deficiency ====
{{main|Color blindness}}
A color vision deficiency causes an individual to perceive a smaller [[gamut]] of colors than the standard observer with normal color vision. The effect can be mild, having lower "color resolution" (i.e. [[anomalous trichromacy]]), moderate, lacking an entire dimension or channel of color (e.g. [[dichromacy]]), or complete, lacking all color perception (i.e. [[monochromacy]]). Most forms of color blindness derive from one or more of the three classes of cone cells either being missing, having a shifted [[spectral sensitivity]] or having lower responsiveness to incoming light. In addition, [[cerebral achromatopsia]] is caused by neural anomalies in those parts of the brain where visual processing takes place.

Some colors that appear distinct to an individual with normal color vision will appear [[metamerism (color)|metameric]] to the color blind. The most common form of color blindness is [[congenital red–green color blindness]], affecting ~8% of males. Individuals with the strongest form of this condition ([[dichromacy]]) will experience blue and purple, green and yellow, teal, and gray as colors of confusion, i.e. metamers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Flück |first1=Daniel |title=Colorblind colors of confusion |url=https://www.color-blindness.com/2009/01/19/colorblind-colors-of-confusion/ |website=Colblindor |date=19 January 2009 |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref>

==== Tetrachromacy ====
{{main|Tetrachromacy}}
Outside of humans, which are mostly ''trichromatic'' (having three types of cones), most mammals are dichromatic, possessing only two cones. However, outside of mammals, most vertebrates are ''[[tetrachromatic]]'', having four types of cones. This includes most [[bird]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Andrew T. D. |last2=Cuthill |first2=Innes C. |last3=Partridge |first3=Julian C. |last4=Maier |first4=Erhard J. |year=1996 |title=Ultraviolet vision and mate choice in zebra finches |journal=Nature |volume=380 |issue=6573 |pages=433–435 |bibcode=1996Natur.380..433B |doi=10.1038/380433a0 |s2cid=4347875}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Andrew T. D. |last2=Théry |first2=Marc |year=2007 |title=Avian Color Vision and Coloration: Multidisciplinary Evolutionary Biology |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02889396/file/Bennett%20%26%20Thery%20Am%20Nat%202007.pdf |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=169 |issue=S1 |pages=S1–S6 |doi=10.1086/510163 |issn=0003-0147 |jstor=510163 |s2cid=2484928}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cuthill |first1=Innes C. |title=Ultraviolet Vision in Birds |last2=Partridge |first2=Julian C. |last3=Bennett |first3=Andrew T. D. |last4=Church |first4=Stuart C. |last5=Hart |first5=Nathan S. |last6=Hunt |first6=Sarah |date=2000 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-004529-7 |editor1-last=J. B. Slater |editor1-first=Peter |series=Advances in the Study of Behavior |volume=29 |page=159 |doi=10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60105-9 |editor2-last=Rosenblatt |editor2-first=Jay S. |editor3-last=Snowdon |editor3-first=Charles T. |editor4-last=Roper |editor4-first=Timothy J.}}</ref> [[reptile]]s, [[amphibian]]s, and [[teleost|bony fish]].<ref name="Bowm1">{{cite journal |last1=Bowmaker |first1=James K. |date=September 2008 |title=Evolution of vertebrate visual pigments |journal=Vision Research |volume=48 |issue=20 |pages=2022–2041 |doi=10.1016/j.visres.2008.03.025 |pmid=18590925 |s2cid=52808112 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Vorobyev |first=M. |date=November 1998 |title=Tetrachromacy, oil droplets and bird plumage colours |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology A |volume=183 |issue=5 |pages=621–33 |doi=10.1007/s003590050286 |pmid=9839454 |s2cid=372159}}</ref> An extra dimension of color vision means these vertebrates can see two distinct colors that a normal human would view as [[metamerism (color)|metamer]]s. Some invertebrates, such as the [[mantis shrimp]], have an even higher number of cones (12) that could lead to a richer color [[gamut]] than even imaginable by humans.

The existence of human tetrachromats is a contentious notion. As many as [[tetrachromacy#Tetrachromacy in carriers of CVD|half of all human females have 4 distinct cone classes]], which could enable tetrachromacy.<ref name="Jameson">{{cite journal|last1=Jameson|first1=K.A.|last2=Highnote|first2=S.M.|last3=Wasserman|first3=L.M.|year=2001|title=Richer color experience in observers with multiple photopigment opsin genes.|doi=10.3758/BF03196159|journal=Psychonomic Bulletin and Review|volume=8|issue=2|pages=244–261 [256]|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03196159.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220637/http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03196159.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-04 |url-status=live|pmid=11495112|s2cid=2389566|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, a distinction must be made between ''retinal'' (or ''weak'') ''tetrachromats'', which express four cone classes in the retina, and ''functional'' (or ''strong'') ''tetrachromats'', which are able to make the enhanced color discriminations expected of tetrachromats. In fact, there is only one peer-reviewed report of a functional tetrachromat.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jordan|first1=G.|last2=Deeb|first2=S.S.|last3=Bosten|first3=J.M.|last4=Mollon|first4=J.D.|title=The dimensionality of color vision in carriers of anomalous trichromacy|journal=Journal of Vision|date=20 July 2010|volume=10|issue=8|page=12|doi=10.1167/10.8.12|pmid=20884587|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is estimated that while the average person is able to see one million colors, someone with functional tetrachromacy could see a hundred million colors.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kershner|first=Kate|title=Lucky Tetrachromats See World With Up to 100 Million Colors|date=26 July 2016|url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/lucky-tetrachromats-see-world-100-million-colors.htm|access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref>

==== Synesthesia ====
{{main|Synesthesia}}

In certain forms of [[synesthesia]], perceiving letters and numbers ([[grapheme–color synesthesia]]) or hearing sounds ([[chromesthesia]]) will evoke a perception of color. Behavioral and [[functional neuroimaging]] experiments have demonstrated that these color experiences lead to changes in behavioral tasks and lead to increased activation of brain regions involved in color perception, thus demonstrating their reality, and similarity to real color percepts, albeit evoked through a non-standard route. Synesthesia can occur genetically, with 4% of the population having variants associated with the condition. Synesthesia has also been known to occur with brain damage, drugs, and sensory deprivation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brang|first1=David|title=Survival of the Synesthesia Gene: Why Do People Hear Colors and Taste Words?|journal=PLOS Biology|date=22 November 2011|volume=9|issue=11|pages=e1001205|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001205|pmid=22131906|pmc=3222625|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The philosopher Pythagoras experienced synesthesia and provided one of the first written accounts of the condition in approximately 550 BCE. He created mathematical equations for musical notes that could form part of a scale, such as an octave.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Brief History of Synesthesia in the Arts|url=http://www.daysyn.com/history.html|access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref>

=== Afterimages ===
{{main|Afterimage}}

After exposure to strong light in their sensitivity range, [[photoreceptor cell|photoreceptor]]s of a given type become desensitized.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gersztenkorn |first1=D |last2=Lee |first2=AG |date=Jul 2, 2014 |title=Palinopsia revamped: A systematic review of the literature. |journal=Survey of Ophthalmology |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=1–35 |doi=10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.06.003 |pmid=25113609}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bender |first1=MB |last2=Feldman |first2=M |last3=Sobin |first3=AJ |date=Jun 1968 |title=Palinopsia. |journal=Brain: A Journal of Neurology |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=321–38 |doi=10.1093/brain/91.2.321 |pmid=5721933}}</ref> For a few seconds after the light ceases, they will continue to signal less strongly than they otherwise would. Colors observed during that period will appear to lack the color component detected by the desensitized photoreceptors. This effect is responsible for the phenomenon of [[afterimage]]s, in which the eye may continue to see a bright figure after looking away from it, but in a [[complementary color]]. Afterimage effects have also been used by artists, including [[Vincent van Gogh]].

=== Color constancy ===
{{main|Color constancy}}
When an artist uses a limited [[color palette]], the human [[visual system]] tends to compensate by seeing any gray or neutral color as the color which is missing from the color wheel. For example, in a limited palette consisting of red, yellow, black, and white, a mixture of yellow and black will appear as a variety of green, a mixture of red and black will appear as a variety of purple, and pure gray will appear bluish.<ref>{{cite web|last=Depauw|first=Robert C.|title=United States Patent|url=http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT3815265&id=tSEzAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=mixing+paint+colors&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=mixing%20paint%20colors&f=false|access-date=20 March 2011|archive-date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106111021/http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT3815265&id=tSEzAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=mixing+paint+colors&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=mixing%20paint%20colors&f=false|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The trichromatic theory is strictly true when the visual system is in a fixed state of adaptation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walters |first=H. V. |date=1942 |title=Some Experiments on the Trichromatic Theory of Vision |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/82365 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=131 |issue=862 |pages=27–50 |doi=10.1098/rspb.1942.0016 |jstor=82365 |bibcode=1942RSPSB.131...27W |s2cid=120320368 |issn=0080-4649}}</ref> In reality, the visual system is constantly adapting to changes in the environment and compares the various colors in a scene to reduce the effects of the illumination. If a scene is illuminated with one light, and then with another, as long as the difference between the light sources stays within a reasonable range, the colors in the scene appear relatively constant to us. This was studied by [[Edwin H. Land]] in the 1970s and led to his retinex theory of [[color constancy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edwin H. Land {{!}} Optica |url=https://www.optica.org/History/Biographies/bios/Edwin-H--Land |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=www.optica.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Campbell |first=F. W. |date=1994 |title=Edwin Herbert Land. 7 May 1909-1 March 1991 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/770305 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=40 |pages=197–219 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1994.0035 |jstor=770305 |s2cid=72500555 |issn=0080-4606}}</ref>

Both phenomena are readily explained and mathematically modeled with modern theories of chromatic adaptation and color appearance (e.g. [[CIECAM02]], iCAM).<ref name="CAM">M.D. Fairchild, [http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470012161.html Color Appearance Models] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505034940/http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470012161.html|date=May 5, 2011}}, 2nd Ed., Wiley, Chichester (2005).</ref> There is no need to dismiss the trichromatic theory of vision, but rather it can be enhanced with an understanding of how the visual system adapts to changes in the viewing environment.

== Reproduction ==
{{main|Color reproduction}}
[[File:CIE chromaticity diagram 2012 version.png|thumb|upright=1.25|The [[CIE 1931 color space]] xy [[chromaticity]] diagram with the visual locus plotted using the CIE (2006) physiologically relevant LMS fundamental color matching functions transformed into the CIE 1931 xy [[color space]] and converted into [[Adobe RGB]]; the triangle shows the [[gamut]] of Adobe RGB, the [[Planckian locus]] is shown with color temperatures labeled in [[Kelvin]]s, the outer curved boundary is the spectral (or monochromatic) locus, with wavelengths shown in nanometers, the colors in this file are being specified using Adobe RGB, areas outside the triangle cannot be accurately rendered since they are outside the gamut of Adobe RGB, therefore they have been interpreted, the colors depicted depend on the gamut and color accuracy of your display]]

Color reproduction is the science of creating colors for the human eye that faithfully represent the desired color. It focuses on how to construct a spectrum of wavelengths that will best evoke a certain color in an observer. Most colors are not [[#Spectral colors|spectral color]]s, meaning they are mixtures of various wavelengths of light. However, these non-spectral colors are often described by their [[dominant wavelength]], which identifies the single wavelength of light that produces a sensation most similar to the non-spectral color. Dominant wavelength is roughly akin to [[hue]].

There are many color perceptions that by definition cannot be pure spectral colors due to [[colorfulness|desaturation]] or because they are [[purple]]s (mixtures of red and violet light, from opposite ends of the spectrum). Some examples of necessarily non-spectral colors are the achromatic colors ([[black]], [[gray]], and [[white]]) and colors such as [[pink]], [[tan (color)|tan]], and [[magenta]].

Two different light spectra that have the same effect on the three color receptors in the human eye will be perceived as the same color. They are [[metamerism (color)|metamer]]s of that color. This is exemplified by the white light emitted by fluorescent lamps, which typically has a spectrum of a few narrow bands, while daylight has a continuous spectrum. The human eye cannot tell the difference between such light spectra just by looking into the light source, although the [[color rendering index]] of each light source may affect the color of objects illuminated by these metameric light sources.

Similarly, most human color perceptions can be generated by a mixture of three colors called ''primaries''. This is used to reproduce color scenes in photography, printing, television, and other media. There are a number of methods or [[color space]]s for specifying a color in terms of three particular [[primary color]]s. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the particular application.

No mixture of colors, however, can produce a response truly identical to that of a spectral color, although one can get close, especially for the longer wavelengths, where the [[CIE 1931 color space]] chromaticity diagram has a nearly straight edge. For example, mixing green light (530 nm) and blue light (460 nm) produces cyan light that is slightly desaturated, because response of the red color receptor would be greater to the green and blue light in the mixture than it would be to a pure cyan light at 485 nm that has the same intensity as the mixture of blue and green.

Because of this, and because the ''primaries'' in [[color printing]] systems generally are not pure themselves, the colors reproduced are never perfectly saturated spectral colors, and so spectral colors cannot be matched exactly. However, natural scenes rarely contain fully saturated colors, thus such scenes can usually be approximated well by these systems. The range of colors that can be reproduced with a given color reproduction system is called the [[gamut]]. The [[International Commission on Illumination|CIE]] chromaticity diagram can be used to describe the gamut.

Another problem with color reproduction systems is connected with the initial measurement of color, or [[colorimetry]]. The characteristics of the color sensors in measurement devices (e.g. cameras, scanners) are often very far from the characteristics of the receptors in the human eye.

A color reproduction system "tuned" to a human with normal color vision may give very inaccurate results for other observers, according to color vision deviations to the standard observer.

The different color response of different devices can be problematic if not properly managed. For color information stored and transferred in digital form, [[color management]] techniques, such as those based on [[ICC profile]]s, can help to avoid distortions of the reproduced colors. Color management does not circumvent the gamut limitations of particular output devices, but can assist in finding good mapping of input colors into the gamut that can be reproduced.

=== Additive coloring ===
[[File:AdditiveColor.svg|thumb|Additive color mixing: combining red and green yields yellow; combining all three primary colors together yields white]]
[[Additive color]] is light created by mixing together [[light]] of two or more different colors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=MacEvoy |first1=Bruce |title=handprint : colormaking attributes |url=https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color5.html#theoryadd |access-date=26 February 2019 |website=www.handprint.com}}</ref><ref name="briggs">{{cite web |author=David Briggs |year=2007 |title=The Dimensions of Color |url=http://www.huevaluechroma.com/044.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928031404/http://www.huevaluechroma.com/044.php |archive-date=2015-09-28 |access-date=2011-11-23}}</ref> [[Red]], [[green]], and [[blue]] are the additive [[primary color]]s normally used in additive color systems such as projectors, televisions, and computer terminals.

=== Subtractive coloring ===
[[File:SubtractiveColor.svg|thumb|Subtractive color mixing: combining yellow and magenta yields red; combining all three primary colors together yields black]]
[[File:Color Classification.jpg|thumb|Twelve main pigment colors]]
[[Subtractive color]]ing uses dyes, inks, pigments, or filters to absorb some wavelengths of light and not others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Molecular Expressions Microscopy Primer: Physics of Light and Color – Introduction to the Primary Colors |url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/primarycolorsintro.html |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=micro.magnet.fsu.edu}}</ref> The color that a surface displays comes from the parts of the visible spectrum that are not absorbed and therefore remain visible. Without pigments or dye, fabric fibers, paint base and paper are usually made of particles that scatter white light (all colors) well in all directions. When a pigment or ink is added, wavelengths are absorbed or "subtracted" from white light, so light of another color reaches the eye.

If the light is not a pure white source (the case of nearly all forms of artificial lighting), the resulting spectrum will appear a slightly different color. [[Red]] paint, viewed under [[blue]] light, may appear [[black]]. Red paint is red because it scatters only the red components of the spectrum. If red paint is illuminated by blue light, it will be absorbed by the red paint, creating the appearance of a black object.

The subtractive model also predicts the color resulting from a mixture of paints, or similar medium such as fabric dye, whether applied in layers or mixed together prior to application. In the case of paint mixed before application, incident light interacts with many different pigment particles at various depths inside the paint layer before emerging.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williamson |first1=Samuel J |title=Light and Color in Nature and Art |last2=Cummins |first2=Herman Z |date=1983 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |isbn=0-471-08374-7 |location=New York |pages=28–30 |quote="Thus subtractive color mixing laws that successfully describe how light is altered by nonspectral filters also describes how light is altered by pigments."}}</ref>

=== Structural color ===
{{further|Structural coloration|Animal coloration}}
Structural colors are colors caused by interference effects rather than by pigments. Color effects are produced when a material is scored with fine parallel lines, formed of one or more parallel thin layers, or otherwise composed of microstructures on the scale of the color's [[wavelength]]. If the microstructures are spaced randomly, light of shorter wavelengths will be scattered preferentially to produce [[Tyndall effect]] colors: the blue of the sky (Rayleigh scattering, caused by structures much smaller than the wavelength of light, in this case, air molecules), the luster of [[opal]]s, and the blue of human irises. If the microstructures are aligned in arrays, for example, the array of pits in a CD, they behave as a [[diffraction grating]]: the grating reflects different wavelengths in different directions due to [[wave interference|interference]] phenomena, separating mixed "white" light into light of different wavelengths. If the structure is one or more thin layers then it will reflect some wavelengths and transmit others, depending on the layers' thickness.

Structural color is studied in the field of [[thin-film optics]]. The most ordered or the most changeable structural colors are [[iridescent]]. Structural color is responsible for the blues and greens of the feathers of many birds (the blue jay, for example), as well as certain butterfly wings and beetle shells. Variations in the pattern's spacing often give rise to an iridescent effect, as seen in [[peacock]] feathers, [[soap bubble]]s, films of oil, and [[mother of pearl]], because the reflected color depends upon the viewing angle. Numerous scientists have carried out research in butterfly wings and beetle shells, including Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke. Since 1942, [[electron microscope|electron micrography]] has been used, advancing the development of products that exploit structural color, such as "[[photonic]]" cosmetics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/events/FSS/2006/science.aspx?ComponentId=14867&SourcePageId=14865|title=Economic and Social Research Council: Science in the Dock, Art in the Stocks|access-date=2007-10-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102025015/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/events/FSS/2006/science.aspx?ComponentId=14867&SourcePageId=14865|archive-date=November 2, 2007}}</ref>

== Optimal colors ==

The [[gamut]] of the [[human color vision]] is bounded by optimal colors. They are the most chromatic colors that humans are able to see.

The [[Emission spectrum|emission]] or [[reflectance spectrum]] of a color is the amount of light of each wavelength that it emits or reflects, in proportion to a given maximum, which has the value of 1 (100%). If the emission or reflectance spectrum of a color is 0 (0%) or 1 (100%) across the entire visible spectrum, and it has no more than two transitions between 0 and 1, or 1 and 0, then it is an optimal color. With the current state of technology, we are unable to produce any material or pigment with these properties.<ref name="sch">{{cite journal |last=Schrödinger |first=Erwin |year=1919 |title=Theorie der Pigmente größter Leuchtkraft |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1424357 |journal=Annalen der Physik |volume=367 |issue=15 |pages=603–622 |bibcode=1920AnP...367..603S |doi=10.1002/andp.19203671504}}</ref>

Thus, four types of "optimal color" spectra are possible: In the first, the transition goes from 0 at both ends of the spectrum to 1 in the middle, as shown in the image at right. In the second, it goes from 1 at the ends to 0 in the middle. In the third type, it starts at 1 at the red end of the spectrum, and it changes to 0 at a given wavelength. In the fourth type, it starts at 0 in the red end of the spectrum, and it changes to 1 at a given wavelength. The first type produces colors that are similar to the [[spectral colors]] and follow roughly the horseshoe-shaped portion of the [[Chromaticity diagram#The CIE xy chromaticity diagram|CIE xy chromaticity diagram]] (the [[spectral locus]]), but are generally more [[colorfulness|chromatic]], although less [[Visible spectrum|spectrally]] pure. The second type produces colors that are similar to (but generally more chromatic and less spectrally pure than) the colors on the straight line in the CIE xy chromaticity diagram (the "[[line of purples]]"), leading to [[magenta]] or [[purple]]-like colors. The third type produces the colors located in the "warm" sharp edge of the optimal color solid (this will be explained later in the article). The fourth type produces the colors located in the "cold" sharp edge of the optimal color solid.

[[File:Rechteckspektrum_sRGB.svg|right|thumb|268x268px|Spectrum of a color-optimal reflective material. There is no known material with these properties, they are, for what we know, only theoretical<ref name="thi">{{cite journal |last1=Koenderink |first1=Jan |last2=van Doorn |first2=Andrea J. |last3=Gegenfurtner |first3=Karl |year=2021 |title=RGB Colors and Ecological Optics |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351231527 |journal=Frontiers in Computer Science |volume=3 |doi=10.3389/fcomp.2021.630370 |doi-access=free }}</ref>]]

The optimal [[color solid]], [[Siegfried Rösch|Rösch]]–[[David MacAdam|MacAdam]] color solid, or simply visible [[gamut]], is a type of color solid that contains all the colors that [[Human color vision|humans are able to see]]. The optimal color solid is bounded by the set of all optimal colors.<ref name="new">{{cite journal |last1=Perales |first1=Esther |last2=Mora Estevan |first2=Teresa |last3=Viqueira Pérez |first3=Valentin |last4=de Fez |first4=Dolores |last5=Gilabert Pérez |first5=Eduardo José |last6=Martínez-Verdú |first6=Francisco M. |year=2005 |title=A new algorithm for calculating the MacAdam limits for any luminance factor, hue angle and illuminant |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/39435417 |journal=Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante }}</ref>

In optimal color solids, the colors of the visible spectrum are theoretically black, because their emission or reflection spectrum is 1 (100%) in only one wavelength, and 0 in all of the other infinite visible wavelengths that there are, meaning that they have a lightness of 0 with respect to white, and will also have 0 chroma, but, of course, 100% of spectral purity. In short: In optimal color solids, spectral colors are equivalent to black (0% lightness, 0 chroma), but have full spectral purity (they are located in the horseshoe-shaped spectral locus of the chromaticiy diagram).<ref name="thi" />

In linear color spaces that contain all colors visible by humans, such as [[LMS color space|LMS]] or [[CIE 1931 XYZ]], the set of [[half-line (geometry)|half-lines]] that start at the origin (black, (0, 0, 0)) and pass through all the points that represent the colors of the visible spectrum, and the portion of a plane that passes through the violet half-line and the red half-line (both ends of the visible spectrum), generate the "spectrum cone". The black point (coordinates (0, 0, 0)) of the optimal color solid (and only the black point) is tangent to the "spectrum cone", and the white point (1, 1, 1) (only the white point) is tangent to the "inverted spectrum cone", with the "inverted spectrum cone" being [[symmetrical]] to the "spectrum cone" with respect to the middle [[gray]] point (0.5, 0.5, 0.5). This means that, in linear color spaces, the optimal color solid is centrally symmetric.<ref name="thi" />

In most color spaces, the surface of the optimal color solid is smooth, except for two points (black and white); and two sharp edges: the "[[Heat|warm]]" edge, which goes from black, to [[red]], to [[Orange (colour)|orange]], to [[yellow]], to white; and the "[[cold]]" edge, which goes from [[black]], to deep [[Violet (color)|violet]], to [[blue]], to [[cyan]], to [[white]]. This is due to the following: If the portion of the emission or reflection spectrum of a color is spectral red (which is located at one end of the spectrum), it will be seen as black. If the size of the portion of total emission or reflectance is increased, now covering from the red end of the spectrum to the yellow wavelengths, it will be seen as red or orange. If the portion is expanded more, covering the green wavelengths, it will be seen as yellow. If it is expanded even more, it will cover more wavelengths than the yellow [[Color solid#Maximum chroma colors, semichromes, or full colors|semichrome]] does, approaching white, until it is reached when the full spectrum is emitted or reflected. The described process is called "cumulation". Cumulation can be started at either end of the visible spectrum (we just described cumulation starting from the red end of the spectrum, generating the "warm" sharp edge), cumulation starting at the violet end of the spectrum will generate the "cold" sharp edge.<ref name="thi" />

[[File:Visible gamut within CIELUV color space D65 whitepoint mesh.webm|thumb|[[Color solid]] of the entire [[human eye]] [[color vision]] [[gamut]] (the optimal color solid) plotted within the [[CIELUV color space|CIE L* u* v* color space]], with [[Illuminant D65|D65]] [[white point]]; because it is approximately [[perceptually uniform]], it has an irregular, not [[spherical]], shape, notice that it has two sharp edges, one with warm colors, and the other one with cold colors|200x200px]]

=== Maximum chroma colors, semichromes, or full colors ===
Each hue has a maximum chroma color, also known as maximum chroma point, semichrome, or full color; there are no colors of that hue with a higher chroma. They are the most chromatic, vibrant optimal colors (and thus the most vibrant colors that we are able to see). Although we are, for now, unable to produce them, these are the colors that would be located in an ideal color wheel. They were called '''semichromes''' or '''full colors''' by the German chemist and philosopher [[Wilhelm Ostwald]] in the early 20th century.<ref name="thi" /><ref name="Ost">{{cite journal |last1=Liberini |first1=Simone |last2=Rizzi |first2=Alessandro |year=2023 |title=Munsell and Ostwald colour spaces: A comparison in the field of hair colouring |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/col.22818|journal=Color Research and Application|volume=48 |pages=6–20 |doi=10.1002/col.22818 |hdl=2434/940227 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

If B is the complementary wavelength of wavelength A, then the straight line that connects A and B passes through the achromatic axis in a linear color space, such as LMS or CIE 1931 XYZ. If the emission or reflection spectrum of a color is 1 (100%) for all the wavelengths between A and B, and 0 for all the wavelengths in the other [[half]] of the color space, then that color is a maximum chroma color, semichrome, or full color (this is the explanation to why they were called ''semi''chromes). So maximum chroma colors are a type of optimal colors.<ref name="thi" /><ref name="Ost" />

As explained, full colors are physically (not perceptually) far from being spectral colors. If the spectral purity of a maximum chroma color is increased, its [[colorfulness|chroma]] will decrease, because it will approach the visible spectrum, ergo, it will approach black.<ref name="thi" />

In perceptually uniform color spaces, the lightness of the full colors varies from around 30% in the [[Violet (color)|violetish]] [[blue]] hues, to around 90% in the [[yellow]]ish hues. The chroma of each maximum chroma point also varies depending on the hue; in optimal color solids plotted in perceptually uniform color spaces, semichromes like [[red]], [[green]], [[blue]], [[Violet (color)|violet]], and [[magenta]] have a high chroma, while semichromes like [[yellow]], [[Orange (color)|orange]], and [[cyan]] have a slightly lower chroma.

[[File:Munsell 5 PB 5Y.png|thumb|Slice of the Munsell color space in the hues of 5PB and 5Y; the point farthest from the achromatic axis in each of these two hue slices is the maximum chroma color, semichrome, or full color of that hue|200x200px]]

In color spaces such as the [[HSL color space]], the maximum chroma colors are located around the equator at the periphery of the [[color solid]]. This makes color solids with a spherical shape inherently non-[[perceptually uniform]], since they imply that all full colors have a [[lightness]] of 50%, when, as humans perceive them, there are full colors with a lightness from around 30% to around 90%. A perceptually uniform color solid has an irregular shape.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.huevaluechroma.com/081.php | title=The Dimensions of Colour, lightness, value }}</ref><ref>Munsell (1912), [https://books.google.com/books?id=FdQLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA239 p. 239]</ref>

== Cultural perspective ==
The meanings and associations of colors can play a major role in works of art, including literature.<ref name="Westfahl2005">{{cite book |first=Gary |last=Westfahl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQMQQyIaACYC&pg=PA142 |title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2005 |isbn=978-0313329517 |pages=142–143}}</ref>

=== Associations ===
Individual colors have a variety of cultural associations such as [[national colors]] (in general described in individual color articles and [[color symbolism]]). The field of [[color psychology]] attempts to identify the effects of color on human emotion and activity. [[Chromotherapy]] is a form of [[alternative medicine]] attributed to various Eastern traditions. Colors have different associations in different countries and cultures.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chart: Color Meanings by Culture |url=http://www.globalization-group.com/edge/resources/color-meanings-by-culture/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20101012003744/http://www.globalization-group.com/edge/resources/color-meanings-by-culture/ |archive-date=2010-10-12 |access-date=2010-06-29}}</ref>

Different colors have been demonstrated to have effects on cognition. For example, researchers at the University of Linz in Austria demonstrated that the color red significantly decreases cognitive functioning in men.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dzulkifli |first1=Mariam |last2=Mustafar |first2=Muhammad |year=2013 |title=The Influence of Colour on Memory Performance: A Review |journal=The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=3–9 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.010|s2cid=17764339 }}</ref> The combination of the colors red and yellow together can induce hunger, which has been capitalized on by a number of chain restaurants.<ref>{{cite web |title=There's a sneaky reason why you always see red and yellow on fast food logos |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-colors-make-you-hungry-2018-9?r=MX&IR=T#:~:text=There's%20a%20sneaky%20reason%20why,yellow%20on%20fast%20food%20logos&text=Fast%20food%20chains%2C%20from%20McDonald's,feel%20more%20hungry%20and%20impulsive. |access-date=2022-02-09 |website=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref>

Color plays a role in memory development too. A photograph that is in black and white is slightly less memorable than one in color.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gnambs |first1=Timo |last2=Appel |first2=Markus |last3=Batinic |first3=Bernad |year=2010 |title=Color red in web-based knowledge testing |journal=Computers in Human Behavior |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=1625–1631 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.010|s2cid=17764339 }}</ref> Studies also show that wearing bright colors makes you more memorable to people you meet.

=== Terminology ===
{{main|Color term}}
{{see also|Lists of colors|Web colors}}
Colors vary in several different ways, including [[hue]] (shades of [[red]], [[orange (colour)|orange]], [[yellow]], [[green]], [[blue]], and [[violet (color)|violet]], etc.), [[colorfulness|saturation]], [[brightness]]. Some color words are derived from the name of an object of that color, such as "[[orange (colour)|orange]]" or "[[salmon (color)|salmon]]", while others are abstract, like "red".

In the 1969 study ''[[Basic Color Terms]]: Their Universality and Evolution'', [[Brent Berlin]] and [[Paul Kay]] describe a pattern in naming "basic" colors (like "red" but not "red-orange" or "dark red" or "blood red", which are "shades" of red). All languages that have two "basic" color names distinguish dark/cool colors from bright/warm colors. The next colors to be distinguished are usually red and then yellow or green. All languages with six "basic" colors include black, white, red, green, blue, and yellow. The pattern holds up to a set of twelve: black, gray, white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and [[azure (color)|azure]] (distinct from blue in [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Italian language|Italian]], but not English).

==Unusual colors==

Some colors are objectively unusual or special. For example [[orpiment]] was a pigment used by painters in the 16th century, but is now considered dangerous due to arsenic. [[Sonoluminescence]] is a blue-purple created by the energy of sound waves from tiny bubbles in extreme experimental conditions, and was discovered in 1934. <ref name="davis"> [https://news.artnet.com/art-world/amazing-colors-tyler-thrasher-2525875 There Are So Many Amazing Colors You Don’t Even Know About!], by Ben Davis, August 20, 2024, Artnet website. </ref>

== See also ==
* [[Chromophore]]
* [[Color analysis]]
* [[Color in Chinese culture]]
* [[Color mapping]]
* [[Complementary colors]]
* [[Impossible color]]
* [[International Color Consortium]]
* [[International Commission on Illumination]]
* [[Lists of colors]] [[list of colors (compact)|(compact version)]]
* [[Neutral color]]
* [[Pearlescent coating]] including Metal effect pigments
* [[Pseudocolor]]
* [[Primary color|Primary]], [[secondary color|secondary]] and [[tertiary color]]s

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Britannica|id=126658|title=Color}}
* {{cite SEP|url-id=color|title=Color|last=Maund|first=Barry}}
* {{cite IEP|url-id=color|title=Color}}

{{Subject bar|auto=yes|Technology|Books|Electronics|Physics|Painting}}
{{Color topics}}
{{Photography}}
{{Color shades}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Color| ]]
[[Category:Image processing]]
[[Category:Vision]]

Peach

2024-09-30T06:31:53Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Cultivars */ Added link for "canning"

{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{About|the tree and its fruit|other uses|Peach (disambiguation)|and|Peachtree (disambiguation)|and|Peaches (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Type of fruit tree, or its fruit}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Peach
|image = Illustration Prunus persica0.jpg
|image_caption = Peach flower, fruit, seed and leaves as illustrated by [[Otto Wilhelm Thomé]] (1885)
|image2 = Autumn Red peaches.jpg
|image2_caption = Autumn Red peaches, cross section showing freestone variety
|image2_alt = Photograph showing a peach in cross section with yellow flesh and a single large reddish brown pit
|genus = Prunus
|parent = Prunus subg. Amygdalus
|species = persica
|authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]) [[August Batsch|Batsch]] 1801 not Stokes 1812 nor (L.) Siebold & Zucc. 1845<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_genus=Prunus&find_species=persica&find_rankToReturn=spec|title=IPNI Plant name Query Results|work=ipni.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925203907/http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_genus=Prunus&find_species=persica&find_rankToReturn=spec|archive-date=25 September 2015}}</ref>
|synonyms_ref = <ref>[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/rjp-376 The Plant List, ''Prunus persica'' (L.) Batsch]</ref>
|synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true
|title=Synonymy
|''Amygdalus persica'' L. 1753
|''Amygdalus persica'' var. ''aganonucipersica'' (Schübl. & G.Martens) T.T.Yu & L.T.Lu
|''Amygdalus persica'' var. ''compressa'' (Loudon) T.T.Yu & L.T.Lu
|''Amygdalus persica'' var. ''scleronucipersica'' (Schübl. & G.Martens) T.T.Yu & L.T.Lu
|''Amygdalus persica'' var. ''scleropersica'' (Rchb.) T.T.Yu & L.T.Lu
|''Persica platycarpa'' Decne.
|''Persica vulgaris'' Mill.
|''Persica vulgaris'' var. ''compressa'' Loudon
|''Prunus daemonifuga'' H.Lév. & Vaniot
|''Prunus persica'' (L.) Stokes
|''Prunus persica'' (L.) Siebold & Zucc.
|''Prunus persica'' f. ''aganonucipersica'' (Schübl. & G.Martens) Rehder
|''Prunus persica'' var. ''compressa'' (Loudon) Bean
|''Prunus persica'' var. ''lasiocalyx'' H.Lév. & Vaniot
|''Prunus persica'' var. ''platycarpa'' (Decne.) L.H.Bailey
|''Prunus persica'' subsp. ''platycarpa'' (Decne.) D. Rivera, Obón, S. Ríos, Selma, F. Mendez, Verde & F.Cano
|''Prunus persica'' f. ''scleropersica'' (Rchb.) Voss
|''Amygdalus nucipersica'' (L.) Rchb.
|''Persica nucipersica'' (L.) Borkh.
|''Amygdalus potanini'' (Batalin) T.T.Yu
|''Persica potaninii'' (Batalin) Kovalev & Kostina
}}}}

The '''peach''' (''Prunus persica'') is a [[deciduous]] [[tree]] first [[domesticated]] and [[Agriculture|cultivated]] in [[Zhejiang|Zhejiang province]] of [[East China|Eastern China]].<ref name="YangZheng20142">{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Xiaoyan |last2=Zheng |first2=Yunfei |last3=Crawford |first3=Gary W. |last4=Chen |first4=Xugao |year=2014 |title=Archaeological Evidence for Peach (Prunus persica) Cultivation and Domestication in China |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=9 |pages=e106595 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0106595 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4156326 |pmid=25192436 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j6595Z |doi-access=free}}</ref> It bears edible juicy [[fruit]]s with various characteristics, most called '''peaches''' and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties), '''nectarines'''.

The specific name ''persica'' refers to its widespread cultivation in [[Persia]] (modern-day Iran), from where it was transplanted to Europe and in the 16th century to the Americas. It belongs to the [[genus]] ''[[Prunus]]'', which includes the [[cherry]], [[apricot]], [[almond]], and [[plum]], and which is part of the [[Rosaceae|rose family]]. The peach is classified with the almond in the [[subgenus]] ''[[Amygdalus]]'', distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell ([[endocarp]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-07-27 |title=Almond Tree - Learn About Nature |url=https://www.learnaboutnature.com/plants/trees/almond-tree/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |language=en-US}}</ref> Due to their close relatedness, the kernel of a peach stone tastes remarkably similar to almond, and peach stones are often used to make a cheap version of [[marzipan]], known as [[persipan]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haase|first1=Ilka|last2=Brüning|first2=Philipp|last3=Matissek|first3=Reinhard|last4=Fischer|first4=Markus|date=2013-04-10|title=Real-time PCR assays for the quantitation of rDNA from apricot and other plant species in marzipan|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry|volume=61|issue=14|pages=3414–3418|doi=10.1021/jf3052175|issn=1520-5118|pmid=23495652}}</ref>

Peaches and [[Peach#Nectarines|nectarines]] are the same species, though they are regarded commercially as different fruits. The skin of nectarines lacks the fuzz (fruit-skin [[trichome]]s) that peach skin has; a mutation in a single [[gene]] (''MYB25'') is thought to be responsible for the difference between the two.<ref name=osu>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=http://food.oregonstate.edu/faq/uffva/nectarine2.html |publisher=Oregon State University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714065820/http://food.oregonstate.edu/faq/uffva/nectarine2.html |archive-date=14 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Vendramin|first1=Elisa|last2=Pea|first2=Giorgio|last3=Dondini|first3=Luca|last4=Pacheco|first4=Igor|last5=Dettori|first5=Maria Teresa|last6=Gazza|first6=Laura|last7=Scalabrin|first7=Simone|last8=Strozzi|first8=Francesco|last9=Tartarini|first9=Stefano|date=2014-03-03|title=A Unique Mutation in a MYB Gene Cosegregates with the Nectarine Phenotype in Peach|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=9|issue=3|pages=e90574|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0090574|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3940905|pmid=24595269|bibcode=2014PLoSO...990574V|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2018, [[China]] produced 62% of the world total of peaches and nectarines. [[Spain]], [[Italy]], [[Turkey]] and [[Greece]], all situated in the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean region]], are prominent producers of peaches.<ref name=fao2018/>

== Description ==
[[File:Amygdalus persica2.jpg|thumb|left|Peach flowers]]

''Prunus persica'' trees grow up to {{convert|7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall and wide, but when pruned properly, they are usually {{convert|3|–|4|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall and wide.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Average Width of a Peach Tree |url=https://homeguides.sfgate.com/average-width-peach-tree-66469.html |website=SFGate |date=4 March 2013 |publisher=Hearst Communications Inc. |access-date=2018-10-23}}</ref> The [[leaf|leaves]] are [[lanceolate]], {{convert|7|–|16|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|2|–|3|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} broad, and [[pinnate]]ly veined. The [[flower]]s are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or paired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals. The [[fruit]] has yellow or whitish flesh, a delicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in different [[cultivar]]s. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but is fairly firm in some commercial varieties, especially when green. The single, large seed is red-brown, oval shaped, around 1.3–2 cm long, and surrounded by a wood-like husk. Peaches, along with cherries, plums, and apricots, are stone fruits ([[drupe]]s). The various [[heirloom varieties]] including the 'Indian Peach', or 'Indian Blood Peach', which ripens in the latter part of the summer, and can have color ranging from red and white, to purple.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Indian_Peaches_632.php |title=Indian Peaches Information, Recipes and Facts |publisher=Specialtyproduce.com |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920081643/http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Indian_Peaches_632.php |archive-date=20 September 2012 }}</ref>

Cultivated peaches are divided into [[Drupe#Terminology|clingstones and freestones]], depending on whether the flesh sticks to the [[Pyrena|stone]] or not; both can have either white or yellow flesh. Peaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little [[acid]]ity, while yellow-fleshed peaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies greatly. Both colors often have some red on their skins. Low-acid, white-fleshed peaches are the most popular kinds in China, Japan, and neighbouring Asian countries, while Europeans and North Americans have historically favoured the acidic, yellow-fleshed [[cultivars]].

Peach trees are relatively short-lived as compared with some other fruit trees. In some regions orchards are replanted after 8 to 10 years, while in others trees may produce satisfactorily for 20 to 25 years or more, depending upon their resistance to diseases, pests, and winter damage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=peach {{!}} Fruit, Description, History, Cultivation, Uses, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/plant/peach |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The scientific name ''persica'', along with the word "peach" itself – and its cognates in many European languages – derives from an early European belief that peaches were native to [[Persia]] (modern-day Iran). The [[Ancient Romans]] referred to the peach as {{lang|fr|malum persicum}} ("Persian apple"), later becoming French {{lang|fr|pêche}}, whence the English "peach".<ref>Campbell, Lyle (2004) ''Historical Linguistics: An Introduction'', second ed., Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 274. {{ISBN|0-262-53267-0}}.</ref> The scientific name, ''Prunus persica'', literally means "Persian plum", as it is closely related to the [[plum]].

== Fossil record ==
Fossil [[endocarp]]s with characteristics indistinguishable from those of modern peaches have been recovered from late [[Pliocene]] deposits in [[Kunming]], dating to 2.6 million years ago. In the absence of evidence that the plants were in other ways identical to the modern peach, the name ''Prunus kunmingensis'' has been assigned to these fossils.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=5|title=Peaches Preceded Humans: Fossil Evidence from SW China|author=Su, T.|publisher=Nature Publishing Group|year=2016|doi=10.1038/srep16794|page=16794|display-authors=etal|pmid=26610240|pmc=4660870|bibcode=2015NatSR...516794S}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Dried date, peach, apricot, and stones. From Lahun, Fayum, Egypt. Late Middle Kingdom. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|thumb|Dried date, peach, apricot, and stones from Lahun, Fayum, Egypt, Late Middle Kingdom, [[Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology]], London]]

Although its botanical name ''Prunus persica'' refers to Persia, genetic studies suggest peaches originated in China,<ref>{{cite book |last=Thacker |first=Christopher |title=The history of gardens |year=1985 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-05629-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofgardens00chri/page/57 57] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgardens00chri |url-access=registration}}</ref> where they have been [[Peach production in China|cultivated since the Neolithic period]]. Until recently, cultivation was believed to have started around 2000 BC.<ref>{{cite book| first1=Akath |last1=Singh |first2=R.K. |last2=Patel |first3=K.D. |last3=Babu |first4=L.C. |last4=De |title=Underutilized and underexploited horticultural crops |year=2007 |publisher=New India Publishing |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-89422-69-1 |page=90 |chapter=Low chiling peaches}}</ref><ref name=vau09-82 /> More recent evidence indicates that domestication occurred as early as 6000 BC in [[Zhejiang Province]] of China. The oldest archaeological peach stones are from the [[Kuahuqiao]] site near [[Hangzhou]]. Archaeologists point to the [[Yangtze River Valley]] as the place where the early selection for favorable peach varieties probably took place.<ref name="YangZheng20142" /> Peaches were mentioned in Chinese writings and literature beginning from the early first millennium BC.<ref name="Layne">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xLW3mKQbcUUC&q=The+Peach:+Botany,+Production+and+Uses |title=The Peach: Botany, Production and Uses |first1=Desmond R. |last1=Layne |first2=Daniele |last2=Bassi |publisher=CAB International |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84593-386-9}}</ref>

A domesticated peach appeared very early in Japan, in 4700–4400 BC, during the [[Jōmon period]]. It was already similar to modern cultivated forms, where the peach stones are significantly larger and more compressed than earlier stones. This domesticated type of peach was brought into Japan from China. Nevertheless, in China itself, this variety is currently attested only at a later date around 3300 to 2300 BC.<ref name="YangZheng2014">{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Xiaoyan |last2=Zheng |first2=Yunfei |last3=Crawford |first3=Gary W. |last4=Chen |first4=Xugao |year=2014 |title=Archaeological Evidence for Peach (Prunus persica) Cultivation and Domestication in China |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=9 |pages=e106595 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j6595Z |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0106595 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4156326 |pmid=25192436 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In India, the peach first appeared by about 1700 BC, during the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Harappan period]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fuller, D |author2=Madella, M |year=2001 |chapter=Issues in Harappan Archaeobotany: Retrospect and Prospect |editor1=Settar, S |editor2=Korisettar, R |title=Indian Archaeology in Retrospect |volume=II. Protohistory |location=New Delhi |publisher=Manohar |pages=317–390}}</ref>

It is also found elsewhere in [[West Asia]] in ancient times.<ref name="Ensminger">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMA9gYIj-C4C&q=%22Prunus+persica%22&pg=PA1040 |title=Foods & nutrition encyclopedia |first=Audrey H. |last=Ensminger |publisher=CRC Press |year= 1994 |isbn=0-8493-8980-1}}</ref> Peach cultivation reached Greece by 300 BC.<ref name=vau09-82>{{cite book |first=Catherine |last=Geissler |title=The New Oxford Book of Food Plants |url=https://archive.org/details/newoxfordbookfoo00vaug |url-access=limited |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-160949-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newoxfordbookfoo00vaug/page/n116 82]}}</ref> Alexander the Great is sometimes said to have introduced them into Greece after conquering Persia,<ref name="Ensminger" /> but no historical evidence for this claim has been found.<ref name="Davidson">{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=Alan |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-211579-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00davi_0/page/588 588] |edition=1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00davi_0/page/588 }}</ref> Peaches were, however, well known to the Romans in the first century AD;<ref name=vau09-82 /> the oldest known artistic representations of the fruit are in two fragments of wall paintings, dated to the first century AD, in [[Herculaneum]], preserved due to the [[Vesuvius]] eruption of 79 AD, and now held in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.<ref>{{cite web|title=The introduction and diffusion of peach in ancient Italy |author=Sadori, Laura |publisher=Edipuglia |year=2009 |url=http://www.plants-culture.unimo.it/book/05%20Sadori%20et%20alii.pdf |display-authors=etal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152355/http://www.plants-culture.unimo.it/book/05%20Sadori%20et%20alii.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2013}}</ref> Archaeological finds show that peaches were cultivated widely in Roman northwestern Continental Europe, but production collapsed around the sixth century; some revival of production followed with the [[Carolingian Renaissance]] of the ninth century.<ref>Noah Blan, 'Charlemagne's Peaches: A Case of Early Medieval European Ecological Adaptation', ''Early Medieval Europe'', 27.4 (2019), 521–45.</ref>

An article on peach tree cultivation in Spain is brought down in [[Ibn al-'Awwam]]'s 12th-century agricultural work, ''Book on Agriculture''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ibn al-'Awwam|first=Yaḥyá|author-link=Ibn al-'Awwam|title=Le livre de l'agriculture d'Ibn-al-Awam (kitab-al-felahah) |year=1864|location=Paris|publisher=A. Franck|translator=J.-J. Clement-Mullet |pages=315–319 (ch. 7 – Article 41)|url=https://archive.org/details/lelivredelagric00algoog/page/n14/mode/2up |language=fr|oclc=780050566}} (pp. [https://archive.org/details/lelivredelagric00algoog/page/n422/mode/2up 315]–319 (Article XLI)</ref> The peach was brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, and eventually made it to England and France in the 17th century, where it was a prized and expensive treat. [[Horticulturist]] George Minifie supposedly brought the first peaches from England to its North American colonies in the early 17th century, planting them at his estate of Buckland in Virginia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://genforum.genealogy.com/menefee/messages/274.html |title=George Minifie |publisher=Genforum.genealogy.com |date=21 March 1999 |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152416/http://genforum.genealogy.com/menefee/messages/274.html |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref> Although Thomas Jefferson had peach trees at Monticello, American farmers did not begin commercial production until the 19th century in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, South Carolina, and finally Virginia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fogle |first1=H. W. |title=Peach Production East of the Rocky Mountains |date=1965 |publisher=Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAiBSqC_o5EC&pg=PA1 |language=en}}</ref>

The Shanghai honey nectar peach was a key component of both the food culture and agrarian economy the area where the modern megacity of [[Shanghai]] stands. Peaches were the cornerstone of early Shanghai's garden culture. As modernization and westernization swept through the city the Shanghai honey nectar peach nearly disappeared completely. Much of modern Shanghai is built over these gardens and peach orchards.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Swislocki |first1=Mark |title=Culinary Nostalgia |date=2009 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Stanford, California |isbn=978-0-8047-6012-6 |pages=29–64}}</ref>

In April 2010, an international consortium, the [[International Peach Genome Initiative]], which includes researchers from the United States, Italy, Chile, Spain, and France, announced they had [[Sequencing|sequenced]] the peach tree genome (doubled haploid Lovell). Recently, it published the peach genome sequence and related analyses. The sequence is composed of 227 million nucleotides arranged in eight pseudomolecules representing the eight peach chromosomes (2n = 16). In addition, 27,852 protein-coding genes and 28,689 protein-coding transcripts were predicted.

Particular emphasis in this study is reserved for the analysis of the genetic diversity in peach germplasm and how it was shaped by human activities such as domestication and breeding. Major historical bottlenecks were found, one related to the putative original domestication that is supposed to have taken place in China about 4,000–5,000 years ago, the second is related to the western germplasm and is due to the early dissemination of the peach in Europe from China and the more recent breeding activities in the United States and Europe. These bottlenecks highlighted the substantial reduction of genetic diversity associated with domestication and breeding activities.<ref>{{Cite journal |display-authors=4 |first1=I. |last1=Verde |first2=A.G. |last2=Abbott |first3=S. |last3=Scalabrin |first4=S. |last4=Jung |first5=S. |last5=Shu |first6=F. |last6=Marroni |first7=T. |last7=Zhebentyayeva |first8=M.T. |last8=Dettori |first9=J. |last9=Grimwood |first10=F. |last10=Cattonaro |first11=A. |last11=Zuccolo |first12=L. |last12=Rossini |first13=J. |last13=Jenkins |first14=E. |last14=Vendramin |first15=L.A. |last15=Meisel |first16=V. |last16=Decroocq |first17=B. |last17=Sosinski |first18=S. |last18=Prochnik |first19=T. |last19=Mitros |first20=A. |last20=Policriti |first21=G. |last21=Cipriani | first22=L. |last22=Dondini |first23=S. |last23=Ficklin |first24=D.M. |last24=Goodstein |first25=P. |last25=Xuan |first26=C. |last26=Del Fabbro |first27=V. |last27=Aramini |first28=D. |last28=Copetti |first29=S. |last29=Gonzalez |first30=D.S. |last30=Horner |title=The high-quality draft genome of peach (''Prunus persica'') identifies unique patterns of genetic diversity, domestication and genome evolution |doi=10.1038/ng.2586 |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=45 |issue=5 |pages=487–494 |year=2013 |pmid=23525075|hdl=2434/218547 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Peaches in the Americas===
Peaches were introduced into the Americas in the 16th century by the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]]. By 1580, peaches were being grown in Latin America and were cultivated by the remnants of the [[Inca Empire]] in Argentina.<ref name="Capparelli">{{cite journal |last1=Capparelli |first1=Aylen |last2=Lema |first2=Veronica |last3=Giovannetti |first3=Marco |last4=Raffino |first4=Rololfo |title=The Introduction of Old World Crops (wheat, barley, and peach) in Andean Argentina during the 16th century A.D. |journal=Vegetation History and Archaeobotany |date=2005 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=473–475 |doi=10.1007/s00334-005-0093-8 |jstor=23419302 |s2cid=129925523 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23419302 |access-date=8 November 2023}}</ref>

In the United States the peach was soon adopted as a crop by [[Native Americans of the United States|American Indians]]. The peach also became naturalized and abundant as a wild species in the eastern U.S.. Peaches were being grown in Virginia as early as 1629. Peaches grown by Indians in Virginia were said to have been "of greater variety and finer sorts" than those of the English colonists. Also in 1629, peaches were listed as a crop in [[New Mexico]]. [[William Penn]] noted the existence of wild peaches in [[Pennsylvania]] in 1683.<ref name="Jett">{{cite journal |last1=Jett |first1=Stephen C. |title=History of Fruit Tree Raising among the Navajo |journal=Agricultural History |date=1977 |volume=51 |issue=4 |page=683 |jstor=3741756 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3741756}}</ref><ref name="Peaches">{{cite web |title=Peaches |url=https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/peaches/ |website=Jefferson Monticello |publisher=Jefferson Encyclopedia |access-date=7 November 2023}}</ref> In fact, peaches may have already spread to the [[American Southeast]] by the early to mid 16th century, actively cultivated by Indigenous communities before permanent Spanish settlement of the region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holland-Lulewicz |first=Jacob |last2=Thompson |first2=Victor |last3=Thompson |first3=Amanda Roberts |last4=Butler |first4=RaeLynn |last5=Chavez |first5=Dario J. |last6=Franklin |first6=Jay |last7=Hunt |first7=Turner |last8=Williams |first8=Mark |last9=Worth |first9=John |date=2024-09-20 |title=The initial spread of peaches across eastern North America was structured by Indigenous communities and ecologies |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52597-8 |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=8245 |doi=10.1038/s41467-024-52597-8 |issn=2041-1723}}</ref>

Peach plantations became an objective of American military campaigns against the Indians. In 1779, the [[Sullivan Expedition]] destroyed the livelihood of many of the [[Iroquois]] people of [[New York (state)|New York]]. Among the crops destroyed were plantations of peach trees.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clinton-Sullavan Expedition of 1779 |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-clinton-sullivan-campaign-of-1779.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=7 November 2023}}</ref> In 1864, [[Kit Carson]] led a successful U.S. army expedition to [[Canyon de Chelly National Monument|Canyon de Chelly]], [[Arizona]] to destroy the livelihood of the [[Navajo]]. Carson destroyed thousands of peach trees. A soldier said they were the "best peach trees I have ever seen in the country, every one of them bearing fruit.”<ref name="Sumiak">{{cite web |last1=Sumiak |first1=Dennis |title=Navajo Will Never Forget the 1864 Scorched Earth Campaign |url=https://www.historynet.com/navajos-will-never-forget-1864-scorched-earth-campaign/ |website=History Net|date=15 August 2017 }}</ref>

== Cultivation ==
[[File:Bee pollinating peach flower.jpg|thumb|A peach flower with a [[bee]] pollinating it]]

Peaches grow in a fairly limited range in dry, continental or temperate climates, since the trees have a [[chilling requirement]] that tropical or subtropical areas generally do not satisfy except at high altitudes (for example in certain areas of [[Ecuador]], [[Colombia]], [[Ethiopia]], India, and [[Nepal]]). Most cultivars require 500 hours of chilling around {{convert|0|to|10|C|F}}. During the chilling period, key chemical reactions occur, but the plant appears dormant. Once the chilling period is fulfilled, the plant enters a second type of dormancy, the [[Dormancy#Trees|quiescence]] period. During quiescence, buds break and grow when sufficient warm weather favorable to growth is accumulated.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peach tree physiology |publisher=University of Georgia |year=2007 |url=http://www.ent.uga.edu/peach/peachhbk/pdf/physiology.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610090104/http://www.ent.uga.edu/peach/peachhbk/pdf/physiology.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2010}}</ref>

The trees themselves can usually tolerate temperatures to around {{convert|-26|to|-30|C|F}}, although the following season's flower buds are usually killed at these temperatures, preventing a crop that summer. Flower bud death begins to occur between {{convert|-15|and|-25|C|F}}, depending on the [[cultivar]] and on the timing of the cold, with the buds becoming less cold tolerant in late winter.<ref>{{cite journal| author1=Szalay, L. |author2=Papp, J. |author3=Szaóbo, Z. |year=2000 |title=Evaluation of frost tolerance of peach varieties in artificial freezing tests |journal=Acta Horticulturae |volume=538 |issue=538 |pages=407–410 |doi=10.17660/ActaHortic.2000.538.71}}</ref>

Another climate constraint is spring frost. The trees flower fairly early (in March in Western Europe), and the blossom is damaged or killed if temperatures drop below about {{convert|-4|C|F}}. If the flowers are not fully open, though, they can tolerate a few degrees colder.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chunxian Chen, William R. Okie, Thomas G. Beckman|date=Jul 2016|title=Peach Fruit Set and Buttoning after Spring Frost|journal= HortScience|volume= 5 |issue=7|pages=816–821|doi=10.21273/HORTSCI.51.7.816|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Climates with significant winter rainfall at temperatures below {{convert|16|C|F}} are also unsuitable for peach cultivation, as the rain promotes [[leaf curl|peach leaf curl]], which is the most serious fungal disease for peaches. In practice, fungicides are extensively used for peach cultivation in such climates, with more than 1% of European peaches exceeding legal pesticide limits in 2013.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=EFSA Journal |year=2015 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=4038 |doi=10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4038 |url=http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4038|title=The 2013 European Union report on pesticide residues in food |author=European Food Safety Authority |quote=The highest maximum residue level (MRL) exceedance rate was found for strawberries (2.5% of the samples), followed by lettuce (2.3%), oats (1.3%), peaches (1.1%), and apples (1.0%). |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315131732/http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4038|archive-date=15 March 2015|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Finally, summer heat is required to mature the crop, with mean temperatures of the hottest month between {{convert|20|and|30|C|F}}.

Typical peach cultivars begin bearing fruit in their third year. Their lifespan in the U.S. varies by region; the [[University of California at Davis]] gives a lifespan of about 15 years<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[University of California at Davis]]|url=http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8396.pdf|title=Fruit and Nut Varieties for Low-Elevation Sierra Foothills|date=November 2009|access-date=2015-08-25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612035359/http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8396.pdf|archive-date=12 June 2010}}</ref> while the [[University of Maine]] gives a lifespan of 7 years there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://umaine.edu/publications/2068e|title=Growing Peaches in Maine|access-date=2015-08-25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150826105737/http://umaine.edu/publications/2068e/|archive-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>

=== Cultivars ===
[[File:White peach and cross section edit.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|White peach of the clingstone variety]]
Hundreds of peach and nectarine cultivars are known. These are classified into two categories—freestones and clingstones. Freestones are those whose flesh separates readily from the pit. Clingstones are those whose flesh clings tightly to the pit. Some cultivars are partially freestone and clingstone, so are called semifree. Freestone types are preferred for eating fresh, while clingstone types are for [[canning]]. The fruit flesh may be creamy white to deep yellow, to dark red; the hue and shade of the color depend on the cultivar.<ref name=uri2000>{{cite web|title=Peach and Nectarine Culture |publisher=University of Rhode Island |year=2000 |url=http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/peaches.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152342/http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/peaches.html |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref>

Peach breeding has favored cultivars with more firmness, more red color, and shorter fuzz on the fruit surface. These characteristics ease shipping and supermarket sales by improving eye appeal. This selection process has not necessarily led to increased flavor, though. Peaches have a short shelf life, so commercial growers typically plant a mix of different cultivars to have fruit to ship all season long.<ref>{{cite web |title=Varieties – Peaches |author=Okie, W.R. |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |year=2005 |url=http://www.ent.uga.edu/peach/peachhbk/preplant/varieties.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152347/http://www.ent.uga.edu/peach/peachhbk/preplant/varieties.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2013}}</ref>

Different countries have different cultivars. In the United Kingdom, for example, these cultivars have gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]]:
* 'Duke of York'<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5917 |title=RHS Plant Selector Prunus persica 'Duke of York' (F) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152350/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5917 |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref>
* 'Peregrine'<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5776 |title=RHS Plant Selector Prunus persica 'Peregrine' (F) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152739/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5776 |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref>
* 'Rochester'<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4576 |title=RHS Plant Selector Prunus persica 'Rochester' (F) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152532/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4576 |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref>
* 'Lord Napier' (nectarine)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4549 |title=RHS Plant Selector Prunus persica var. nectarina 'Lord Napier' (F) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152704/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4549 |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref>

For China specifically see {{section link|Peach_production_in_China|Cultivars}}.

=== Nectarines ===
[[File:White nectarine and cross section02 edit.jpg|thumb|White nectarines, whole and cut open]]

The variety ''P. persica'' var. ''nucipersica'' (or var. ''nectarina'') – these are commonly called ''nectarines'' – has a smooth skin. It is on occasion referred to as a "shaved peach" or "fuzzless peach", due to its lack of fuzz or short hairs. Though fuzzy peaches and nectarines are regarded commercially as different fruits, with nectarines often erroneously believed to be a crossbreed between peaches and [[plum]]s, or a "peach with a plum skin", nectarines belong to the same species as peaches. Several genetic studies have concluded nectarines are produced due to a [[recessive allele]], whereas a fuzzy peach skin is [[dominant gene|dominant]].<ref name=osu/> Nectarines have arisen many times from peach trees, often as [[bud sport]]s.

As with peaches, nectarines can be white or yellow, and clingstone or freestone. On average, nectarines are slightly smaller and sweeter than peaches, but with much overlap.<ref name=osu /> The lack of skin fuzz can make nectarine skins appear more reddish than those of peaches, contributing to the fruit's plum-like appearance. The lack of down on nectarines' skin also means their skin is more easily bruised than peaches.

The history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention in English is from 1616,<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref> but they had probably been grown much earlier within the native range of the peach in central and eastern Asia. Although one source states that nectarines were introduced into the United States by [[David Fairchild]] of the Department of Agriculture in 1906,<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Fairchild
| first = David
| author-link = David Fairchild
| title = The World Was My Garden
| url = https://archive.org/details/worldwasmygarden00fair
| url-access = registration
| publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
| year = 1938
| location = New York
| page = [https://archive.org/details/worldwasmygarden00fair/page/226 226]}}</ref> a number of colonial-era newspaper articles make reference to nectarines being grown in the United States prior to the Revolutionary War. The 28 March 1768 edition of the ''New York Gazette'' (p. 3), for example, mentions a farm in Jamaica, Long Island, New York, where nectarines were grown.

=== Peacherines ===
Peacherines are claimed to be a cross between a peach and a nectarine, but as they are the same species cannot be a true cross (hybrid); they are marketed in Australia and New Zealand. The fruit is intermediate in appearance, though, between a peach and a nectarine, large and brightly colored like a red peach. The flesh of the fruit is usually yellow, but white varieties also exist. The [[Koanga Institute]] lists varieties that ripen in the [[Southern Hemisphere]] in February and March.<ref name=Koanga>{{cite web|url=http://koanga.org.nz/knowledgebase/fruit-tree-knowledge/fruit-tree-collection/almonds-nectarines-peacherines-and-apricots/|publisher=Koanga Institute|title=Almonds, Nectarines, Peacherines and Apricots|access-date=8 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215091505/http://koanga.org.nz/knowledgebase/fruit-tree-knowledge/fruit-tree-collection/almonds-nectarines-peacherines-and-apricots/|archive-date=15 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Shimabukuro|first=Betty|title=Mixed marriages: Cross-pollination produces fruit "children" that aren't quite the same as mom and dad|url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/07/07/features/story1.html|access-date=8 January 2014|newspaper=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]]|date=7 July 2004|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302215633/http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/07/07/features/story1.html|archive-date=2 March 2012}}</ref>

In 1909, ''Pacific Monthly'' mentioned peacherines in a news bulletin for California. Louise Pound, in 1920, claimed the term peacherine is an example of language stunt.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Stunts in language|author=Pound, Louise |journal=The English Language|volume=9|year=1920|jstor=802441|issue=2|pages=88–95 |doi=10.2307/802441 }}</ref>

=== Flat peaches ===
{{Main|Flat peach}}
Flat peaches, or ''pan-tao'', have a flattened shape, in contrast to ordinary near-spherical peaches.<ref>{{cite book |last =Layne|first =Desmond|page=16| publisher=CABI | title = The Peach: Botany, Production and uses | year =2008| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Ak2YiPi20d4C&q=flat%20saucer%20pan-tao%20peach&pg=PA16 | access-date = 3 August 2015 |isbn =978-1-84593-386-9}}</ref>

=== Planting ===
[[File:Nectarine Fruit Development.jpg|thumb|The developmental sequence of a nectarine over a {{frac|7|1|2}}-month period, from bud formation in early winter to fruit [[ripening]] in midsummer]]

Most peach trees sold by nurseries are cultivars [[Shield budding|budded]] or [[grafted]] onto a suitable [[rootstock]]. Common rootstocks are 'Lovell Peach', 'Nemaguard Peach', ''Prunus besseyi'', and 'Citation'.<ref>{{cite book | last = Ingels| first= Chuck | display-authors=etal | title=The Home Orchard: Growing Your Own Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees | pages=29–30 | year=2007 | publisher=University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources}}</ref> The rootstock provides hardiness and budding is done to improve predictability of the fruit quality.

Peach trees need full sun, and a layout that allows good natural air flow to assist the thermal environment for the tree. Peaches are planted in early winter. During the growth season, they need a regular and reliable supply of water, with higher amounts just before harvest.<ref name=peachorchard>{{cite web|first=Dean|last=McCraw|url=http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1026/HLA-6244web.pdf/|title=Planting and Early Care of the Peach Orchard|publisher=Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916052948/http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1026/HLA-6244web.pdf|archive-date=16 September 2012}}</ref>

Peaches need [[nitrogen]]-rich fertilizers more than other fruit trees. Without regular fertilizer supply, peach tree leaves start turning yellow or exhibit stunted growth. [[Blood meal]], [[bone meal]], and calcium ammonium nitrate are suitable fertilizers.

The flowers on a peach tree are typically thinned out because if the full number of peaches mature on a branch, they are undersized and lack flavor. Fruits are thinned midway in the season by commercial growers. Fresh peaches are easily bruised, so do not store well. They are most flavorful when they ripen on the tree and are eaten the day of harvest.<ref name=peachorchard />

The peach tree can be grown in an [[espalier]] shape. The Baldassari palmette is a design created around 1950 used primarily for training peaches. In [[walled garden]]s constructed from stone or brick, which absorb and retain solar heat and then slowly release it, raising the temperature against the wall, peaches can be grown as espaliers against south-facing walls as far north as southeast Great Britain and southern Ireland.

=== Insects ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2018}}
The first [[Pest (organism)|pest]] to attack the tree early in the year when other food is scarce is the earwig (''[[Forficula auricularia]]'') which feeds on [[blossom]]s and young leaves at night, preventing fruiting and weakening newly planted trees. The pattern of damage is distinct from that of [[caterpillars]] later in the year, as earwigs characteristically remove semicircles of petal and leaf tissue from the tips, rather than internally. [[Greaseband]]s applied just before blossom are effective.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forum.garten-pur.de/index.php?board=25;action=display;threadid=35543;start=0 |title=Wer frisst Pfirsich-Blütenknopsen? |language=de |trans-title=Who eats peach blossom buds? |website=Garten-pur.de |date=9 April 2010 |access-date=1 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192720/http://forum.garten-pur.de/index.php?board=25;action=display;threadid=35543;start=0 |archive-date=2 January 2014 }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2018}}

The larvae of such [[moth]] species as the peachtree borer (''[[Synanthedon exitiosa]]''), the yellow peach moth (''[[Conogethes punctiferalis]]''), the well-marked cutworm (''[[Abagrotis orbis]]''), ''[[Lyonetia prunifoliella]]'', ''[[Phyllonorycter hostis]]'', the fruit tree borer (''[[Maroga melanostigma]]''), ''[[Parornix anguliferella]]'', ''[[Parornix finitimella]]'', ''[[Caloptilia zachrysa]]'', ''[[Phyllonorycter crataegella]]'', ''[[Trifurcula sinica]]'', Suzuki's promolactis moth (''[[Promalactis suzukiella]]''), the white-spotted [[tussock moth]] (''[[Orgyia thyellina]]''), the apple leafroller (''[[Archips termias]]''), the catapult moth (''[[Serrodes partita]]''), the wood groundling (''[[Parachronistis albiceps]]'') or the omnivorous leafroller (''[[Platynota stultana]]'') are reported to feed on ''P. persica''. The flatid planthopper (''[[Metcalfa pruinosa]]'') causes damage to fruit trees.

The tree is also a host plant for such species as the [[Japanese beetle]] (''Popillia japonica''), the unmonsuzume (''[[Callambulyx tatarinovii]]''), the promethea silkmoth (''[[Callosamia promethea]]''), the orange oakleaf (''[[Kallima inachus]]''), ''[[Langia zenzeroides]]'', the speckled emperor (''[[Gynanisa maja]]'') or the brown playboy (''[[Deudorix antalus]]''). The European red mite (''[[Panonychus ulmi]]'') or the yellow mite (''[[Lorryia formosa]]'') are also found on the peach tree.

It is a good [[pollen source]] for [[honey bees]] and a [[List of honeydew sources|honeydew source]] for aphids.

=== Diseases ===
{{Main|List of peach and nectarine diseases}}
[[File:Preparing peaches to be canned.jpg|thumb|Because peaches are highly perishable, farmers around the world often will preserve peaches through [[canning]] or production of preserves. This mother-daughter team in [[Lesotho]] is preparing peaches near their farm.]]
Peach trees are prone to a disease called [[leaf curl]], which usually does not directly affect the fruit, but does reduce the crop yield by partially defoliating the tree. Several fungicides can be used to combat the disease, including [[Bordeaux mixture]] and other copper-based products (the University of California considers these organic treatments), [[ziram]], [[chlorothalonil]], and [[dodine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r540100311.html|publisher=[[UC Davis]]|title=UC Pest Management Guidelines|date=10 September 2015|access-date=3 November 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119030447/http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r540100311.html|archive-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> The fruit is susceptible to [[Monilinia fructicola|brown rot]] or a dark reddish spot.

=== Storage ===
Peaches and nectarines are best stored at temperatures of 0 °C (32 °F) and in high humidity.<ref name=uri2000 /> They are highly perishable, so are typically consumed or canned within two weeks of harvest.

Peaches are [[Climacteric (botany)|climacteric]]<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Trainotti | first1 = L. | last2 = Tadiello | first2 = A. | last3 = Casadoro | first3 = G. | doi = 10.1093/jxb/erm178 | title = The involvement of auxin in the ripening of climacteric fruits comes of age: The hormone plays a role of its own and has an intense interplay with ethylene in ripening peaches | journal = Journal of Experimental Botany | volume = 58 | issue = 12 | pages = 3299–3308 | year = 2007 | pmid = 17925301| doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Ziosi | first1 = V. | last2 = Bregoli | first2 = A. M. | last3 = Fiori | first3 = G. | last4 = Noferini | first4 = M. | last5 = Costa | first5 = G. | doi = 10.1007/978-1-4020-6014-4_38 | chapter = 1-MCP effects on ethylene emission and fruit quality traits of peaches and nectarines | title = Advances in Plant Ethylene Research |page=167 | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-4020-6013-7 | s2cid = 81245874 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geochembio.com/biology/organisms/peach/ |title=''Prunus persica'', peach, nectarine |website=GeoChemBio.com |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725213917/http://www.geochembio.com/biology/organisms/peach/ |archive-date=25 July 2012 }}</ref> fruits and continue to ripen after being picked from the tree.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chge.med.harvard.edu/programs/food/nutrition.html |title=Healthy and Sustainable Food |website=The Center for Health and the Global Environment |publisher=Harvard Medical School |date=16 November 2011 |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211191254/http://chge.med.harvard.edu/programs/food/nutrition.html |archive-date=11 February 2012 }}</ref>

== Production ==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; width:290px; margin:10px; text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan=2|Peach (and nectarine) production, 2020
|-
| Country || | Production (millions of tonnes)
|-
| {{CHN}} || | 15.00
|-
| {{ESP}} || | 1.31
|-
| {{ITA}} || | 1.02
|-
| {{TUR}} || | 0.89
|-
| {{GRC}} || | 0.89
|-
| {{IRN}} || | 0.66
|-
| {{USA}} || | 0.56
|-
!'''World''' !! | '''24.57'''
|-
|colspan=3 style="font-size:90%" |''Source: United Nations, FAOSTAT''<ref name="fao2018">{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC |title=Production of peaches and nectarines in 2018; Crops/Regions/World/Production Quantity (from pick lists) |publisher=United Nations, Food and Agricultural Organization, Statistics Division (FAOSTAT) |date=2019|access-date=11 April 2020 }}</ref>
|}
In 2020, world production of peaches (combined with nectarines for reporting) was 24.6 million [[tonne]]s, led by China with 61% of the world total (table).

The U.S. state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] is known as the "Peach State" due to its significant production of peaches as early as 1571,<ref name="georgia">{{cite web|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/peaches |title=Peaches |author=Kathryn C. Taylor |date=15 August 2003 |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |publisher=Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press |access-date=3 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705222256/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/peaches |archive-date=5 July 2015}}</ref> with exports to other states occurring around 1858.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fair |first1=John D. |title=The Georgia Peach and the Southern Quest for Commercial Equity and Independence, 1843–1861 |journal=Georgia Historical Quarterly |date=2002 |volume=86 |issue=3 |page=372 |url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=8968068&site=eds-live&scope=site |access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref> In 2014, Georgia was third in US peach production behind [[California]] and [[South Carolina]].<ref name=georgia /> The largest peach producing countries in [[Latin America]] are [[Argentina]], [[Brazil]], [[Chile]], and [[Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Fresh Peach and Nectarine Productions in Latin America in 2021 by country |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1007844/fresh-peaches-nectarines-production-latin-america-county/#:~:text=Latin%20America%3A%20fresh%20peach%20and%20nectarine%20production%202021%2C%20by%20country&text=In%202021%2C%20Argentina%20was%20expected,production%20of%20183%20thousand%20tons. |website=Statista}}</ref>

== Cultural significance ==
Peaches are not only a popular fruit, but also are symbolic in many cultural traditions, such as in art, paintings, and folk tales such as the [[Peaches of Immortality]].

=== China ===
{{See also|Peaches of Immortality}}
Peach blossoms are highly prized in Chinese culture. The ancient Chinese believed the peach to possess more vitality than any other tree because their blossoms appear before leaves sprout. When early rulers of China visited their territories, they were preceded by sorcerers armed with peach rods to protect them from spectral evils. On New Year's Eve, local magistrates would cut peach wood branches and place them over their doors to protect against evil influences.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Doré S.J. |first1=Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Go4SnwEACAAJ |title=Researches into Chinese Superstitions |publisher=Tusewei Press, Shanghai |year=1914 |volume=V |page=505 |isbn=9781462268412 |translator-last=Kennelly |translator-first=M.}}</ref> Peach wood was also used for the earliest known [[door god]]s during the [[Han dynasty|Han]]. Another author writes:

{{Blockquote|The Chinese also considered peach wood (''t'ao-fu'')({{lang-zh|c=桃符|p=Táofú
}})
protective against evil spirits, who held the peach in awe. In ancient China, peach-wood bows were used to shoot arrows in every direction in an effort to dispel evil. Peach-wood slips or carved pits served as amulets to protect a person's life, safety, and health.<ref name="China 1991, Page 218">Simoons, Frederick J. (1991) ''Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry'', p. 218, {{ISBN|0-8493-8804-X}}.</ref>}}

Peachwood seals or figurines guarded gates and doors, and, as one Han account recites, "the buildings in the capital are made tranquil and pure; everywhere a good state of affairs prevails".<ref name="China 1991, Page 218" /> Writes the author, further:

{{Blockquote|Another aid in fighting evil spirits were peach-wood wands. The Li-chi (Han period) reported that the emperor went to the funeral of a minister escorted by a sorcerer carrying a peachwood wand to keep bad influences away. Since that time, peachwood wands have remained an important means of exorcism in China.<ref name="China 1991, Page 218" />}} Peach kernels Tao ren ({{lang-zh|c=桃仁|p=Táorén
}}) are a common ingredient used in [[traditional Chinese medicine]] to dispel blood [[Stasis (medicine)|stasis]], counter inflammation, and reduce allergies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcmlib.com/zy/html31/showdetail-333035312ce6a183e4bb812c7a79.html|title=TCM: Peach kernels|language=zh|access-date=1 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716194300/http://www.tcmlib.com/zy/html31/showdetail-333035312ce6a183e4bb812c7a79.html|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

In an orchard of flowering peach trees, [[Liu Bei]], [[Guan Yu]], and [[Zhang Fei]] took [[Oath of the Peach Garden|an oath of brotherhood]] in the opening chapter of the classic Chinese novel ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]''. Another peach orchard, in "[[The Peach Blossom Spring]]" by poet [[Tao Yuanming]], is the setting of the favourite Chinese fable and a metaphor for utopias. A peach tree growing on a precipice was where the Taoist master [[Zhang Daoling]] tested his disciples.<ref>{{cite book|author=Eskildsen, Stephen|title=Asceticism in early taoist religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49WfkiAVEYsC&pg=PA26|year=1998|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-3955-5|page=26|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516191842/https://books.google.com/books?id=49WfkiAVEYsC&pg=PA26|archive-date=16 May 2016}}</ref>

The [[Old Man of the South Pole]], one of the deities of the Chinese folk religion ''[[Fu Lu Shou]]'' ({{lang-zh|c=福祿壽|p=Fú lù shòu
}}), is sometimes seen holding a large peach, representing long life and health.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

The term "[[Homosexuality in China#Terminology|bitten peach]]", first used by [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalist philosopher]] [[Han Fei]] in his work ''Han Feizi'', became a byword for homosexuality. The book records the incident when courtier [[Mizi Xia]] bit into an especially delicious peach and gave the remainder to his lover, [[Duke Ling of Wei]], as a gift so that he could taste it, as well.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Korea ===
In Korea, peaches have been cultivated from ancient times. According to ''[[Samguk Sagi]]'', peach trees were planted during the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]] period, and ''[[Sallim gyeongje]]'' also mentions cultivation skills of peach trees. The peach is seen as the fruit of happiness, riches, honours, and longevity. The rare peach with double seeds is seen as a favorable omen of a mild winter. It is one of the 10 immortal plants and animals, so peaches appear in many ''[[minhwa]]'' (folk paintings). Peaches and peach trees are believed to chase away spirits, so peaches are not placed on tables for ''[[jesa]]'' (ancestor veneration), unlike other fruits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=B&i=1013997&v=43 |script-title=ko:한국에서의 복숭아 재배 |trans-title=Peach cultivation in Korea |publisher=[[Nate (web portal)|Nate]] / [[Britannica]] |language=ko |access-date=12 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524221609/http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=B&i=1013997&v=43 |archive-date=24 May 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=255510&v=43 |script-title=ko:복숭아 |trans-title=Peach |publisher=[[Nate (web portal)|Nate]] / [[Encyclopedia of Korean culture]] |language=ko |access-date=12 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524224042/http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=255510&v=43 |archive-date=24 May 2012 }}</ref>

=== Japan ===
[[File:Japanese Fairy Book - Ozaki - 247.png|thumb|right|Momotarō emerges from a peach.]]
The world's sweetest peach is grown in [[Fukushima (city)|Fukushima]], Japan. The Guinness world record for the sweetest peach is currently held by a peach grown in Kanechika, Japan, with a sugar content of 22.2%. However, a fruit farm in rural Fukushima, Koji grew a much sweeter peach, with a Brix score of 32°. Degrees [[Brix]] measures the sugar content of the fruit, and is usually between 11 and 15 for a typical peach from a supermarket.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-07-17|title=The world's sweetest peach costs $7,000. So is it worth the price tag?|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-18/the-worlds-most-expensive-and-sweetest-peach-is-in-fukushima/12440818|access-date=2020-07-18|website=www.abc.net.au|language=en-AU}}</ref>

[[Momotarō]], a folktale character, is named after the giant peach from which he was birthed.

Two traditional Japanese words for the color [[pink]] correspond to blossoming trees: one for peach blossoms ({{transliteration|ja|momo-iro}}), and one for cherry blossoms ([[Cherry blossom#Symbolism in Japan|{{transliteration|ja|sakura-iro}}]]).

=== Vietnam ===
A Vietnamese mythic history states that in the spring of 1789, after marching to Ngọc Hồi and then winning a great victory against invaders from the [[Qing dynasty]] of China, Emperor [[Quang Trung]] ordered a messenger to gallop to [[Phú Xuân]] citadel (now [[Huế]]) and deliver a flowering peach branch to the Empress [[Lê Ngọc Hân|Ngọc Hân]]. This took place on the fifth day of the first lunar month, two days before the predicted end of the battle. The branch of peach flowers that was sent from the north to the centre of Vietnam was not only a message of victory from the Emperor to his consort, but also the start of a new spring of peace and happiness for all the Vietnamese people. In addition, since the land of Nhật Tân had freely given that very branch of peach flowers to the Emperor, it became the loyal garden of his dynasty.

The protagonists of ''[[The Tale of Kieu]]'' fell in love by a peach tree, and in [[Vietnam]], the blossoming peach flower is the signal of spring. Finally, peach [[bonsai]] trees are used as decoration during Vietnamese New Year ([[Tết]]) in northern Vietnam.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Europe ===
[[File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Pêches.jpg|thumb|[[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], ''A Still Life Painting of Peaches'', 1881–82]]

Many famous artists have painted with peach fruits placed in prominence. [[Caravaggio]], [[Vicenzo Campi]], [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], [[Claude Monet]], [[Édouard Manet]], [[Henri Fantin-Latour]], [[Severin Roesen]], [[Peter Paul Rubens]], and [[Van Gogh]] are among the many influential artists who painted peaches and peach trees in various settings.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Still Life With Peaches|author=Torpy, Janet M. |journal=JAMA|year= 2010|volume=303|pages=203|issue=3|doi=10.1001/jama.2009.1853|pmid=20085943 }}</ref><ref name=janick>{{cite web |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop%20/Hort_306/reading/Reading%2040-1.pdf |title=Caravaggio's Fruit: A Mirror on Baroque Horticulture |author=Jules Janick |access-date=24 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114151216/http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop%20/Hort_306/reading/Reading%2040-1.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref> Scholars suggest that many compositions are symbolic, some an effort to introduce realism.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Caravaggio – Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge |title=Papers of the Muscarelle Museum of Art, Volume 1 |last1=de Groft |first1=Aaron H.|authorlink= Aaron De Groft |year=2006 |chapter-url=http://www.johntspike.com/uploads/CaravaggioFinalText12-23.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152349/http://www.johntspike.com/uploads/CaravaggioFinalText12-23.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref> For example, Tresidder claims<ref>{{cite book|title=1,001 Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Imagery and Its Meaning|author=Tresidder, Jack |year=2004|publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=978-0-8118-4282-2}}</ref> the artists of Renaissance symbolically used peach to represent heart, and a leaf attached to the fruit as the symbol for tongue, thereby implying speaking truth from one's heart; a ripe peach was also a symbol to imply a ripe state of good health. Caravaggio's paintings introduce realism by painting peach leaves that are molted, discolored, or in some cases have wormholes – conditions common in modern peach cultivation.<ref name=janick />

In literature, [[Roald Dahl]] named his children's fantasy novel ''[[James and the Giant Peach]]'' because a peach is "prettier, bigger and squishier than a cherry."<ref>{{cite news |title=Roald Dahl Day: Seven fantastic facts about the author |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/36824907 |access-date=17 October 2022 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

=== United States ===
[[File:Peaches in baskets.jpg|right|thumb|180px|Peaches at a roadside stand in South Carolina]]

South Carolina named the peach its [[List of U.S. state foods|official fruit]] in 1984.<ref>{{citation |title= Plants & Edibles |publisher= South Carolina Legislature Online |url= https://www.scstatehouse.gov/studentpage/coolstuff/plants.shtml |access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> The peach became the state fruit of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], nicknamed the "Peach State", in 1995.<ref>{{cite web |title=State Fruit |publisher=Georgia Secretary of State |work=Georgia State Symbols |url=http://sos.ga.gov/state_symbols/state_fruit.htm |access-date=2019-05-29 |archive-date=29 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529182638/http://sos.ga.gov/state_symbols/state_fruit.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The peach went from feral trees utilized opportunistically to a tended commercial crop in the Southern United States in the 1850s, as the [[boll weevil]] attacked regional cotton crops. When Georgia reached peak production in the 1920s, elaborate festivals celebrated the fruit. By 2017, Georgia's production represented 3–5% of the U.S. total.<ref>{{citation |title=The Fuzzy History of the Georgia Peach |first= William Thomas |last= Okie |date= 14 August 2017 |work=Smithsonian.com |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fuzzy-history-georgia-peach-180964490/ |access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title= Is Georgia really the Peach State? |first= Matt |last=Mackie |date= 1 November 2018 |work= wxga.com |url= https://wgxa.tv/news/local/is-georgia-really-the-peach-state |access-date= 2019-05-29}}</ref> Alabama named it the "state tree fruit" in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_treefruit.html |title=State Tree Fruit of Alabama |access-date=2019-05-29 |date=2006-04-20 |work=Alabama Emblems, Symbols and Honors |publisher=[[Alabama Department of Archives and History]] |archive-date=15 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415050756/http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_treefruit.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Delaware's [[List of U.S. state and territory flowers|state flower]] has been the peach blossom since 1995,<ref>{{cite web|title=Delaware State Plants|url=https://delaware.gov/topics/facts/plant.shtml|website=Delaware.gov|access-date= 2019-05-30}}</ref> and peach pie became its official dessert in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Delaware Miscellaneous Symbols|url=https://delaware.gov/topics/facts/misc.shtml|website=Delaware.gov|access-date= 2019-05-29}}</ref>

== Nutrition ==
{{nutritional value
|name=Peaches, raw
| kJ=165
| water=89 g
| protein=0.91 g
| fat=0.25 g
| carbs=9.54 g
| fiber=1.5 g
| sugars=8.39 g
| calcium_mg=6
| iron_mg=0.25
| magnesium_mg=9
| phosphorus_mg=20
| potassium_mg=190
| sodium_mg=0
| zinc_mg=0.17
| manganese_mg=0.061
| vitC_mg=6.6
| thiamin_mg=0.024
| riboflavin_mg=0.031
| niacin_mg=0.806
| pantothenic_mg=0.153
| vitB6_mg=0.025
| folate_ug=4
| choline_mg=6.1
| vitA_ug=16
| betacarotene_ug=162
| vitE_mg=0.73
| vitK_ug=2.6
| source_usda = 1
| note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169928/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]
}}

Raw peach flesh is 89% water, 10% [[carbohydrate]]s, 1% [[protein]], and contains negligible [[fat]]. A medium-sized raw peach, weighing {{convert|100|g|abbr=on}}, supplies 39 [[calorie]]s, and contains small amounts of [[essential nutrients]], but none is a significant proportion of the [[Daily Value]] (DV, right table). A raw [[nectarine]] has similar low content of nutrients.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1962/2|title=Nutrition Facts for Nectarines, raw, per 100 g|publisher=Conde Nast, USDA National Nutrient Database, version SR-21|date=2014|access-date=14 March 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315230637/http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1962/2|archive-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> The [[glycemic load]] of an average peach (120 grams) is 5, similar to other low-sugar fruits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods|title=Glycemic index and glycemic load for 100+ foods|publisher=Harvard Health Publications, Harvard University School of Medicine|date=27 August 2015|access-date=26 April 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425133931/http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods|archive-date=25 April 2017}}</ref>

One medium peach also contains 2% or more daily value of vitamins E and K, niacin, folate, iron, choline, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, zinc and copper. Fresh peaches are a moderate source of antioxidants and vitamin C which is required for the building of connective tissue inside the human body.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Health Benefits of Peaches: A Delicious Summer Fruit (Rutgers NJAES) |url=https://njaes.rutgers.edu/sshw/message/message.php?p=Health&m=301#:~:text=Nutritional%20breakdown%20of%20peaches,of%20daily%20vitamin%20C%20needs. |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=njaes.rutgers.edu |language=en}}</ref>

== Phytochemicals ==
Total [[polyphenols]] in mg per 100 g of fresh weight were 14–102 in white-flesh nectarines, 18–54 in yellow-flesh nectarines, 28–111 in white-flesh peaches, and 21–61 mg per 100 g in yellow-flesh peaches.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Gil | first1 = M. I.
| last2 = Tomás-Barberán | first2 = F. A.
| last3 = Hess-Pierce | first3 = B.
| last4 = Kader | first4 = A. A.
| title = Antioxidant capacities, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and vitamin C contents of nectarine, peach, and plum cultivars from California
| journal = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
| volume = 50
| issue = 17
| pages = 4976–4982
| year = 2002
| pmid = 12166993 | doi=10.1021/jf020136b
}}</ref> The major phenolic compounds identified in peach are [[chlorogenic acid]], [[catechin]]s and [[epicatechins]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Browning Potential, Phenolic Composition, and Polyphenoloxidase Activity of Buffer Extracts of Peach and Nectarine Skin Tissue|author1=Cheng, Guiwen W.|author2=Crisosto, Carlos H.|name-list-style=amp|journal=J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci.|year=1995|volume=120|issue=5|pages=835–838|doi=10.21273/JASHS.120.5.835|doi-access=free}}</ref> with other compounds, identified by [[High-performance liquid chromatography|HPLC]], including [[gallic acid]] and [[ellagic acid]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Postharvest sensory and phenolic characterization of 'Elegant Lady' and 'Carson' peaches |author1=Infante, Rodrigo |author2=Contador, Loreto |author3=Rubio, Pía |author4=Aros, Danilo |author5=Peña-Neira, Álvaro |name-list-style=amp |journal=Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research |volume=71 |issue=3 |year=2011 |pages=445–451 |url=http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/chiljar/v71n3/at16.pdf |doi=10.4067/S0718-58392011000300016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711213119/http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/chiljar/v71n3/at16.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2012 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Rutin]] and [[isoquercetin]] are the primary flavonols found in clingstone peaches.<ref name=Chang>{{cite journal | pmid = 10691607 | year = 2000 | last1 = Chang | first1 = S | last2 = Tan | first2 = C | last3 = Frankel | first3 = EN | last4 = Barrett | first4 = DM | title = Low-density lipoprotein antioxidant activity of phenolic compounds and polyphenol oxidase activity in selected clingstone peach cultivars | volume = 48 | issue = 2 | pages = 147–51 | journal = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry | doi = 10.1021/jf9904564}}</ref>

Red-fleshed peaches are rich in [[anthocyanin]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Cevallos-Casals | first1 = B. V. A. | last2 = Byrne | first2 = D. | last3 = Okie | first3 = W. R. | last4 = Cisneros-Zevallos | first4 = L. | title = Selecting new peach and plum genotypes rich in phenolic compounds and enhanced functional properties | doi = 10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.02.032 | journal = Food Chemistry | volume = 96 | issue = 2 | pages = 273–280 | year = 2006 }}</ref> particularly [[cyanidin]] [[glucoside]]s in six peach and six nectarine cultivars<ref>{{cite journal|title=Phenolic compounds in peach (''Prunus persica'') cultivars at harvest and during fruit maturation|doi=10.1111/j.1744-7348.2008.00234.x|year=2008|last1=Andreotti|first1=C.|last2=Ravaglia|first2=D.|last3=Ragaini|first3=A.|last4=Costa|first4=G.|journal=Annals of Applied Biology|volume=153|pages=11–23}}</ref> and [[malvin]] glycosides in clingstone peaches.<ref name=Chang />
As with many other members of the [[rose family]], peach seeds contain [[Glycoside#Cyanogenic glycosides|cyanogenic glycosides]], including [[amygdalin]] (note the [[subgenus]] designation: ''Amygdalus'').<ref name="Lee">{{cite journal | last1=Lee | first1=SH | last2=Oh | first2=A | last3=Shin | first3=SH | last4=Kim | first4=HN | last5=Kang | first5=WW | last6=Chung | first6=SK | title=Amygdalin contents in peaches at different fruit development stages | journal=Preventive Nutrition and Food Science | volume=22 | issue=3 | year=2017 | issn=2287-1098 | pmid=29043223 | pmc=5642807 | doi=10.3746/pnf.2017.22.3.237 | pages=237–240}}</ref> These substances are capable of decomposing into a sugar molecule and [[hydrogen cyanide]] gas.<ref name="cho">{{cite journal|journal=Toxicol Res|year=2013|volume=29|issue=2|pages=143–7|doi=10.5487/TR.2013.29.2.143|title=Determination of cyanogenic compounds in edible plants by ion chromatography|vauthors=Cho HJ, Do BK, Shim SM, Kwon H, Lee DH, Nah AH, Choi YJ, Lee SY |pmid=24278641|pmc=3834451}}</ref><ref name="Lee"/> Cyanogenic glycosides are toxic if consumed in large doses.<ref>{{cite web |title=Laetrile (Amygdalin) |url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/laetrile-pdq |publisher=US National Cancer Institute |access-date=3 September 2020 |date=25 October 2019}}</ref> While peach seeds are not the most toxic within the rose family (see [[bitter almond]]), large consumption of these chemicals from any source is potentially hazardous to animal and human health.<ref name=cho />

Peach [[food allergy|allergy]] or [[food intolerance|intolerance]] is a relatively common form of hypersensitivity to [[protein]]s contained in peaches and related fruits (such as [[almond]]s). Symptoms range from local effects (e.g. [[oral allergy syndrome]], [[contact urticaria]]) to more severe systemic reactions, including [[anaphylaxis]] (e.g. [[urticaria]], [[angioedema]], gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms).<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.food-allergens.de/symposium-2-4/peach/peach-allergens.htm |title=Allergen Data Collection: Peach (''Prunus persica'') |author1=Besler, M. |author2=Cuesta Herranz, Javier |author3=Fernandez-Rivas, Montserrat |name-list-style=amp |journal=Internet Symposium on Food Allergens |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=185–201 |year=2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817132607/http://www.food-allergens.de/symposium-2-4/peach/peach-allergens.htm |archive-date=17 August 2009 }}</ref> Adverse reactions are related to the "freshness" of the fruit: peeled or canned fruit may be tolerated.

=== Aroma ===
Some 110 chemical compounds contribute to peach aroma, including [[alcohols]], [[ketones]], [[aldehydes]], [[esters]], [[polyphenols]] and [[terpenoids]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2012|volume=7|issue=6|page=e38992|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0038992|title=A non-targeted approach unravels the volatile network in peach fruit|vauthors=Sánchez G, Besada C, Badenes ML, Monforte AJ, Granell A |pmid=22761719|pmc=3382205|bibcode=2012PLoSO...738992S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Peachblossoms3800ppx.JPG|alt=Tree in blossom
File:Prunus_persica（花桃）4035837.JPG|Peach blossoms
File:Peach flowers.jpg|alt=Blossoms
File:Breskva Collins - zametnuti plodovi.jpg|Incipient fruit development
File:Prunus persica coupe MHNT.jpg|alt=Wood
File:Prunus persica - Peach Hungary.jpg|alt=Fruits on tree
File:Prunus persica pit.jpg|alt=Seed
File:Starr-130504-4357-Prunus_persica_var_persica-Florida_Prince_fruit_on_branch-Hawea_Pl_Olinda-Maui_(24842890479).jpg|Peaches on tree
File:Hillview_Farms_peaches_in_a_basket.jpg|Peaches in a basket
</gallery>

===Paintings===
<gallery>
File:Retrato de Isabella y John Stewart.jpg|Portrait of Isabella and John Stewart by [[Charles Willson Peale]], 1774
File:Still Life Basket of Peaches by Raphaelle Peale 1816.jpeg|''Still Life Basket of Peaches'' by [[Raphaelle Peale]], 1816
File:Claude Monet - Das Pfirsichglas.jpg|''A Jar of Peaches'' by [[Claude Monet]] {{circa|1866}}
File:Bairei_kachō_gafu,_Spring_04,_peach-blossoms_and_green_pheasants.jpg|"Spring 4, peach-blossoms and green pheasants" by [[Kōno Bairei]], 1883
File:Pomological Watercolor POM00005183.jpg|Peach (cultivar 'Berry'), watercolour, 1895
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Okie, William Thomas. ''The Georgia Peach: Culture, Agriculture, and Environment in the American South'' (Cambridge Studies on the American South, 2016).

== External links ==
{{Commons category multi|Peaches|Prunus persica}}
{{Wikispecies|Prunus persica}}
* {{PFAF|Prunus persica}}
* [http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/peach.html National Center for Home Food Preservation—Freezing Peaches]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121011063802/http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/prpe3.htm Bioimages.vanderbilt.edu – ''Prunus persica'' images]
* [http://www.clemson.edu/peach Clemson.edu: Everything About Peaches]

{{Peaches}}
{{US state flowers}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q13189}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Crops originating from China]]
[[Category:Flora of China|Flora of China]]
[[Category:Fruits originating in East Asia]]
[[Category:Garden plants of Asia]]
[[Category:Ornamental trees]]
[[Category:Peaches]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Prunus]]
[[Category:Drupes]]
[[Category:Fruit trees]]
[[Category:Symbols of Alabama]]
[[Category:Symbols of Georgia (U.S. state)]]

Moken

2024-09-17T08:36:29Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Underwater sight */ Deleted last two paragraphs, in the former for redundancy and failing to be supported by the citation, in the latter for not being relevant to underwater sight (it's reference is about spleen size and hypoxia in a different population of sea divers)

{{Short description|Ethnic group of the Mergui Archipelago and Surin Islands}}
{{for|the language|Moken language}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Moken people''' '''Mawken/Morgan''' '''ဆလုံလူမျိုး/ชาวเล'''
| image = Moken girl.jpg
| caption = Moken girl wearing [[thanaka]] on her face
| population = 2,000 to 3,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/de15a14a-a357-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0|title=The lost world: Myanmar's Mergui Islands|website=Financial Times|date=19 April 2013 |access-date=2017-11-10}}</ref>
| popplace = {{flag|Thailand}} {{flag|Myanmar}}
| langs = [[Moken language|Moken]], [[Malay language| Malay]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], others
| rels = [[Veneration of the dead|Ancestor worship]], [[Buddhism]], [[Islam]]
| related = [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]], [[Orang Laut]], [[Bajau people|Bajau]]|
}}
[[File:Sea Nomads distribution map.jpg|thumb|300px|Regions inhabited by peoples usually known as "Sea Nomads".<ref name="sopher">{{cite journal|author=David E. Sopher|year=1965|title=The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum|volume=5|pages=389–403|doi=10.2307/2051635 |jstor=2051635|s2cid=162358347 }}</ref> {{Legend|#86adfd|Moken}}{{Legend|#e8bb9c|[[Orang laut]]}}{{Legend|#88c885|[[Sama-Bajau]]}}]]
The '''Moken''' (also '''Mawken''' or '''Morgan'''; {{Lang-my|ဆလုံ လူမျိုး}}; {{lang-th|ชาวเล|lit=sea people|translit=chao le}}) are an [[Austronesian people]] of the [[Mergui Archipelago]], a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the [[Surin Islands]]. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 Moken live a semi-nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle heavily based on the sea, though this lifestyle is increasingly under threat.

The Moken identify in a common culture; there are 1500 men and 1500 women who speak the [[Moken language]], a distinct [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]]. Attempts by both Myanmar and Thailand to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] the Moken into the wider regional culture have met with very limited success.<ref name=Ivanoff_Bountry>{{cite web |url=http://www.lampipark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Moken-Sea-gypsies.pdf |format=PDF |title=Moken sea-gypsies |last=Ivanoff |first=Jacques |last2=Bountry |first2=Maxime |work=Lampi Marine National Park |publisher=International Scientific Network Tanaosri |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> However, the Moken face an uncertain future as their population decreases and their nomadic lifestyle and unsettled legal status leave them marginalized by modern property and immigration laws, maritime conservation and development programs, and tightening border policies.<ref>Some classifications do not include Moken under the Malayan languages, or even under the Aboriginal Malay group of languages. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt "Ethnologue report for Moken/Moklen" ''Ethnologue'']. Moken is considered part of, but isolated within, the (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian family, displaying no particular affinities to any other (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian language. Moreover, it has undergone strong areal influence from neighbouring Mon–Khmer languages, comparable to, but apparently independently from the [[Chamic languages]].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/moken-sea-gypsies |title='The ocean is our universe' - Survival International |publisher=Survivalinternational |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/25/stateless-sea/moken-burma-and-thailand |title=The Moken of Burma and Thailand |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://projectmoken.com/the-moken/ |title=The Moken |publisher=Projectmoken.com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
The people refer to themselves as Moken. The name is used for all of the Austronesian speaking tribes who inhabit the coast and islands in the [[Andaman Sea]] on the west coast of [[Thailand]], the provinces of [[Satun Province|Satun]], [[Trang Province|Trang]], [[Krabi Province|Krabi]], [[Phuket Province|Phuket]], [[Phang Nga Province|Phang Nga]], and [[Ranong Province|Ranong]], up through the [[Mergui Archipelago]] of Myanmar. The group includes the Moken proper, the Moklen (Moklem), the Orang Sireh ([[Betel]]-leaf People), and the Orang Lanta. The last, the Orang Lanta, are a hybridized group formed when the Malay people settled the [[Lanta Islands]] where the proto-Malay Orang Sireh had been living. The Moken are considered to be mostly sedentary with more permanent villages in the provinces of Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Satun. These individuals also have closer ties to the countries in which they reside as they accept both the nationality and citizenship. Their children are also educated through local schools and are exposed to more mainstream cultural ideas. The Moken residing on the [[Surin Islands]] retain their more traditional methods and lifestyle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Moken Traditional Knowledge: An Unrecognised Form of Natural Resources Management and Conservation|last=Arunotai|first=Narumon|journal=International Social Science Journal|date=December 20, 2006|volume=58|issue=187|pages=139–150|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00599.x}}</ref>

The [[Burmese language|Burmese]] call the Moken ''Salone''.<ref>Anderson, John (1890). ''The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago''. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 1–5.</ref> In [[Thailand]] they are called ''chao le'', which can mean people who "live by the sea and pursue a marine livelihood" or those who speak the Austronesian language.<ref name=":0" /> Another term that can be used is ''chao nam'' ("people of the water"), although these terms are also used loosely to include the [[Urak Lawoi]] and even the [[Orang Laut]]. In Thailand, acculturated Moken are called ''Thai mai'' ("new Thais").

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Moken are also called "sea gypsies" (unrelated to the [[Romani people]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Fry |first1=Gerald W. |last2=Nieminen |first2=Gayla S. |last3=Smith |first3=Harold E. |year=2013 |title=Moken |encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Thailand |edition=Third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=253 |isbn=978-0-8108-7802-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 }}</ref><ref name="Verschuur-2019">{{Cite book|last=Verschuur |first=Xanthe |year=2019 |title=The Impact of Tourism on the Livelihood Strategies of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies': A Case Study on Koh Phayam, Thailand |location=Wageningen, Netherlands |publisher=[[Wageningen UR]] |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/526916 }}</ref> a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in [[Southeast Asia]] (see [[Sea Gypsies (disambiguation)]]). The [[Urak Lawoi]] are sometimes classified with the Moken, but they are linguistically and ethnologically distinct, being much more closely related to the Malay people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/urk|title=Urak Lawoi'|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628213628/http://iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-06-28 |title=Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago, Tarutao National Marine Park, Satun Province, Thailand |author=Dr. Supin Wongbusarakum |date=December 2005 }}</ref>

==Way of life==
[[File:Moken boat.jpg|thumb|A Moken boat. Note the bifurcated bow missing in traditional Thai fishing boats.]]
Their knowledge of the sea enables them to live off its [[fauna]] and [[flora]] by using simple tools such as nets and spears to forage for food, which allows them to impact the environment more minimally than other more intensive forms of subsistence. Furthermore, their frequent movement in kin groups of between two and ten families also allows the land to rest and prevents overuse. Moken are considered hunter-gatherers due to their nomadic lifestyle and lack of material good accumulation. They also believe strongly in the idea that natural resources cannot be owned individually but are rather something that the entire community has access to without restrictions. Their egalitarian society follows into their ancestral worship as they regularly present supernatural beings with food offerings. Aside from [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor worship]], the Moken have no religion.<ref name="BP-20170212">{{cite news|last1=Na Thalang|first1=Jeerawat|title=Sea gypsies turning the tide|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1197265/sea-gypsies-turning-the-tide|access-date=12 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=12 February 2017}}</ref>

More recently, they have reached out and begun trading some food ([[Sea cucumber|sea cucumbers]] and edible bird nests) as well as marine products like pearls for other necessities at local markets. Trading and epidemics ([[cholera]] and [[smallpox]]) also lead to their nomadic lifestyles in order to collect a variety of products to trade and to avoid the spread of deadly diseases. If an epidemic begins to spread, the infected members will remain at the location with a small amount of provisions, while healthy members will depart to a new location. The hope is that the provisions will allow the sick enough time to recuperate while not endangering the rest of the kin group with their sickness. The nomadic lifestyle can also reduce group conflict as affected parties may leave one kin group and enter another to give some distance and allow the feud to die down. After some time has passed and the arguing parties see each other once more, the intensity of the argument will have decreased leading to more amicable relationships.<ref name=":0" /> The Moken use 83 plant species for food, 33 for medicinal purposes, 53 for construction of huts, boats and tools, and 54 species for other purposes.<ref name=":0" />

During the dry north-east [[monsoon season]] (when the sea is relatively calm), the Moken used to live on their boats called ''[[Kabang (boat)|kabang]]'', which served not just as transportation, but also as a kitchen, bedroom, and living area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Kabang'': the living boat |journal=Techniques & Culture |date=2001-01-01 |last=Hinshiranan |first=Narumon |volume=35–36 |pages=499–507 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/tc/310 |issn=1952-420X |doi=10.4000/tc.310 |access-date=2023-07-14|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-moken-kaban.html |title=The Moken Kabang |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |work=Indigenous Boats |date=2012-10-13 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> The last ''kabang'' of the [[Surin Islands]] was built in 2006 and an initiative to revive the tradition started in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andamannetwork.org/cause/build-a-new-moken-kabang-houseboat/ |title=Build a New Moken Kabang Houseboat |work=Projects |publisher=North Andaman Network Foundation |date=2018-06-27 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> Previously the Moken used a ''kabang koman'', "a dug-out boat equipped with a [[salacca]] gunwale [where] Salacca is a light wood with a long stem".<ref name=":0" /> To construct the boat, the different pieces are fitted into each other with the natural resources the Moken can find on land. The boat's usage was discontinued more than 40 years ago as the salt water eroded the wood within three to sixth months, therefore new techniques were devised to create more robust boats. The ''kabang'' lasts longer and one anthropologist, Jacques Ivanoff, suggests that the boat with its bifurcated bow and stern represent the human body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ivanoff_Bountry" /> In monsoon season, which falls between the months of May and October, they set temporary camps on the mainland. During the [[monsoon]] season, they build additional boats and forage for food in the forest.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives; however, much of their traditional life, which is built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat.<ref>{{cite news |title=The South Asian monsoon, past, present and future |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2019/06/27/the-south-asian-monsoon-past-present-and-future |access-date=20 August 2019 |publisher=The Economist (online: free registration or subscription) |date=June 29, 2019 |pages=45–46 (two sentences) |quote="Their boat-dwelling descendants live on as the Moken, Orang Suku Laut and Bajau Laut. Today they are marginalised, subjected to ever-tightening pressure by the state to respect borders and come ashore."}}</ref>

== History ==
There is much speculation as to the historical origins of the Moken people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolff |first=John U. |year=2018 |title=Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=523–524 |isbn=978-1-5017-3598-1 }}</ref> It is thought that, due to their Austronesian language, they originated in Southern China as agriculturalists 5000–6000 years ago. From there, the Austronesian peoples dispersed and settled various South Asian Islands. It is theorized that the Moken were forced off of these coastal islands into a nomadic lifestyle on the water due to rising sea levels.

==Underwater sight==
For most of the human population, unaided vision underwater is very poor because the eye's [[cornea]] fails to focus light onto the [[retina]]. In the air, the cornea accomplishes two thirds of the focussing of light; this is missing when underwater, yielding [[Defocus aberration|blur]].<ref name="Gislén2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Dacke|first2=Marie|last3=Kröger|first3=Ronald H.H|last4=Abrahamsson|first4=Maths|last5=Nilsson|first5=Dan-Eric|last6=Warrant|first6=Eric J|date=May 2003|title=Superior Underwater Vision in a Human Population of Sea Gypsies|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=10|pages=833–836|doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00290-2|pmid=12747831|s2cid=18731746|issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moken children, however, are able to see underwater while [[freediving]] to collect clams, sea cucumbers, and more. Anna Gislén and colleagues showed that the children see better [[underwater vision|underwater]] than European children: their "spatial resolution ... [is] more than twice as good".<ref name="Gislén2006">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Warrant|first2=Eric J.|last3=Dacke|first3=Marie|last4=Kröger|first4=Ronald H.H.|date=October 2006|title=Visual training improves underwater vision in children|journal=Vision Research|volume=46|issue=20|pages=3443–3450|doi=10.1016/j.visres.2006.05.004|pmid=16806388|issn=0042-6989|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The researchers showed that the Moken children have the ability to [[Pupillary reflex|constrict]] their [[pupil]]s when underwater and the ability to [[Accommodation (eye)|increase the power of their eyes' lenses]] to the maximum when underwater. Decreasing the size of the pupil improves the eye's [[depth of field]], reducing blur; increasing the power of the eyes' lenses also reduces blur.<ref name="Gislén2003"></ref><ref name = "Travis2003">{{cite journal |last= Travis |first= J. |title= Children of Sea See Clearly Underwater | journal= [[Science News]] | volume= 163 | issue= 20 | pages= 308–309 |date= 2003-05-17 |url= http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm#18 |access-date= 2018-05-06 | doi= 10.2307/4014626|jstor= 4014626 }}</ref>

The researchers ruled out other possible explanations for the Moken children's underwater abilities: They had not, at some state of their evolutionary history, traded off focussing power from the corneas to their eyes' lenses. Their eyes are not [[myopic|shortsighted]]. Their ability to alter the power of their lenses is not superior.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Later, Gislén and others trained European children to see better underwater, for example by crossing their eyes, which increases the power of their lenses and reduces the diameter of their pupils. They found that the European children could then see as well underwater as the Moken children. <ref name="Gislén2006" />

==Governmental control==
The [[Burma|Burmese]] and [[Thailand|Thai]] governments have made attempts at assimilating the people into their own culture, but these efforts have met with limited success. Thai Moken have been permanently settled in villages located in the [[Surin Island]]s ([[Mu Ko Surin National Park]]),<ref name="settings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/surin7.htm|title=Environmental, social and cultural settings of the Surin Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140627232306/http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|url-status=dead|title="Mu Ko Surin National Park" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok, Thailand|archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> in [[Phuket Province]], on the northwestern coast of Phuket Island, and on the nearby [[Phi Phi]] Islands of [[Krabi Province]].<ref>Bauerlein, Monika (November 2005) "Sea change: they outsmarted the tsunami, but Thailand's ''sea gypsies'' could be swept away by an even greater force" ''Mother Jones'' 30(6): pp. 56–61;</ref>

The [[Andaman Sea]] off the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] coast was the subject of keen scrutiny from Myanmar's regime during the 1990s due to offshore [[petroleum]] discoveries by [[multinational corporation]]s including [[Unocal]], [[Petronas]] and others. Reports from the late-1990s told of forced relocation by Myanmar's [[military regime]] of the sea nomads to mainland sites. It was claimed most of the Moken peoples had been relocated by 1997, which is consistent with a pervasive pattern of [[forced relocation]] of suspect ethnic, economic and political groups, conducted throughout Myanmar during the 1990s.

In Thailand, the Moken have been the target of [[Land grabbing|land grabs]] by developers contesting their ownership of ancestral lands. Although nomadic peoples have resided in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces for several centuries, they have historically neglected to register official ownership of the land due to their lack of knowledge and involvement in legal protocol.<ref name="BP-20170212" />

==2004 tsunami==
The islands the Moken inhabit received much attention during the recovery from the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 tsunami]]. As they are keenly attuned to the ocean, the Moken in the [[Surin Islands]] knew the tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 was coming and managed to preserve many lives.<ref name=ISDR>{{cite book |last=Arunotai |first1=Narumon |url=https://www.unisdr.org/files/3646_IndigenousKnowledgeDRR.pdf |format=PDF |title=Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region |chapter=Saved by an Old Legend and a Keen Observation: The Case of Moken Sea Nomads in Thailand |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Rajib |editor2-last=Baumwoll |editor2-first=Jennifer |location=Bangkok |publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction]] |date=July 2008 |pages=72–78 |accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref> However, in the coastal villages of [[Phang Nga Province]], like [[Tap Tawan]], the Moken suffered severe devastation to housing and fishing boats in common with other Moken communities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Mark |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |title=PHOTOS: Thailand's fisherfolk rebuild after tsunami |work=AlertNet |publisher=[[Reuters Foundation]] |date=2005-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810203619/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |archivedate=2007-08-10 |accessdate=2023-07-14 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Moklenic languages]]
* [[Sama-Bajau]]
* [[Sea nomad (disambiguation)|Sea Nomads]], a disambiguation page
* [[Urak Lawoi]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
*[[Hugo Bernatzik|Bernatzik, H. A.]], & Ivanoff, J. (2005). ''Moken and Semang: 1936–2004, persistence and change''. Bangkok: White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-480-082-8}}
*Ivanoff, J. (2001). ''Rings of coral: Moken folktales''. Mergui archipelago project, no. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-7534-71-1}}
*Ivanoff, J. (1999). ''The Moken boat: symbolic technology''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-8434-90-7}}
*Ivanoff, J., Cholmeley, F. N., & Ivanoff, P. (1997). ''Moken: sea-gypsies of the Andaman Sea, post-war chronicles''. Bangkok: Cheney. {{ISBN|974-8496-65-1}}
*Lewis, M. B. (1960). ''Moken texts and word-list; a provisional interpretation''. Federation museums journal, v.4. [Kuala Lumpur]: Museums Dept., Federation of Malaya.
*White, W. G. (1922). ''The sea gypsies of Malaya; an account of the nomadic Mawken people of the Mergui Archipelago with a description of their ways of living, customs, habits, boats, occupations, etc''. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
*White, W. G. (1911). ''An introduction to the Mawken language''. Toungoo: S.P.G. Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|section|date=July 2017}}
{{commons category|Moken}}
* [http://projectmoken.com Project Moken]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-sea-gypsies-50109115/ "The Sea Gypsies"] (CBS-TV; 60 Minutes; 2005).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106051251/http://www.enchantingmyanmar.com/2011/01/salons-sea-gypsies-of-myanmar/ Salons: Sea Gypsies @ Enchanting Myanmar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524082833/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/ Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Subscription Required)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141844/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/online_extra.html Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Tsunami Extra)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622123216/http://www.phuketmagazine.com/the-moken-traditional-sea-gypsies/ Phuket Magazine: The Moken – Traditional Sea Gypsies]
* [http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm ProjectMaje.org] – Burma "Sea Gypsies" Compendium
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817091532/http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Moken Moken language and verbs]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt Ethnologue report for Moken]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930144758/http://www.xpeditions.be/publication/seagypsies/seagypsies.html The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island] – Expeditions, Research in Applied Anthropology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032253/http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=34 "The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island" by Antonio Graceffo]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article6902678.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6902678&sectionName=UKScience images of Moken children underwater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229164936/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/myanmar_moken.html Moken-Video-NAG]
* [http://www.burmaboating.com/blog/2013/10/7/book-on-the-mergui-archipelago-and-the-moken-people-reading-recommendations A reading list of books on the Moken and the Mergui Archipelago]
* [https://archive.org/details/Moken Moken music, Archive.org]

{{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Austronesian peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]

Moken

2024-09-17T08:35:45Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Undid revision 1246161777 by Robert P. O'Shea (talk)

{{Short description|Ethnic group of the Mergui Archipelago and Surin Islands}}
{{for|the language|Moken language}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Moken people''' '''Mawken/Morgan''' '''ဆလုံလူမျိုး/ชาวเล'''
| image = Moken girl.jpg
| caption = Moken girl wearing [[thanaka]] on her face
| population = 2,000 to 3,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/de15a14a-a357-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0|title=The lost world: Myanmar's Mergui Islands|website=Financial Times|date=19 April 2013 |access-date=2017-11-10}}</ref>
| popplace = {{flag|Thailand}} {{flag|Myanmar}}
| langs = [[Moken language|Moken]], [[Malay language| Malay]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], others
| rels = [[Veneration of the dead|Ancestor worship]], [[Buddhism]], [[Islam]]
| related = [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]], [[Orang Laut]], [[Bajau people|Bajau]]|
}}
[[File:Sea Nomads distribution map.jpg|thumb|300px|Regions inhabited by peoples usually known as "Sea Nomads".<ref name="sopher">{{cite journal|author=David E. Sopher|year=1965|title=The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum|volume=5|pages=389–403|doi=10.2307/2051635 |jstor=2051635|s2cid=162358347 }}</ref> {{Legend|#86adfd|Moken}}{{Legend|#e8bb9c|[[Orang laut]]}}{{Legend|#88c885|[[Sama-Bajau]]}}]]
The '''Moken''' (also '''Mawken''' or '''Morgan'''; {{Lang-my|ဆလုံ လူမျိုး}}; {{lang-th|ชาวเล|lit=sea people|translit=chao le}}) are an [[Austronesian people]] of the [[Mergui Archipelago]], a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the [[Surin Islands]]. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 Moken live a semi-nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle heavily based on the sea, though this lifestyle is increasingly under threat.

The Moken identify in a common culture; there are 1500 men and 1500 women who speak the [[Moken language]], a distinct [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]]. Attempts by both Myanmar and Thailand to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] the Moken into the wider regional culture have met with very limited success.<ref name=Ivanoff_Bountry>{{cite web |url=http://www.lampipark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Moken-Sea-gypsies.pdf |format=PDF |title=Moken sea-gypsies |last=Ivanoff |first=Jacques |last2=Bountry |first2=Maxime |work=Lampi Marine National Park |publisher=International Scientific Network Tanaosri |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> However, the Moken face an uncertain future as their population decreases and their nomadic lifestyle and unsettled legal status leave them marginalized by modern property and immigration laws, maritime conservation and development programs, and tightening border policies.<ref>Some classifications do not include Moken under the Malayan languages, or even under the Aboriginal Malay group of languages. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt "Ethnologue report for Moken/Moklen" ''Ethnologue'']. Moken is considered part of, but isolated within, the (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian family, displaying no particular affinities to any other (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian language. Moreover, it has undergone strong areal influence from neighbouring Mon–Khmer languages, comparable to, but apparently independently from the [[Chamic languages]].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/moken-sea-gypsies |title='The ocean is our universe' - Survival International |publisher=Survivalinternational |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/25/stateless-sea/moken-burma-and-thailand |title=The Moken of Burma and Thailand |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://projectmoken.com/the-moken/ |title=The Moken |publisher=Projectmoken.com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
The people refer to themselves as Moken. The name is used for all of the Austronesian speaking tribes who inhabit the coast and islands in the [[Andaman Sea]] on the west coast of [[Thailand]], the provinces of [[Satun Province|Satun]], [[Trang Province|Trang]], [[Krabi Province|Krabi]], [[Phuket Province|Phuket]], [[Phang Nga Province|Phang Nga]], and [[Ranong Province|Ranong]], up through the [[Mergui Archipelago]] of Myanmar. The group includes the Moken proper, the Moklen (Moklem), the Orang Sireh ([[Betel]]-leaf People), and the Orang Lanta. The last, the Orang Lanta, are a hybridized group formed when the Malay people settled the [[Lanta Islands]] where the proto-Malay Orang Sireh had been living. The Moken are considered to be mostly sedentary with more permanent villages in the provinces of Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Satun. These individuals also have closer ties to the countries in which they reside as they accept both the nationality and citizenship. Their children are also educated through local schools and are exposed to more mainstream cultural ideas. The Moken residing on the [[Surin Islands]] retain their more traditional methods and lifestyle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Moken Traditional Knowledge: An Unrecognised Form of Natural Resources Management and Conservation|last=Arunotai|first=Narumon|journal=International Social Science Journal|date=December 20, 2006|volume=58|issue=187|pages=139–150|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00599.x}}</ref>

The [[Burmese language|Burmese]] call the Moken ''Salone''.<ref>Anderson, John (1890). ''The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago''. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 1–5.</ref> In [[Thailand]] they are called ''chao le'', which can mean people who "live by the sea and pursue a marine livelihood" or those who speak the Austronesian language.<ref name=":0" /> Another term that can be used is ''chao nam'' ("people of the water"), although these terms are also used loosely to include the [[Urak Lawoi]] and even the [[Orang Laut]]. In Thailand, acculturated Moken are called ''Thai mai'' ("new Thais").

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Moken are also called "sea gypsies" (unrelated to the [[Romani people]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Fry |first1=Gerald W. |last2=Nieminen |first2=Gayla S. |last3=Smith |first3=Harold E. |year=2013 |title=Moken |encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Thailand |edition=Third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=253 |isbn=978-0-8108-7802-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 }}</ref><ref name="Verschuur-2019">{{Cite book|last=Verschuur |first=Xanthe |year=2019 |title=The Impact of Tourism on the Livelihood Strategies of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies': A Case Study on Koh Phayam, Thailand |location=Wageningen, Netherlands |publisher=[[Wageningen UR]] |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/526916 }}</ref> a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in [[Southeast Asia]] (see [[Sea Gypsies (disambiguation)]]). The [[Urak Lawoi]] are sometimes classified with the Moken, but they are linguistically and ethnologically distinct, being much more closely related to the Malay people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/urk|title=Urak Lawoi'|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628213628/http://iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-06-28 |title=Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago, Tarutao National Marine Park, Satun Province, Thailand |author=Dr. Supin Wongbusarakum |date=December 2005 }}</ref>

==Way of life==
[[File:Moken boat.jpg|thumb|A Moken boat. Note the bifurcated bow missing in traditional Thai fishing boats.]]
Their knowledge of the sea enables them to live off its [[fauna]] and [[flora]] by using simple tools such as nets and spears to forage for food, which allows them to impact the environment more minimally than other more intensive forms of subsistence. Furthermore, their frequent movement in kin groups of between two and ten families also allows the land to rest and prevents overuse. Moken are considered hunter-gatherers due to their nomadic lifestyle and lack of material good accumulation. They also believe strongly in the idea that natural resources cannot be owned individually but are rather something that the entire community has access to without restrictions. Their egalitarian society follows into their ancestral worship as they regularly present supernatural beings with food offerings. Aside from [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor worship]], the Moken have no religion.<ref name="BP-20170212">{{cite news|last1=Na Thalang|first1=Jeerawat|title=Sea gypsies turning the tide|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1197265/sea-gypsies-turning-the-tide|access-date=12 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=12 February 2017}}</ref>

More recently, they have reached out and begun trading some food ([[Sea cucumber|sea cucumbers]] and edible bird nests) as well as marine products like pearls for other necessities at local markets. Trading and epidemics ([[cholera]] and [[smallpox]]) also lead to their nomadic lifestyles in order to collect a variety of products to trade and to avoid the spread of deadly diseases. If an epidemic begins to spread, the infected members will remain at the location with a small amount of provisions, while healthy members will depart to a new location. The hope is that the provisions will allow the sick enough time to recuperate while not endangering the rest of the kin group with their sickness. The nomadic lifestyle can also reduce group conflict as affected parties may leave one kin group and enter another to give some distance and allow the feud to die down. After some time has passed and the arguing parties see each other once more, the intensity of the argument will have decreased leading to more amicable relationships.<ref name=":0" /> The Moken use 83 plant species for food, 33 for medicinal purposes, 53 for construction of huts, boats and tools, and 54 species for other purposes.<ref name=":0" />

During the dry north-east [[monsoon season]] (when the sea is relatively calm), the Moken used to live on their boats called ''[[Kabang (boat)|kabang]]'', which served not just as transportation, but also as a kitchen, bedroom, and living area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Kabang'': the living boat |journal=Techniques & Culture |date=2001-01-01 |last=Hinshiranan |first=Narumon |volume=35–36 |pages=499–507 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/tc/310 |issn=1952-420X |doi=10.4000/tc.310 |access-date=2023-07-14|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-moken-kaban.html |title=The Moken Kabang |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |work=Indigenous Boats |date=2012-10-13 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> The last ''kabang'' of the [[Surin Islands]] was built in 2006 and an initiative to revive the tradition started in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andamannetwork.org/cause/build-a-new-moken-kabang-houseboat/ |title=Build a New Moken Kabang Houseboat |work=Projects |publisher=North Andaman Network Foundation |date=2018-06-27 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> Previously the Moken used a ''kabang koman'', "a dug-out boat equipped with a [[salacca]] gunwale [where] Salacca is a light wood with a long stem".<ref name=":0" /> To construct the boat, the different pieces are fitted into each other with the natural resources the Moken can find on land. The boat's usage was discontinued more than 40 years ago as the salt water eroded the wood within three to sixth months, therefore new techniques were devised to create more robust boats. The ''kabang'' lasts longer and one anthropologist, Jacques Ivanoff, suggests that the boat with its bifurcated bow and stern represent the human body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ivanoff_Bountry" /> In monsoon season, which falls between the months of May and October, they set temporary camps on the mainland. During the [[monsoon]] season, they build additional boats and forage for food in the forest.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives; however, much of their traditional life, which is built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat.<ref>{{cite news |title=The South Asian monsoon, past, present and future |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2019/06/27/the-south-asian-monsoon-past-present-and-future |access-date=20 August 2019 |publisher=The Economist (online: free registration or subscription) |date=June 29, 2019 |pages=45–46 (two sentences) |quote="Their boat-dwelling descendants live on as the Moken, Orang Suku Laut and Bajau Laut. Today they are marginalised, subjected to ever-tightening pressure by the state to respect borders and come ashore."}}</ref>

== History ==
There is much speculation as to the historical origins of the Moken people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolff |first=John U. |year=2018 |title=Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=523–524 |isbn=978-1-5017-3598-1 }}</ref> It is thought that, due to their Austronesian language, they originated in Southern China as agriculturalists 5000–6000 years ago. From there, the Austronesian peoples dispersed and settled various South Asian Islands. It is theorized that the Moken were forced off of these coastal islands into a nomadic lifestyle on the water due to rising sea levels.

==Underwater sight==
For most of the human population, unaided vision underwater is very poor because the eye's [[cornea]] fails to focus light onto the [[retina]]. In the air, the cornea accomplishes two thirds of the focussing of light; this is missing when underwater, yielding [[Defocus aberration|blur]].<ref name="Gislén2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Dacke|first2=Marie|last3=Kröger|first3=Ronald H.H|last4=Abrahamsson|first4=Maths|last5=Nilsson|first5=Dan-Eric|last6=Warrant|first6=Eric J|date=May 2003|title=Superior Underwater Vision in a Human Population of Sea Gypsies|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=10|pages=833–836|doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00290-2|pmid=12747831|s2cid=18731746|issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moken children, however, are able to see underwater while [[freediving]] to collect clams, sea cucumbers, and more. Anna Gislén and colleagues showed that the children see better [[underwater vision|underwater]] than European children: their "spatial resolution ... [is] more than twice as good".<ref name="Gislén2006">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Warrant|first2=Eric J.|last3=Dacke|first3=Marie|last4=Kröger|first4=Ronald H.H.|date=October 2006|title=Visual training improves underwater vision in children|journal=Vision Research|volume=46|issue=20|pages=3443–3450|doi=10.1016/j.visres.2006.05.004|pmid=16806388|issn=0042-6989|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The researchers showed that the Moken children have the ability to [[Pupillary reflex|constrict]] their [[pupil]]s when underwater and the ability to [[Accommodation (eye)|increase the power of their eyes' lenses]] to the maximum when underwater. Decreasing the size of the pupil improves the eye's [[depth of field]], reducing blur; increasing the power of the eyes' lenses also reduces blur.<ref name="Gislén2003"></ref><ref name = "Travis2003">{{cite journal |last= Travis |first= J. |title= Children of Sea See Clearly Underwater | journal= [[Science News]] | volume= 163 | issue= 20 | pages= 308–309 |date= 2003-05-17 |url= http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm#18 |access-date= 2018-05-06 | doi= 10.2307/4014626|jstor= 4014626 }}</ref>

The researchers ruled out other possible explanations for the Moken children's underwater abilities: They had not, at some state of their evolutionary history, traded off focussing power from the corneas to their eyes' lenses. Their eyes are not [[myopic|shortsighted]]. Their ability to alter the power of their lenses is not superior.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Later, Gislén and others trained European children to see better underwater, for example by crossing their eyes, which increases the power of their lenses and reduces the diameter of their pupils. They found that the European children could then see as well underwater as the Moken children. <ref name="Gislén2006" />

At the same time, Gislén also documented that the European children sustained temporary eye irritation ("red eyes") as a result of their underwater dives, unlike the Moken children.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Gislén's work highlights that both environmental/behavioral [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] and [[evolutionary adaptation]] are involved in the reported phenomenon of improved aquatic vision in Moken children.

Members of another sea nomad group, the [[Sama-Bajau]], appear to have a number of [[Sama-Bajau#Free-diving adaptations|genetic adaptations]] to facilitate a lifestyle involving extensive freediving.<ref name="Ilardo2018">{{cite journal|last1= Ilardo|first1=M. A.|last2= Moltke|first2= I.|last3= Korneliussen|first3=T. S.|last4= Cheng|first4= J.|last5= Stern|first5=A. J.|last6= Racimo|first6= F.|last7=de Barros Damgaard|first7= P.|last8= Sikora|first8= M.|last9= Seguin-Orlando|first9= A.|last10= Rasmussen|first10= S.|last11=van den Munckhof|first11=I. C. L.|last12=ter Horst|first12= R.|last13= Joosten|first13=L. A. B.|last14= Netea|first14=M. G.|last15= Salingkat|first15= S.|last16= Nielsen|first16= R.|last17= Willerslev|first17= E.|title= Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads|journal= Cell|volume= 173|issue= 3|date= 2018-04-18|pages= 569–580.e15|doi= 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054|pmid= 29677510|doi-access= free}}</ref>

==Governmental control==
The [[Burma|Burmese]] and [[Thailand|Thai]] governments have made attempts at assimilating the people into their own culture, but these efforts have met with limited success. Thai Moken have been permanently settled in villages located in the [[Surin Island]]s ([[Mu Ko Surin National Park]]),<ref name="settings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/surin7.htm|title=Environmental, social and cultural settings of the Surin Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140627232306/http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|url-status=dead|title="Mu Ko Surin National Park" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok, Thailand|archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> in [[Phuket Province]], on the northwestern coast of Phuket Island, and on the nearby [[Phi Phi]] Islands of [[Krabi Province]].<ref>Bauerlein, Monika (November 2005) "Sea change: they outsmarted the tsunami, but Thailand's ''sea gypsies'' could be swept away by an even greater force" ''Mother Jones'' 30(6): pp. 56–61;</ref>

The [[Andaman Sea]] off the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] coast was the subject of keen scrutiny from Myanmar's regime during the 1990s due to offshore [[petroleum]] discoveries by [[multinational corporation]]s including [[Unocal]], [[Petronas]] and others. Reports from the late-1990s told of forced relocation by Myanmar's [[military regime]] of the sea nomads to mainland sites. It was claimed most of the Moken peoples had been relocated by 1997, which is consistent with a pervasive pattern of [[forced relocation]] of suspect ethnic, economic and political groups, conducted throughout Myanmar during the 1990s.

In Thailand, the Moken have been the target of [[Land grabbing|land grabs]] by developers contesting their ownership of ancestral lands. Although nomadic peoples have resided in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces for several centuries, they have historically neglected to register official ownership of the land due to their lack of knowledge and involvement in legal protocol.<ref name="BP-20170212" />

==2004 tsunami==
The islands the Moken inhabit received much attention during the recovery from the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 tsunami]]. As they are keenly attuned to the ocean, the Moken in the [[Surin Islands]] knew the tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 was coming and managed to preserve many lives.<ref name=ISDR>{{cite book |last=Arunotai |first1=Narumon |url=https://www.unisdr.org/files/3646_IndigenousKnowledgeDRR.pdf |format=PDF |title=Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region |chapter=Saved by an Old Legend and a Keen Observation: The Case of Moken Sea Nomads in Thailand |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Rajib |editor2-last=Baumwoll |editor2-first=Jennifer |location=Bangkok |publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction]] |date=July 2008 |pages=72–78 |accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref> However, in the coastal villages of [[Phang Nga Province]], like [[Tap Tawan]], the Moken suffered severe devastation to housing and fishing boats in common with other Moken communities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Mark |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |title=PHOTOS: Thailand's fisherfolk rebuild after tsunami |work=AlertNet |publisher=[[Reuters Foundation]] |date=2005-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810203619/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |archivedate=2007-08-10 |accessdate=2023-07-14 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Moklenic languages]]
* [[Sama-Bajau]]
* [[Sea nomad (disambiguation)|Sea Nomads]], a disambiguation page
* [[Urak Lawoi]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
*[[Hugo Bernatzik|Bernatzik, H. A.]], & Ivanoff, J. (2005). ''Moken and Semang: 1936–2004, persistence and change''. Bangkok: White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-480-082-8}}
*Ivanoff, J. (2001). ''Rings of coral: Moken folktales''. Mergui archipelago project, no. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-7534-71-1}}
*Ivanoff, J. (1999). ''The Moken boat: symbolic technology''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-8434-90-7}}
*Ivanoff, J., Cholmeley, F. N., & Ivanoff, P. (1997). ''Moken: sea-gypsies of the Andaman Sea, post-war chronicles''. Bangkok: Cheney. {{ISBN|974-8496-65-1}}
*Lewis, M. B. (1960). ''Moken texts and word-list; a provisional interpretation''. Federation museums journal, v.4. [Kuala Lumpur]: Museums Dept., Federation of Malaya.
*White, W. G. (1922). ''The sea gypsies of Malaya; an account of the nomadic Mawken people of the Mergui Archipelago with a description of their ways of living, customs, habits, boats, occupations, etc''. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
*White, W. G. (1911). ''An introduction to the Mawken language''. Toungoo: S.P.G. Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|section|date=July 2017}}
{{commons category|Moken}}
* [http://projectmoken.com Project Moken]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-sea-gypsies-50109115/ "The Sea Gypsies"] (CBS-TV; 60 Minutes; 2005).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106051251/http://www.enchantingmyanmar.com/2011/01/salons-sea-gypsies-of-myanmar/ Salons: Sea Gypsies @ Enchanting Myanmar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524082833/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/ Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Subscription Required)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141844/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/online_extra.html Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Tsunami Extra)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622123216/http://www.phuketmagazine.com/the-moken-traditional-sea-gypsies/ Phuket Magazine: The Moken – Traditional Sea Gypsies]
* [http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm ProjectMaje.org] – Burma "Sea Gypsies" Compendium
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817091532/http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Moken Moken language and verbs]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt Ethnologue report for Moken]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930144758/http://www.xpeditions.be/publication/seagypsies/seagypsies.html The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island] – Expeditions, Research in Applied Anthropology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032253/http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=34 "The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island" by Antonio Graceffo]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article6902678.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6902678&sectionName=UKScience images of Moken children underwater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229164936/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/myanmar_moken.html Moken-Video-NAG]
* [http://www.burmaboating.com/blog/2013/10/7/book-on-the-mergui-archipelago-and-the-moken-people-reading-recommendations A reading list of books on the Moken and the Mergui Archipelago]
* [https://archive.org/details/Moken Moken music, Archive.org]

{{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Austronesian peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]

Moken

2024-09-17T08:33:37Z

Moken

2024-09-17T08:28:35Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Underwater sight */ Finish copyediting 3rd paragraph

{{Short description|Ethnic group of the Mergui Archipelago and Surin Islands}}
{{for|the language|Moken language}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Moken people''' '''Mawken/Morgan''' '''ဆလုံလူမျိုး/ชาวเล'''
| image = Moken girl.jpg
| caption = Moken girl wearing [[thanaka]] on her face
| population = 2,000 to 3,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/de15a14a-a357-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0|title=The lost world: Myanmar's Mergui Islands|website=Financial Times|date=19 April 2013 |access-date=2017-11-10}}</ref>
| popplace = {{flag|Thailand}} {{flag|Myanmar}}
| langs = [[Moken language|Moken]], [[Malay language| Malay]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], others
| rels = [[Veneration of the dead|Ancestor worship]], [[Buddhism]], [[Islam]]
| related = [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]], [[Orang Laut]], [[Bajau people|Bajau]]|
}}
[[File:Sea Nomads distribution map.jpg|thumb|300px|Regions inhabited by peoples usually known as "Sea Nomads".<ref name="sopher">{{cite journal|author=David E. Sopher|year=1965|title=The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum|volume=5|pages=389–403|doi=10.2307/2051635 |jstor=2051635|s2cid=162358347 }}</ref> {{Legend|#86adfd|Moken}}{{Legend|#e8bb9c|[[Orang laut]]}}{{Legend|#88c885|[[Sama-Bajau]]}}]]
The '''Moken''' (also '''Mawken''' or '''Morgan'''; {{Lang-my|ဆလုံ လူမျိုး}}; {{lang-th|ชาวเล|lit=sea people|translit=chao le}}) are an [[Austronesian people]] of the [[Mergui Archipelago]], a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the [[Surin Islands]]. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 Moken live a semi-nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle heavily based on the sea, though this lifestyle is increasingly under threat.

The Moken identify in a common culture; there are 1500 men and 1500 women who speak the [[Moken language]], a distinct [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]]. Attempts by both Myanmar and Thailand to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] the Moken into the wider regional culture have met with very limited success.<ref name=Ivanoff_Bountry>{{cite web |url=http://www.lampipark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Moken-Sea-gypsies.pdf |format=PDF |title=Moken sea-gypsies |last=Ivanoff |first=Jacques |last2=Bountry |first2=Maxime |work=Lampi Marine National Park |publisher=International Scientific Network Tanaosri |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> However, the Moken face an uncertain future as their population decreases and their nomadic lifestyle and unsettled legal status leave them marginalized by modern property and immigration laws, maritime conservation and development programs, and tightening border policies.<ref>Some classifications do not include Moken under the Malayan languages, or even under the Aboriginal Malay group of languages. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt "Ethnologue report for Moken/Moklen" ''Ethnologue'']. Moken is considered part of, but isolated within, the (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian family, displaying no particular affinities to any other (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian language. Moreover, it has undergone strong areal influence from neighbouring Mon–Khmer languages, comparable to, but apparently independently from the [[Chamic languages]].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/moken-sea-gypsies |title='The ocean is our universe' - Survival International |publisher=Survivalinternational |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/25/stateless-sea/moken-burma-and-thailand |title=The Moken of Burma and Thailand |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://projectmoken.com/the-moken/ |title=The Moken |publisher=Projectmoken.com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
The people refer to themselves as Moken. The name is used for all of the Austronesian speaking tribes who inhabit the coast and islands in the [[Andaman Sea]] on the west coast of [[Thailand]], the provinces of [[Satun Province|Satun]], [[Trang Province|Trang]], [[Krabi Province|Krabi]], [[Phuket Province|Phuket]], [[Phang Nga Province|Phang Nga]], and [[Ranong Province|Ranong]], up through the [[Mergui Archipelago]] of Myanmar. The group includes the Moken proper, the Moklen (Moklem), the Orang Sireh ([[Betel]]-leaf People), and the Orang Lanta. The last, the Orang Lanta, are a hybridized group formed when the Malay people settled the [[Lanta Islands]] where the proto-Malay Orang Sireh had been living. The Moken are considered to be mostly sedentary with more permanent villages in the provinces of Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Satun. These individuals also have closer ties to the countries in which they reside as they accept both the nationality and citizenship. Their children are also educated through local schools and are exposed to more mainstream cultural ideas. The Moken residing on the [[Surin Islands]] retain their more traditional methods and lifestyle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Moken Traditional Knowledge: An Unrecognised Form of Natural Resources Management and Conservation|last=Arunotai|first=Narumon|journal=International Social Science Journal|date=December 20, 2006|volume=58|issue=187|pages=139–150|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00599.x}}</ref>

The [[Burmese language|Burmese]] call the Moken ''Salone''.<ref>Anderson, John (1890). ''The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago''. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 1–5.</ref> In [[Thailand]] they are called ''chao le'', which can mean people who "live by the sea and pursue a marine livelihood" or those who speak the Austronesian language.<ref name=":0" /> Another term that can be used is ''chao nam'' ("people of the water"), although these terms are also used loosely to include the [[Urak Lawoi]] and even the [[Orang Laut]]. In Thailand, acculturated Moken are called ''Thai mai'' ("new Thais").

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Moken are also called "sea gypsies" (unrelated to the [[Romani people]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Fry |first1=Gerald W. |last2=Nieminen |first2=Gayla S. |last3=Smith |first3=Harold E. |year=2013 |title=Moken |encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Thailand |edition=Third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=253 |isbn=978-0-8108-7802-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 }}</ref><ref name="Verschuur-2019">{{Cite book|last=Verschuur |first=Xanthe |year=2019 |title=The Impact of Tourism on the Livelihood Strategies of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies': A Case Study on Koh Phayam, Thailand |location=Wageningen, Netherlands |publisher=[[Wageningen UR]] |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/526916 }}</ref> a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in [[Southeast Asia]] (see [[Sea Gypsies (disambiguation)]]). The [[Urak Lawoi]] are sometimes classified with the Moken, but they are linguistically and ethnologically distinct, being much more closely related to the Malay people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/urk|title=Urak Lawoi'|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628213628/http://iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-06-28 |title=Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago, Tarutao National Marine Park, Satun Province, Thailand |author=Dr. Supin Wongbusarakum |date=December 2005 }}</ref>

==Way of life==
[[File:Moken boat.jpg|thumb|A Moken boat. Note the bifurcated bow missing in traditional Thai fishing boats.]]
Their knowledge of the sea enables them to live off its [[fauna]] and [[flora]] by using simple tools such as nets and spears to forage for food, which allows them to impact the environment more minimally than other more intensive forms of subsistence. Furthermore, their frequent movement in kin groups of between two and ten families also allows the land to rest and prevents overuse. Moken are considered hunter-gatherers due to their nomadic lifestyle and lack of material good accumulation. They also believe strongly in the idea that natural resources cannot be owned individually but are rather something that the entire community has access to without restrictions. Their egalitarian society follows into their ancestral worship as they regularly present supernatural beings with food offerings. Aside from [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor worship]], the Moken have no religion.<ref name="BP-20170212">{{cite news|last1=Na Thalang|first1=Jeerawat|title=Sea gypsies turning the tide|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1197265/sea-gypsies-turning-the-tide|access-date=12 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=12 February 2017}}</ref>

More recently, they have reached out and begun trading some food ([[Sea cucumber|sea cucumbers]] and edible bird nests) as well as marine products like pearls for other necessities at local markets. Trading and epidemics ([[cholera]] and [[smallpox]]) also lead to their nomadic lifestyles in order to collect a variety of products to trade and to avoid the spread of deadly diseases. If an epidemic begins to spread, the infected members will remain at the location with a small amount of provisions, while healthy members will depart to a new location. The hope is that the provisions will allow the sick enough time to recuperate while not endangering the rest of the kin group with their sickness. The nomadic lifestyle can also reduce group conflict as affected parties may leave one kin group and enter another to give some distance and allow the feud to die down. After some time has passed and the arguing parties see each other once more, the intensity of the argument will have decreased leading to more amicable relationships.<ref name=":0" /> The Moken use 83 plant species for food, 33 for medicinal purposes, 53 for construction of huts, boats and tools, and 54 species for other purposes.<ref name=":0" />

During the dry north-east [[monsoon season]] (when the sea is relatively calm), the Moken used to live on their boats called ''[[Kabang (boat)|kabang]]'', which served not just as transportation, but also as a kitchen, bedroom, and living area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Kabang'': the living boat |journal=Techniques & Culture |date=2001-01-01 |last=Hinshiranan |first=Narumon |volume=35–36 |pages=499–507 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/tc/310 |issn=1952-420X |doi=10.4000/tc.310 |access-date=2023-07-14|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-moken-kaban.html |title=The Moken Kabang |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |work=Indigenous Boats |date=2012-10-13 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> The last ''kabang'' of the [[Surin Islands]] was built in 2006 and an initiative to revive the tradition started in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andamannetwork.org/cause/build-a-new-moken-kabang-houseboat/ |title=Build a New Moken Kabang Houseboat |work=Projects |publisher=North Andaman Network Foundation |date=2018-06-27 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> Previously the Moken used a ''kabang koman'', "a dug-out boat equipped with a [[salacca]] gunwale [where] Salacca is a light wood with a long stem".<ref name=":0" /> To construct the boat, the different pieces are fitted into each other with the natural resources the Moken can find on land. The boat's usage was discontinued more than 40 years ago as the salt water eroded the wood within three to sixth months, therefore new techniques were devised to create more robust boats. The ''kabang'' lasts longer and one anthropologist, Jacques Ivanoff, suggests that the boat with its bifurcated bow and stern represent the human body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ivanoff_Bountry" /> In monsoon season, which falls between the months of May and October, they set temporary camps on the mainland. During the [[monsoon]] season, they build additional boats and forage for food in the forest.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives; however, much of their traditional life, which is built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat.<ref>{{cite news |title=The South Asian monsoon, past, present and future |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2019/06/27/the-south-asian-monsoon-past-present-and-future |access-date=20 August 2019 |publisher=The Economist (online: free registration or subscription) |date=June 29, 2019 |pages=45–46 (two sentences) |quote="Their boat-dwelling descendants live on as the Moken, Orang Suku Laut and Bajau Laut. Today they are marginalised, subjected to ever-tightening pressure by the state to respect borders and come ashore."}}</ref>

== History ==
There is much speculation as to the historical origins of the Moken people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolff |first=John U. |year=2018 |title=Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=523–524 |isbn=978-1-5017-3598-1 }}</ref> It is thought that, due to their Austronesian language, they originated in Southern China as agriculturalists 5000–6000 years ago. From there, the Austronesian peoples dispersed and settled various South Asian Islands. It is theorized that the Moken were forced off of these coastal islands into a nomadic lifestyle on the water due to rising sea levels.

==Underwater sight==
For most of the human population, unaided vision underwater is very poor because the eye's [[cornea]] fails to focus light onto the [[retina]]. In the air, the cornea accomplishes two thirds of the focussing of light; this is missing when underwater, yielding [[Defocus aberration|blur]].<ref name="Gislén2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Dacke|first2=Marie|last3=Kröger|first3=Ronald H.H|last4=Abrahamsson|first4=Maths|last5=Nilsson|first5=Dan-Eric|last6=Warrant|first6=Eric J|date=May 2003|title=Superior Underwater Vision in a Human Population of Sea Gypsies|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=10|pages=833–836|doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00290-2|pmid=12747831|s2cid=18731746|issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moken children, however, are able to see underwater while [[freediving]] to collect clams, sea cucumbers, and more. Anna Gislén and colleagues showed that the children see better [[underwater vision|underwater]] than European children: their "spatial resolution ... [is] more than twice as good".<ref name="Gislén2006">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Warrant|first2=Eric J.|last3=Dacke|first3=Marie|last4=Kröger|first4=Ronald H.H.|date=October 2006|title=Visual training improves underwater vision in children|journal=Vision Research|volume=46|issue=20|pages=3443–3450|doi=10.1016/j.visres.2006.05.004|pmid=16806388|issn=0042-6989|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The researchers showed that the Moken children have the ability to [[Pupillary reflex|constrict]] their [[pupil]]s when underwater and the ability to [[Accommodation (eye)|increase the power of their eyes' lenses]] to the maximum when underwater. Decreasing the size of the pupil improves the eye's [[depth of field]], reducing blur; increasing the power of the eyes' lenses also reduces blur.<ref name="Gislén2003"></ref><ref name = "Travis2003">{{cite journal |last= Travis |first= J. |title= Children of Sea See Clearly Underwater | journal= [[Science News]] | volume= 163 | issue= 20 | pages= 308–309 |date= 2003-05-17 |url= http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm#18 |access-date= 2018-05-06 | doi= 10.2307/4014626|jstor= 4014626 }}</ref>

The researchers ruled out other possible explanations for the Moken children's underwater abilities: They had not, at some state of their evolutionary history, traded off focussing power from the corneas to their eyes' lenses. Their eyes are not [[myopic|shortsighted]]. Their ability to alter the power of their lenses is not superior.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Later, Gislén and others trained European children to see better underwater, for example by crossing their eyes, which increases the power of their lenses and reduces the diameter of their pupils. They found that the European children could then see as well underwater as the Moken children. <ref name="Gislén2006" />

At the same time, Gislén also documented that the European children sustained temporary eye irritation ("red eyes") as a result of their underwater dives, unlike the Moken children.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Gislén's work highlights that both environmental/behavioral [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] and [[evolutionary adaptation]] are involved in the reported phenomenon of improved aquatic vision in Moken children.

Members of another sea nomad group, the [[Sama-Bajau]], appear to have a number of [[Sama-Bajau#Free-diving adaptations|genetic adaptations]] to facilitate a lifestyle involving extensive freediving.<ref name="Ilardo2018">{{cite journal|last1= Ilardo|first1=M. A.|last2= Moltke|first2= I.|last3= Korneliussen|first3=T. S.|last4= Cheng|first4= J.|last5= Stern|first5=A. J.|last6= Racimo|first6= F.|last7=de Barros Damgaard|first7= P.|last8= Sikora|first8= M.|last9= Seguin-Orlando|first9= A.|last10= Rasmussen|first10= S.|last11=van den Munckhof|first11=I. C. L.|last12=ter Horst|first12= R.|last13= Joosten|first13=L. A. B.|last14= Netea|first14=M. G.|last15= Salingkat|first15= S.|last16= Nielsen|first16= R.|last17= Willerslev|first17= E.|title= Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads|journal= Cell|volume= 173|issue= 3|date= 2018-04-18|pages= 569–580.e15|doi= 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054|pmid= 29677510|doi-access= free}}</ref>

==Governmental control==
The [[Burma|Burmese]] and [[Thailand|Thai]] governments have made attempts at assimilating the people into their own culture, but these efforts have met with limited success. Thai Moken have been permanently settled in villages located in the [[Surin Island]]s ([[Mu Ko Surin National Park]]),<ref name="settings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/surin7.htm|title=Environmental, social and cultural settings of the Surin Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140627232306/http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|url-status=dead|title="Mu Ko Surin National Park" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok, Thailand|archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> in [[Phuket Province]], on the northwestern coast of Phuket Island, and on the nearby [[Phi Phi]] Islands of [[Krabi Province]].<ref>Bauerlein, Monika (November 2005) "Sea change: they outsmarted the tsunami, but Thailand's ''sea gypsies'' could be swept away by an even greater force" ''Mother Jones'' 30(6): pp. 56–61;</ref>

The [[Andaman Sea]] off the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] coast was the subject of keen scrutiny from Myanmar's regime during the 1990s due to offshore [[petroleum]] discoveries by [[multinational corporation]]s including [[Unocal]], [[Petronas]] and others. Reports from the late-1990s told of forced relocation by Myanmar's [[military regime]] of the sea nomads to mainland sites. It was claimed most of the Moken peoples had been relocated by 1997, which is consistent with a pervasive pattern of [[forced relocation]] of suspect ethnic, economic and political groups, conducted throughout Myanmar during the 1990s.

In Thailand, the Moken have been the target of [[Land grabbing|land grabs]] by developers contesting their ownership of ancestral lands. Although nomadic peoples have resided in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces for several centuries, they have historically neglected to register official ownership of the land due to their lack of knowledge and involvement in legal protocol.<ref name="BP-20170212" />

==2004 tsunami==
The islands the Moken inhabit received much attention during the recovery from the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 tsunami]]. As they are keenly attuned to the ocean, the Moken in the [[Surin Islands]] knew the tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 was coming and managed to preserve many lives.<ref name=ISDR>{{cite book |last=Arunotai |first1=Narumon |url=https://www.unisdr.org/files/3646_IndigenousKnowledgeDRR.pdf |format=PDF |title=Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region |chapter=Saved by an Old Legend and a Keen Observation: The Case of Moken Sea Nomads in Thailand |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Rajib |editor2-last=Baumwoll |editor2-first=Jennifer |location=Bangkok |publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction]] |date=July 2008 |pages=72–78 |accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref> However, in the coastal villages of [[Phang Nga Province]], like [[Tap Tawan]], the Moken suffered severe devastation to housing and fishing boats in common with other Moken communities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Mark |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |title=PHOTOS: Thailand's fisherfolk rebuild after tsunami |work=AlertNet |publisher=[[Reuters Foundation]] |date=2005-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810203619/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |archivedate=2007-08-10 |accessdate=2023-07-14 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Moklenic languages]]
* [[Sama-Bajau]]
* [[Sea nomad (disambiguation)|Sea Nomads]], a disambiguation page
* [[Urak Lawoi]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
*[[Hugo Bernatzik|Bernatzik, H. A.]], & Ivanoff, J. (2005). ''Moken and Semang: 1936–2004, persistence and change''. Bangkok: White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-480-082-8}}
*Ivanoff, J. (2001). ''Rings of coral: Moken folktales''. Mergui archipelago project, no. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-7534-71-1}}
*Ivanoff, J. (1999). ''The Moken boat: symbolic technology''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-8434-90-7}}
*Ivanoff, J., Cholmeley, F. N., & Ivanoff, P. (1997). ''Moken: sea-gypsies of the Andaman Sea, post-war chronicles''. Bangkok: Cheney. {{ISBN|974-8496-65-1}}
*Lewis, M. B. (1960). ''Moken texts and word-list; a provisional interpretation''. Federation museums journal, v.4. [Kuala Lumpur]: Museums Dept., Federation of Malaya.
*White, W. G. (1922). ''The sea gypsies of Malaya; an account of the nomadic Mawken people of the Mergui Archipelago with a description of their ways of living, customs, habits, boats, occupations, etc''. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
*White, W. G. (1911). ''An introduction to the Mawken language''. Toungoo: S.P.G. Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|section|date=July 2017}}
{{commons category|Moken}}
* [http://projectmoken.com Project Moken]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-sea-gypsies-50109115/ "The Sea Gypsies"] (CBS-TV; 60 Minutes; 2005).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106051251/http://www.enchantingmyanmar.com/2011/01/salons-sea-gypsies-of-myanmar/ Salons: Sea Gypsies @ Enchanting Myanmar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524082833/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/ Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Subscription Required)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141844/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/online_extra.html Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Tsunami Extra)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622123216/http://www.phuketmagazine.com/the-moken-traditional-sea-gypsies/ Phuket Magazine: The Moken – Traditional Sea Gypsies]
* [http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm ProjectMaje.org] – Burma "Sea Gypsies" Compendium
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817091532/http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Moken Moken language and verbs]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt Ethnologue report for Moken]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930144758/http://www.xpeditions.be/publication/seagypsies/seagypsies.html The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island] – Expeditions, Research in Applied Anthropology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032253/http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=34 "The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island" by Antonio Graceffo]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article6902678.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6902678&sectionName=UKScience images of Moken children underwater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229164936/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/myanmar_moken.html Moken-Video-NAG]
* [http://www.burmaboating.com/blog/2013/10/7/book-on-the-mergui-archipelago-and-the-moken-people-reading-recommendations A reading list of books on the Moken and the Mergui Archipelago]
* [https://archive.org/details/Moken Moken music, Archive.org]

{{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Austronesian peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]

Moken

2024-09-17T07:59:24Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Underwater sight */ Set up next paragraph

{{Short description|Ethnic group of the Mergui Archipelago and Surin Islands}}
{{for|the language|Moken language}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Moken people''' '''Mawken/Morgan''' '''ဆလုံလူမျိုး/ชาวเล'''
| image = Moken girl.jpg
| caption = Moken girl wearing [[thanaka]] on her face
| population = 2,000 to 3,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/de15a14a-a357-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0|title=The lost world: Myanmar's Mergui Islands|website=Financial Times|date=19 April 2013 |access-date=2017-11-10}}</ref>
| popplace = {{flag|Thailand}} {{flag|Myanmar}}
| langs = [[Moken language|Moken]], [[Malay language| Malay]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], others
| rels = [[Veneration of the dead|Ancestor worship]], [[Buddhism]], [[Islam]]
| related = [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]], [[Orang Laut]], [[Bajau people|Bajau]]|
}}
[[File:Sea Nomads distribution map.jpg|thumb|300px|Regions inhabited by peoples usually known as "Sea Nomads".<ref name="sopher">{{cite journal|author=David E. Sopher|year=1965|title=The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum|volume=5|pages=389–403|doi=10.2307/2051635 |jstor=2051635|s2cid=162358347 }}</ref> {{Legend|#86adfd|Moken}}{{Legend|#e8bb9c|[[Orang laut]]}}{{Legend|#88c885|[[Sama-Bajau]]}}]]
The '''Moken''' (also '''Mawken''' or '''Morgan'''; {{Lang-my|ဆလုံ လူမျိုး}}; {{lang-th|ชาวเล|lit=sea people|translit=chao le}}) are an [[Austronesian people]] of the [[Mergui Archipelago]], a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the [[Surin Islands]]. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 Moken live a semi-nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle heavily based on the sea, though this lifestyle is increasingly under threat.

The Moken identify in a common culture; there are 1500 men and 1500 women who speak the [[Moken language]], a distinct [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]]. Attempts by both Myanmar and Thailand to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] the Moken into the wider regional culture have met with very limited success.<ref name=Ivanoff_Bountry>{{cite web |url=http://www.lampipark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Moken-Sea-gypsies.pdf |format=PDF |title=Moken sea-gypsies |last=Ivanoff |first=Jacques |last2=Bountry |first2=Maxime |work=Lampi Marine National Park |publisher=International Scientific Network Tanaosri |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> However, the Moken face an uncertain future as their population decreases and their nomadic lifestyle and unsettled legal status leave them marginalized by modern property and immigration laws, maritime conservation and development programs, and tightening border policies.<ref>Some classifications do not include Moken under the Malayan languages, or even under the Aboriginal Malay group of languages. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt "Ethnologue report for Moken/Moklen" ''Ethnologue'']. Moken is considered part of, but isolated within, the (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian family, displaying no particular affinities to any other (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian language. Moreover, it has undergone strong areal influence from neighbouring Mon–Khmer languages, comparable to, but apparently independently from the [[Chamic languages]].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/moken-sea-gypsies |title='The ocean is our universe' - Survival International |publisher=Survivalinternational |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/25/stateless-sea/moken-burma-and-thailand |title=The Moken of Burma and Thailand |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://projectmoken.com/the-moken/ |title=The Moken |publisher=Projectmoken.com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
The people refer to themselves as Moken. The name is used for all of the Austronesian speaking tribes who inhabit the coast and islands in the [[Andaman Sea]] on the west coast of [[Thailand]], the provinces of [[Satun Province|Satun]], [[Trang Province|Trang]], [[Krabi Province|Krabi]], [[Phuket Province|Phuket]], [[Phang Nga Province|Phang Nga]], and [[Ranong Province|Ranong]], up through the [[Mergui Archipelago]] of Myanmar. The group includes the Moken proper, the Moklen (Moklem), the Orang Sireh ([[Betel]]-leaf People), and the Orang Lanta. The last, the Orang Lanta, are a hybridized group formed when the Malay people settled the [[Lanta Islands]] where the proto-Malay Orang Sireh had been living. The Moken are considered to be mostly sedentary with more permanent villages in the provinces of Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Satun. These individuals also have closer ties to the countries in which they reside as they accept both the nationality and citizenship. Their children are also educated through local schools and are exposed to more mainstream cultural ideas. The Moken residing on the [[Surin Islands]] retain their more traditional methods and lifestyle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Moken Traditional Knowledge: An Unrecognised Form of Natural Resources Management and Conservation|last=Arunotai|first=Narumon|journal=International Social Science Journal|date=December 20, 2006|volume=58|issue=187|pages=139–150|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00599.x}}</ref>

The [[Burmese language|Burmese]] call the Moken ''Salone''.<ref>Anderson, John (1890). ''The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago''. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 1–5.</ref> In [[Thailand]] they are called ''chao le'', which can mean people who "live by the sea and pursue a marine livelihood" or those who speak the Austronesian language.<ref name=":0" /> Another term that can be used is ''chao nam'' ("people of the water"), although these terms are also used loosely to include the [[Urak Lawoi]] and even the [[Orang Laut]]. In Thailand, acculturated Moken are called ''Thai mai'' ("new Thais").

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Moken are also called "sea gypsies" (unrelated to the [[Romani people]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Fry |first1=Gerald W. |last2=Nieminen |first2=Gayla S. |last3=Smith |first3=Harold E. |year=2013 |title=Moken |encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Thailand |edition=Third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=253 |isbn=978-0-8108-7802-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 }}</ref><ref name="Verschuur-2019">{{Cite book|last=Verschuur |first=Xanthe |year=2019 |title=The Impact of Tourism on the Livelihood Strategies of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies': A Case Study on Koh Phayam, Thailand |location=Wageningen, Netherlands |publisher=[[Wageningen UR]] |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/526916 }}</ref> a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in [[Southeast Asia]] (see [[Sea Gypsies (disambiguation)]]). The [[Urak Lawoi]] are sometimes classified with the Moken, but they are linguistically and ethnologically distinct, being much more closely related to the Malay people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/urk|title=Urak Lawoi'|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628213628/http://iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-06-28 |title=Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago, Tarutao National Marine Park, Satun Province, Thailand |author=Dr. Supin Wongbusarakum |date=December 2005 }}</ref>

==Way of life==
[[File:Moken boat.jpg|thumb|A Moken boat. Note the bifurcated bow missing in traditional Thai fishing boats.]]
Their knowledge of the sea enables them to live off its [[fauna]] and [[flora]] by using simple tools such as nets and spears to forage for food, which allows them to impact the environment more minimally than other more intensive forms of subsistence. Furthermore, their frequent movement in kin groups of between two and ten families also allows the land to rest and prevents overuse. Moken are considered hunter-gatherers due to their nomadic lifestyle and lack of material good accumulation. They also believe strongly in the idea that natural resources cannot be owned individually but are rather something that the entire community has access to without restrictions. Their egalitarian society follows into their ancestral worship as they regularly present supernatural beings with food offerings. Aside from [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor worship]], the Moken have no religion.<ref name="BP-20170212">{{cite news|last1=Na Thalang|first1=Jeerawat|title=Sea gypsies turning the tide|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1197265/sea-gypsies-turning-the-tide|access-date=12 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=12 February 2017}}</ref>

More recently, they have reached out and begun trading some food ([[Sea cucumber|sea cucumbers]] and edible bird nests) as well as marine products like pearls for other necessities at local markets. Trading and epidemics ([[cholera]] and [[smallpox]]) also lead to their nomadic lifestyles in order to collect a variety of products to trade and to avoid the spread of deadly diseases. If an epidemic begins to spread, the infected members will remain at the location with a small amount of provisions, while healthy members will depart to a new location. The hope is that the provisions will allow the sick enough time to recuperate while not endangering the rest of the kin group with their sickness. The nomadic lifestyle can also reduce group conflict as affected parties may leave one kin group and enter another to give some distance and allow the feud to die down. After some time has passed and the arguing parties see each other once more, the intensity of the argument will have decreased leading to more amicable relationships.<ref name=":0" /> The Moken use 83 plant species for food, 33 for medicinal purposes, 53 for construction of huts, boats and tools, and 54 species for other purposes.<ref name=":0" />

During the dry north-east [[monsoon season]] (when the sea is relatively calm), the Moken used to live on their boats called ''[[Kabang (boat)|kabang]]'', which served not just as transportation, but also as a kitchen, bedroom, and living area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Kabang'': the living boat |journal=Techniques & Culture |date=2001-01-01 |last=Hinshiranan |first=Narumon |volume=35–36 |pages=499–507 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/tc/310 |issn=1952-420X |doi=10.4000/tc.310 |access-date=2023-07-14|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-moken-kaban.html |title=The Moken Kabang |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |work=Indigenous Boats |date=2012-10-13 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> The last ''kabang'' of the [[Surin Islands]] was built in 2006 and an initiative to revive the tradition started in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andamannetwork.org/cause/build-a-new-moken-kabang-houseboat/ |title=Build a New Moken Kabang Houseboat |work=Projects |publisher=North Andaman Network Foundation |date=2018-06-27 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> Previously the Moken used a ''kabang koman'', "a dug-out boat equipped with a [[salacca]] gunwale [where] Salacca is a light wood with a long stem".<ref name=":0" /> To construct the boat, the different pieces are fitted into each other with the natural resources the Moken can find on land. The boat's usage was discontinued more than 40 years ago as the salt water eroded the wood within three to sixth months, therefore new techniques were devised to create more robust boats. The ''kabang'' lasts longer and one anthropologist, Jacques Ivanoff, suggests that the boat with its bifurcated bow and stern represent the human body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ivanoff_Bountry" /> In monsoon season, which falls between the months of May and October, they set temporary camps on the mainland. During the [[monsoon]] season, they build additional boats and forage for food in the forest.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives; however, much of their traditional life, which is built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat.<ref>{{cite news |title=The South Asian monsoon, past, present and future |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2019/06/27/the-south-asian-monsoon-past-present-and-future |access-date=20 August 2019 |publisher=The Economist (online: free registration or subscription) |date=June 29, 2019 |pages=45–46 (two sentences) |quote="Their boat-dwelling descendants live on as the Moken, Orang Suku Laut and Bajau Laut. Today they are marginalised, subjected to ever-tightening pressure by the state to respect borders and come ashore."}}</ref>

== History ==
There is much speculation as to the historical origins of the Moken people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolff |first=John U. |year=2018 |title=Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=523–524 |isbn=978-1-5017-3598-1 }}</ref> It is thought that, due to their Austronesian language, they originated in Southern China as agriculturalists 5000–6000 years ago. From there, the Austronesian peoples dispersed and settled various South Asian Islands. It is theorized that the Moken were forced off of these coastal islands into a nomadic lifestyle on the water due to rising sea levels.

==Underwater sight==
For most of the human population, unaided vision underwater is very poor because the eye's [[cornea]] fails to focus light onto the [[retina]]. In the air, the cornea accomplishes two thirds of the focussing of light; this is missing when underwater, yielding [[Defocus aberration|blur]].<ref name="Gislén2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Dacke|first2=Marie|last3=Kröger|first3=Ronald H.H|last4=Abrahamsson|first4=Maths|last5=Nilsson|first5=Dan-Eric|last6=Warrant|first6=Eric J|date=May 2003|title=Superior Underwater Vision in a Human Population of Sea Gypsies|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=10|pages=833–836|doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00290-2|pmid=12747831|s2cid=18731746|issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moken children, however, are able to see underwater while [[freediving]] to collect clams, sea cucumbers, and more. Anna Gislén and colleagues showed that the children see better [[underwater vision|underwater]] than European children: their "spatial resolution ... [is] more than twice as good".<ref name="Gislén2006">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Warrant|first2=Eric J.|last3=Dacke|first3=Marie|last4=Kröger|first4=Ronald H.H.|date=October 2006|title=Visual training improves underwater vision in children|journal=Vision Research|volume=46|issue=20|pages=3443–3450|doi=10.1016/j.visres.2006.05.004|pmid=16806388|issn=0042-6989|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The researchers showed that the Moken children have the ability to [[Pupillary reflex|constrict]] their [[pupil]]s when underwater and the ability to [[Accommodation (eye)|increase the power of their eyes' lenses]] to the maximum when underwater. Decreasing the size of the pupil improves the eye's [[depth of field]], reducing blur; increasing the power of the eyes' lenses also reduces blur.<ref name="Gislén2003"></ref><ref name = "Travis2003">{{cite journal |last= Travis |first= J. |title= Children of Sea See Clearly Underwater | journal= [[Science News]] | volume= 163 | issue= 20 | pages= 308–309 |date= 2003-05-17 |url= http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm#18 |access-date= 2018-05-06 | doi= 10.2307/4014626|jstor= 4014626 }}</ref>

The researchers ruled out other possible explanations for the Moken children's underwater abilities: They did not trade off focussing power from the cornea to their eyes' lenses. Their eyes are not [[myopic|shortsighted]]. Their ability to alter the power of their lenses is not superior.

<ref name="Gislén2003" /> She tested this theory on seventeen Moken children and eighteen European children through sessions involving testing of underwater vision. Gislén's experiment affirmed her hypothesis, and she further discovered that European children could train themselves to develop this same trait. After eleven training sessions over one month, these European children developed underwater visual acuity equal to the Moken children's. At the same time, Gislén also documented that the European children sustained temporary eye irritation ("red eyes") as a result of their underwater dives, unlike the Moken children.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Gislén's work highlights that both environmental/behavioral [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] and [[evolutionary adaptation]] are involved in the reported phenomenon of improved aquatic vision in Moken children.

Members of another sea nomad group, the [[Sama-Bajau]], appear to have a number of [[Sama-Bajau#Free-diving adaptations|genetic adaptations]] to facilitate a lifestyle involving extensive freediving.<ref name="Ilardo2018">{{cite journal|last1= Ilardo|first1=M. A.|last2= Moltke|first2= I.|last3= Korneliussen|first3=T. S.|last4= Cheng|first4= J.|last5= Stern|first5=A. J.|last6= Racimo|first6= F.|last7=de Barros Damgaard|first7= P.|last8= Sikora|first8= M.|last9= Seguin-Orlando|first9= A.|last10= Rasmussen|first10= S.|last11=van den Munckhof|first11=I. C. L.|last12=ter Horst|first12= R.|last13= Joosten|first13=L. A. B.|last14= Netea|first14=M. G.|last15= Salingkat|first15= S.|last16= Nielsen|first16= R.|last17= Willerslev|first17= E.|title= Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads|journal= Cell|volume= 173|issue= 3|date= 2018-04-18|pages= 569–580.e15|doi= 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054|pmid= 29677510|doi-access= free}}</ref>

==Governmental control==
The [[Burma|Burmese]] and [[Thailand|Thai]] governments have made attempts at assimilating the people into their own culture, but these efforts have met with limited success. Thai Moken have been permanently settled in villages located in the [[Surin Island]]s ([[Mu Ko Surin National Park]]),<ref name="settings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/surin7.htm|title=Environmental, social and cultural settings of the Surin Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140627232306/http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|url-status=dead|title="Mu Ko Surin National Park" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok, Thailand|archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> in [[Phuket Province]], on the northwestern coast of Phuket Island, and on the nearby [[Phi Phi]] Islands of [[Krabi Province]].<ref>Bauerlein, Monika (November 2005) "Sea change: they outsmarted the tsunami, but Thailand's ''sea gypsies'' could be swept away by an even greater force" ''Mother Jones'' 30(6): pp. 56–61;</ref>

The [[Andaman Sea]] off the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] coast was the subject of keen scrutiny from Myanmar's regime during the 1990s due to offshore [[petroleum]] discoveries by [[multinational corporation]]s including [[Unocal]], [[Petronas]] and others. Reports from the late-1990s told of forced relocation by Myanmar's [[military regime]] of the sea nomads to mainland sites. It was claimed most of the Moken peoples had been relocated by 1997, which is consistent with a pervasive pattern of [[forced relocation]] of suspect ethnic, economic and political groups, conducted throughout Myanmar during the 1990s.

In Thailand, the Moken have been the target of [[Land grabbing|land grabs]] by developers contesting their ownership of ancestral lands. Although nomadic peoples have resided in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces for several centuries, they have historically neglected to register official ownership of the land due to their lack of knowledge and involvement in legal protocol.<ref name="BP-20170212" />

==2004 tsunami==
The islands the Moken inhabit received much attention during the recovery from the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 tsunami]]. As they are keenly attuned to the ocean, the Moken in the [[Surin Islands]] knew the tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 was coming and managed to preserve many lives.<ref name=ISDR>{{cite book |last=Arunotai |first1=Narumon |url=https://www.unisdr.org/files/3646_IndigenousKnowledgeDRR.pdf |format=PDF |title=Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region |chapter=Saved by an Old Legend and a Keen Observation: The Case of Moken Sea Nomads in Thailand |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Rajib |editor2-last=Baumwoll |editor2-first=Jennifer |location=Bangkok |publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction]] |date=July 2008 |pages=72–78 |accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref> However, in the coastal villages of [[Phang Nga Province]], like [[Tap Tawan]], the Moken suffered severe devastation to housing and fishing boats in common with other Moken communities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Mark |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |title=PHOTOS: Thailand's fisherfolk rebuild after tsunami |work=AlertNet |publisher=[[Reuters Foundation]] |date=2005-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810203619/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |archivedate=2007-08-10 |accessdate=2023-07-14 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Moklenic languages]]
* [[Sama-Bajau]]
* [[Sea nomad (disambiguation)|Sea Nomads]], a disambiguation page
* [[Urak Lawoi]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
*[[Hugo Bernatzik|Bernatzik, H. A.]], & Ivanoff, J. (2005). ''Moken and Semang: 1936–2004, persistence and change''. Bangkok: White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-480-082-8}}
*Ivanoff, J. (2001). ''Rings of coral: Moken folktales''. Mergui archipelago project, no. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-7534-71-1}}
*Ivanoff, J. (1999). ''The Moken boat: symbolic technology''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-8434-90-7}}
*Ivanoff, J., Cholmeley, F. N., & Ivanoff, P. (1997). ''Moken: sea-gypsies of the Andaman Sea, post-war chronicles''. Bangkok: Cheney. {{ISBN|974-8496-65-1}}
*Lewis, M. B. (1960). ''Moken texts and word-list; a provisional interpretation''. Federation museums journal, v.4. [Kuala Lumpur]: Museums Dept., Federation of Malaya.
*White, W. G. (1922). ''The sea gypsies of Malaya; an account of the nomadic Mawken people of the Mergui Archipelago with a description of their ways of living, customs, habits, boats, occupations, etc''. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
*White, W. G. (1911). ''An introduction to the Mawken language''. Toungoo: S.P.G. Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|section|date=July 2017}}
{{commons category|Moken}}
* [http://projectmoken.com Project Moken]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-sea-gypsies-50109115/ "The Sea Gypsies"] (CBS-TV; 60 Minutes; 2005).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106051251/http://www.enchantingmyanmar.com/2011/01/salons-sea-gypsies-of-myanmar/ Salons: Sea Gypsies @ Enchanting Myanmar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524082833/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/ Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Subscription Required)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141844/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/online_extra.html Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Tsunami Extra)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622123216/http://www.phuketmagazine.com/the-moken-traditional-sea-gypsies/ Phuket Magazine: The Moken – Traditional Sea Gypsies]
* [http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm ProjectMaje.org] – Burma "Sea Gypsies" Compendium
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817091532/http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Moken Moken language and verbs]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt Ethnologue report for Moken]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930144758/http://www.xpeditions.be/publication/seagypsies/seagypsies.html The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island] – Expeditions, Research in Applied Anthropology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032253/http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=34 "The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island" by Antonio Graceffo]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article6902678.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6902678&sectionName=UKScience images of Moken children underwater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229164936/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/myanmar_moken.html Moken-Video-NAG]
* [http://www.burmaboating.com/blog/2013/10/7/book-on-the-mergui-archipelago-and-the-moken-people-reading-recommendations A reading list of books on the Moken and the Mergui Archipelago]
* [https://archive.org/details/Moken Moken music, Archive.org]

{{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Austronesian peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]

Moken

2024-09-17T07:44:02Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Underwater sight */ Copyedited 2nd sentence of paragraph 2

{{Short description|Ethnic group of the Mergui Archipelago and Surin Islands}}
{{for|the language|Moken language}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Moken people''' '''Mawken/Morgan''' '''ဆလုံလူမျိုး/ชาวเล'''
| image = Moken girl.jpg
| caption = Moken girl wearing [[thanaka]] on her face
| population = 2,000 to 3,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/de15a14a-a357-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0|title=The lost world: Myanmar's Mergui Islands|website=Financial Times|date=19 April 2013 |access-date=2017-11-10}}</ref>
| popplace = {{flag|Thailand}} {{flag|Myanmar}}
| langs = [[Moken language|Moken]], [[Malay language| Malay]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], others
| rels = [[Veneration of the dead|Ancestor worship]], [[Buddhism]], [[Islam]]
| related = [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]], [[Orang Laut]], [[Bajau people|Bajau]]|
}}
[[File:Sea Nomads distribution map.jpg|thumb|300px|Regions inhabited by peoples usually known as "Sea Nomads".<ref name="sopher">{{cite journal|author=David E. Sopher|year=1965|title=The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum|volume=5|pages=389–403|doi=10.2307/2051635 |jstor=2051635|s2cid=162358347 }}</ref> {{Legend|#86adfd|Moken}}{{Legend|#e8bb9c|[[Orang laut]]}}{{Legend|#88c885|[[Sama-Bajau]]}}]]
The '''Moken''' (also '''Mawken''' or '''Morgan'''; {{Lang-my|ဆလုံ လူမျိုး}}; {{lang-th|ชาวเล|lit=sea people|translit=chao le}}) are an [[Austronesian people]] of the [[Mergui Archipelago]], a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the [[Surin Islands]]. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 Moken live a semi-nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle heavily based on the sea, though this lifestyle is increasingly under threat.

The Moken identify in a common culture; there are 1500 men and 1500 women who speak the [[Moken language]], a distinct [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]]. Attempts by both Myanmar and Thailand to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] the Moken into the wider regional culture have met with very limited success.<ref name=Ivanoff_Bountry>{{cite web |url=http://www.lampipark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Moken-Sea-gypsies.pdf |format=PDF |title=Moken sea-gypsies |last=Ivanoff |first=Jacques |last2=Bountry |first2=Maxime |work=Lampi Marine National Park |publisher=International Scientific Network Tanaosri |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> However, the Moken face an uncertain future as their population decreases and their nomadic lifestyle and unsettled legal status leave them marginalized by modern property and immigration laws, maritime conservation and development programs, and tightening border policies.<ref>Some classifications do not include Moken under the Malayan languages, or even under the Aboriginal Malay group of languages. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt "Ethnologue report for Moken/Moklen" ''Ethnologue'']. Moken is considered part of, but isolated within, the (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian family, displaying no particular affinities to any other (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian language. Moreover, it has undergone strong areal influence from neighbouring Mon–Khmer languages, comparable to, but apparently independently from the [[Chamic languages]].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/moken-sea-gypsies |title='The ocean is our universe' - Survival International |publisher=Survivalinternational |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/25/stateless-sea/moken-burma-and-thailand |title=The Moken of Burma and Thailand |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://projectmoken.com/the-moken/ |title=The Moken |publisher=Projectmoken.com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
The people refer to themselves as Moken. The name is used for all of the Austronesian speaking tribes who inhabit the coast and islands in the [[Andaman Sea]] on the west coast of [[Thailand]], the provinces of [[Satun Province|Satun]], [[Trang Province|Trang]], [[Krabi Province|Krabi]], [[Phuket Province|Phuket]], [[Phang Nga Province|Phang Nga]], and [[Ranong Province|Ranong]], up through the [[Mergui Archipelago]] of Myanmar. The group includes the Moken proper, the Moklen (Moklem), the Orang Sireh ([[Betel]]-leaf People), and the Orang Lanta. The last, the Orang Lanta, are a hybridized group formed when the Malay people settled the [[Lanta Islands]] where the proto-Malay Orang Sireh had been living. The Moken are considered to be mostly sedentary with more permanent villages in the provinces of Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Satun. These individuals also have closer ties to the countries in which they reside as they accept both the nationality and citizenship. Their children are also educated through local schools and are exposed to more mainstream cultural ideas. The Moken residing on the [[Surin Islands]] retain their more traditional methods and lifestyle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Moken Traditional Knowledge: An Unrecognised Form of Natural Resources Management and Conservation|last=Arunotai|first=Narumon|journal=International Social Science Journal|date=December 20, 2006|volume=58|issue=187|pages=139–150|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00599.x}}</ref>

The [[Burmese language|Burmese]] call the Moken ''Salone''.<ref>Anderson, John (1890). ''The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago''. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 1–5.</ref> In [[Thailand]] they are called ''chao le'', which can mean people who "live by the sea and pursue a marine livelihood" or those who speak the Austronesian language.<ref name=":0" /> Another term that can be used is ''chao nam'' ("people of the water"), although these terms are also used loosely to include the [[Urak Lawoi]] and even the [[Orang Laut]]. In Thailand, acculturated Moken are called ''Thai mai'' ("new Thais").

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Moken are also called "sea gypsies" (unrelated to the [[Romani people]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Fry |first1=Gerald W. |last2=Nieminen |first2=Gayla S. |last3=Smith |first3=Harold E. |year=2013 |title=Moken |encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Thailand |edition=Third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=253 |isbn=978-0-8108-7802-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 }}</ref><ref name="Verschuur-2019">{{Cite book|last=Verschuur |first=Xanthe |year=2019 |title=The Impact of Tourism on the Livelihood Strategies of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies': A Case Study on Koh Phayam, Thailand |location=Wageningen, Netherlands |publisher=[[Wageningen UR]] |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/526916 }}</ref> a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in [[Southeast Asia]] (see [[Sea Gypsies (disambiguation)]]). The [[Urak Lawoi]] are sometimes classified with the Moken, but they are linguistically and ethnologically distinct, being much more closely related to the Malay people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/urk|title=Urak Lawoi'|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628213628/http://iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-06-28 |title=Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago, Tarutao National Marine Park, Satun Province, Thailand |author=Dr. Supin Wongbusarakum |date=December 2005 }}</ref>

==Way of life==
[[File:Moken boat.jpg|thumb|A Moken boat. Note the bifurcated bow missing in traditional Thai fishing boats.]]
Their knowledge of the sea enables them to live off its [[fauna]] and [[flora]] by using simple tools such as nets and spears to forage for food, which allows them to impact the environment more minimally than other more intensive forms of subsistence. Furthermore, their frequent movement in kin groups of between two and ten families also allows the land to rest and prevents overuse. Moken are considered hunter-gatherers due to their nomadic lifestyle and lack of material good accumulation. They also believe strongly in the idea that natural resources cannot be owned individually but are rather something that the entire community has access to without restrictions. Their egalitarian society follows into their ancestral worship as they regularly present supernatural beings with food offerings. Aside from [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor worship]], the Moken have no religion.<ref name="BP-20170212">{{cite news|last1=Na Thalang|first1=Jeerawat|title=Sea gypsies turning the tide|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1197265/sea-gypsies-turning-the-tide|access-date=12 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=12 February 2017}}</ref>

More recently, they have reached out and begun trading some food ([[Sea cucumber|sea cucumbers]] and edible bird nests) as well as marine products like pearls for other necessities at local markets. Trading and epidemics ([[cholera]] and [[smallpox]]) also lead to their nomadic lifestyles in order to collect a variety of products to trade and to avoid the spread of deadly diseases. If an epidemic begins to spread, the infected members will remain at the location with a small amount of provisions, while healthy members will depart to a new location. The hope is that the provisions will allow the sick enough time to recuperate while not endangering the rest of the kin group with their sickness. The nomadic lifestyle can also reduce group conflict as affected parties may leave one kin group and enter another to give some distance and allow the feud to die down. After some time has passed and the arguing parties see each other once more, the intensity of the argument will have decreased leading to more amicable relationships.<ref name=":0" /> The Moken use 83 plant species for food, 33 for medicinal purposes, 53 for construction of huts, boats and tools, and 54 species for other purposes.<ref name=":0" />

During the dry north-east [[monsoon season]] (when the sea is relatively calm), the Moken used to live on their boats called ''[[Kabang (boat)|kabang]]'', which served not just as transportation, but also as a kitchen, bedroom, and living area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Kabang'': the living boat |journal=Techniques & Culture |date=2001-01-01 |last=Hinshiranan |first=Narumon |volume=35–36 |pages=499–507 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/tc/310 |issn=1952-420X |doi=10.4000/tc.310 |access-date=2023-07-14|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-moken-kaban.html |title=The Moken Kabang |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |work=Indigenous Boats |date=2012-10-13 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> The last ''kabang'' of the [[Surin Islands]] was built in 2006 and an initiative to revive the tradition started in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andamannetwork.org/cause/build-a-new-moken-kabang-houseboat/ |title=Build a New Moken Kabang Houseboat |work=Projects |publisher=North Andaman Network Foundation |date=2018-06-27 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> Previously the Moken used a ''kabang koman'', "a dug-out boat equipped with a [[salacca]] gunwale [where] Salacca is a light wood with a long stem".<ref name=":0" /> To construct the boat, the different pieces are fitted into each other with the natural resources the Moken can find on land. The boat's usage was discontinued more than 40 years ago as the salt water eroded the wood within three to sixth months, therefore new techniques were devised to create more robust boats. The ''kabang'' lasts longer and one anthropologist, Jacques Ivanoff, suggests that the boat with its bifurcated bow and stern represent the human body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ivanoff_Bountry" /> In monsoon season, which falls between the months of May and October, they set temporary camps on the mainland. During the [[monsoon]] season, they build additional boats and forage for food in the forest.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives; however, much of their traditional life, which is built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat.<ref>{{cite news |title=The South Asian monsoon, past, present and future |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2019/06/27/the-south-asian-monsoon-past-present-and-future |access-date=20 August 2019 |publisher=The Economist (online: free registration or subscription) |date=June 29, 2019 |pages=45–46 (two sentences) |quote="Their boat-dwelling descendants live on as the Moken, Orang Suku Laut and Bajau Laut. Today they are marginalised, subjected to ever-tightening pressure by the state to respect borders and come ashore."}}</ref>

== History ==
There is much speculation as to the historical origins of the Moken people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolff |first=John U. |year=2018 |title=Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=523–524 |isbn=978-1-5017-3598-1 }}</ref> It is thought that, due to their Austronesian language, they originated in Southern China as agriculturalists 5000–6000 years ago. From there, the Austronesian peoples dispersed and settled various South Asian Islands. It is theorized that the Moken were forced off of these coastal islands into a nomadic lifestyle on the water due to rising sea levels.

==Underwater sight==
For most of the human population, unaided vision underwater is very poor because the eye's [[cornea]] fails to focus light onto the [[retina]]. In the air, the cornea accomplishes two thirds of the focussing of light; this is missing when underwater, yielding [[Defocus aberration|blur]].<ref name="Gislén2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Dacke|first2=Marie|last3=Kröger|first3=Ronald H.H|last4=Abrahamsson|first4=Maths|last5=Nilsson|first5=Dan-Eric|last6=Warrant|first6=Eric J|date=May 2003|title=Superior Underwater Vision in a Human Population of Sea Gypsies|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=10|pages=833–836|doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00290-2|pmid=12747831|s2cid=18731746|issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moken children, however, are able to see underwater while [[freediving]] to collect clams, sea cucumbers, and more. Anna Gislén and colleagues showed that the children see better [[underwater vision|underwater]] than European children: their "spatial resolution ... [is] more than twice as good".<ref name="Gislén2006">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Warrant|first2=Eric J.|last3=Dacke|first3=Marie|last4=Kröger|first4=Ronald H.H.|date=October 2006|title=Visual training improves underwater vision in children|journal=Vision Research|volume=46|issue=20|pages=3443–3450|doi=10.1016/j.visres.2006.05.004|pmid=16806388|issn=0042-6989|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The researchers showed that the Moken children have the ability to [[Pupillary reflex|constrict]] their [[pupil]]s when underwater and the ability to [[Accommodation (eye)|increase the power of their eyes' lenses]] when underwater. Decreasing the size of the pupil improves the eye's [[depth of field]], reducing blur; increasing the power of the eyes' lenses also reduces blur.<ref name="Gislén2003"></ref><ref name = "Travis2003">{{cite journal |last= Travis |first= J. |title= Children of Sea See Clearly Underwater | journal= [[Science News]] | volume= 163 | issue= 20 | pages= 308–309 |date= 2003-05-17 |url= http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm#18 |access-date= 2018-05-06 | doi= 10.2307/4014626|jstor= 4014626 }}</ref>

Other than these abilities, the Moken children had regular corneal curvature meaning that their eyes had not evolved to be flatter like many fish nor had their eyes become [[myopic]] as their vision on land is still clear.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> She tested this theory on seventeen Moken children and eighteen European children through sessions involving testing of underwater vision. Gislén's experiment affirmed her hypothesis, and she further discovered that European children could train themselves to develop this same trait. After eleven training sessions over one month, these European children developed underwater visual acuity equal to the Moken children's. At the same time, Gislén also documented that the European children sustained temporary eye irritation ("red eyes") as a result of their underwater dives, unlike the Moken children.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Gislén's work highlights that both environmental/behavioral [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] and [[evolutionary adaptation]] are involved in the reported phenomenon of improved aquatic vision in Moken children.

Members of another sea nomad group, the [[Sama-Bajau]], appear to have a number of [[Sama-Bajau#Free-diving adaptations|genetic adaptations]] to facilitate a lifestyle involving extensive freediving.<ref name="Ilardo2018">{{cite journal|last1= Ilardo|first1=M. A.|last2= Moltke|first2= I.|last3= Korneliussen|first3=T. S.|last4= Cheng|first4= J.|last5= Stern|first5=A. J.|last6= Racimo|first6= F.|last7=de Barros Damgaard|first7= P.|last8= Sikora|first8= M.|last9= Seguin-Orlando|first9= A.|last10= Rasmussen|first10= S.|last11=van den Munckhof|first11=I. C. L.|last12=ter Horst|first12= R.|last13= Joosten|first13=L. A. B.|last14= Netea|first14=M. G.|last15= Salingkat|first15= S.|last16= Nielsen|first16= R.|last17= Willerslev|first17= E.|title= Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads|journal= Cell|volume= 173|issue= 3|date= 2018-04-18|pages= 569–580.e15|doi= 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054|pmid= 29677510|doi-access= free}}</ref>

==Governmental control==
The [[Burma|Burmese]] and [[Thailand|Thai]] governments have made attempts at assimilating the people into their own culture, but these efforts have met with limited success. Thai Moken have been permanently settled in villages located in the [[Surin Island]]s ([[Mu Ko Surin National Park]]),<ref name="settings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/surin7.htm|title=Environmental, social and cultural settings of the Surin Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140627232306/http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|url-status=dead|title="Mu Ko Surin National Park" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok, Thailand|archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> in [[Phuket Province]], on the northwestern coast of Phuket Island, and on the nearby [[Phi Phi]] Islands of [[Krabi Province]].<ref>Bauerlein, Monika (November 2005) "Sea change: they outsmarted the tsunami, but Thailand's ''sea gypsies'' could be swept away by an even greater force" ''Mother Jones'' 30(6): pp. 56–61;</ref>

The [[Andaman Sea]] off the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] coast was the subject of keen scrutiny from Myanmar's regime during the 1990s due to offshore [[petroleum]] discoveries by [[multinational corporation]]s including [[Unocal]], [[Petronas]] and others. Reports from the late-1990s told of forced relocation by Myanmar's [[military regime]] of the sea nomads to mainland sites. It was claimed most of the Moken peoples had been relocated by 1997, which is consistent with a pervasive pattern of [[forced relocation]] of suspect ethnic, economic and political groups, conducted throughout Myanmar during the 1990s.

In Thailand, the Moken have been the target of [[Land grabbing|land grabs]] by developers contesting their ownership of ancestral lands. Although nomadic peoples have resided in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces for several centuries, they have historically neglected to register official ownership of the land due to their lack of knowledge and involvement in legal protocol.<ref name="BP-20170212" />

==2004 tsunami==
The islands the Moken inhabit received much attention during the recovery from the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 tsunami]]. As they are keenly attuned to the ocean, the Moken in the [[Surin Islands]] knew the tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 was coming and managed to preserve many lives.<ref name=ISDR>{{cite book |last=Arunotai |first1=Narumon |url=https://www.unisdr.org/files/3646_IndigenousKnowledgeDRR.pdf |format=PDF |title=Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region |chapter=Saved by an Old Legend and a Keen Observation: The Case of Moken Sea Nomads in Thailand |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Rajib |editor2-last=Baumwoll |editor2-first=Jennifer |location=Bangkok |publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction]] |date=July 2008 |pages=72–78 |accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref> However, in the coastal villages of [[Phang Nga Province]], like [[Tap Tawan]], the Moken suffered severe devastation to housing and fishing boats in common with other Moken communities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Mark |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |title=PHOTOS: Thailand's fisherfolk rebuild after tsunami |work=AlertNet |publisher=[[Reuters Foundation]] |date=2005-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810203619/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |archivedate=2007-08-10 |accessdate=2023-07-14 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Moklenic languages]]
* [[Sama-Bajau]]
* [[Sea nomad (disambiguation)|Sea Nomads]], a disambiguation page
* [[Urak Lawoi]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
*[[Hugo Bernatzik|Bernatzik, H. A.]], & Ivanoff, J. (2005). ''Moken and Semang: 1936–2004, persistence and change''. Bangkok: White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-480-082-8}}
*Ivanoff, J. (2001). ''Rings of coral: Moken folktales''. Mergui archipelago project, no. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-7534-71-1}}
*Ivanoff, J. (1999). ''The Moken boat: symbolic technology''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-8434-90-7}}
*Ivanoff, J., Cholmeley, F. N., & Ivanoff, P. (1997). ''Moken: sea-gypsies of the Andaman Sea, post-war chronicles''. Bangkok: Cheney. {{ISBN|974-8496-65-1}}
*Lewis, M. B. (1960). ''Moken texts and word-list; a provisional interpretation''. Federation museums journal, v.4. [Kuala Lumpur]: Museums Dept., Federation of Malaya.
*White, W. G. (1922). ''The sea gypsies of Malaya; an account of the nomadic Mawken people of the Mergui Archipelago with a description of their ways of living, customs, habits, boats, occupations, etc''. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
*White, W. G. (1911). ''An introduction to the Mawken language''. Toungoo: S.P.G. Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|section|date=July 2017}}
{{commons category|Moken}}
* [http://projectmoken.com Project Moken]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-sea-gypsies-50109115/ "The Sea Gypsies"] (CBS-TV; 60 Minutes; 2005).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106051251/http://www.enchantingmyanmar.com/2011/01/salons-sea-gypsies-of-myanmar/ Salons: Sea Gypsies @ Enchanting Myanmar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524082833/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/ Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Subscription Required)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141844/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/online_extra.html Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Tsunami Extra)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622123216/http://www.phuketmagazine.com/the-moken-traditional-sea-gypsies/ Phuket Magazine: The Moken – Traditional Sea Gypsies]
* [http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm ProjectMaje.org] – Burma "Sea Gypsies" Compendium
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817091532/http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Moken Moken language and verbs]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt Ethnologue report for Moken]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930144758/http://www.xpeditions.be/publication/seagypsies/seagypsies.html The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island] – Expeditions, Research in Applied Anthropology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032253/http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=34 "The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island" by Antonio Graceffo]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article6902678.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6902678&sectionName=UKScience images of Moken children underwater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229164936/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/myanmar_moken.html Moken-Video-NAG]
* [http://www.burmaboating.com/blog/2013/10/7/book-on-the-mergui-archipelago-and-the-moken-people-reading-recommendations A reading list of books on the Moken and the Mergui Archipelago]
* [https://archive.org/details/Moken Moken music, Archive.org]

{{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Austronesian peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]

Moken

2024-09-17T07:41:45Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Underwater sight */ Divided first paragraph into two and copyedited both

{{Short description|Ethnic group of the Mergui Archipelago and Surin Islands}}
{{for|the language|Moken language}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Moken people''' '''Mawken/Morgan''' '''ဆလုံလူမျိုး/ชาวเล'''
| image = Moken girl.jpg
| caption = Moken girl wearing [[thanaka]] on her face
| population = 2,000 to 3,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/de15a14a-a357-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0|title=The lost world: Myanmar's Mergui Islands|website=Financial Times|date=19 April 2013 |access-date=2017-11-10}}</ref>
| popplace = {{flag|Thailand}} {{flag|Myanmar}}
| langs = [[Moken language|Moken]], [[Malay language| Malay]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], others
| rels = [[Veneration of the dead|Ancestor worship]], [[Buddhism]], [[Islam]]
| related = [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]], [[Orang Laut]], [[Bajau people|Bajau]]|
}}
[[File:Sea Nomads distribution map.jpg|thumb|300px|Regions inhabited by peoples usually known as "Sea Nomads".<ref name="sopher">{{cite journal|author=David E. Sopher|year=1965|title=The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum|volume=5|pages=389–403|doi=10.2307/2051635 |jstor=2051635|s2cid=162358347 }}</ref> {{Legend|#86adfd|Moken}}{{Legend|#e8bb9c|[[Orang laut]]}}{{Legend|#88c885|[[Sama-Bajau]]}}]]
The '''Moken''' (also '''Mawken''' or '''Morgan'''; {{Lang-my|ဆလုံ လူမျိုး}}; {{lang-th|ชาวเล|lit=sea people|translit=chao le}}) are an [[Austronesian people]] of the [[Mergui Archipelago]], a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the [[Surin Islands]]. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 Moken live a semi-nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle heavily based on the sea, though this lifestyle is increasingly under threat.

The Moken identify in a common culture; there are 1500 men and 1500 women who speak the [[Moken language]], a distinct [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]]. Attempts by both Myanmar and Thailand to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] the Moken into the wider regional culture have met with very limited success.<ref name=Ivanoff_Bountry>{{cite web |url=http://www.lampipark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Moken-Sea-gypsies.pdf |format=PDF |title=Moken sea-gypsies |last=Ivanoff |first=Jacques |last2=Bountry |first2=Maxime |work=Lampi Marine National Park |publisher=International Scientific Network Tanaosri |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> However, the Moken face an uncertain future as their population decreases and their nomadic lifestyle and unsettled legal status leave them marginalized by modern property and immigration laws, maritime conservation and development programs, and tightening border policies.<ref>Some classifications do not include Moken under the Malayan languages, or even under the Aboriginal Malay group of languages. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt "Ethnologue report for Moken/Moklen" ''Ethnologue'']. Moken is considered part of, but isolated within, the (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian family, displaying no particular affinities to any other (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian language. Moreover, it has undergone strong areal influence from neighbouring Mon–Khmer languages, comparable to, but apparently independently from the [[Chamic languages]].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/moken-sea-gypsies |title='The ocean is our universe' - Survival International |publisher=Survivalinternational |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/25/stateless-sea/moken-burma-and-thailand |title=The Moken of Burma and Thailand |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://projectmoken.com/the-moken/ |title=The Moken |publisher=Projectmoken.com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
The people refer to themselves as Moken. The name is used for all of the Austronesian speaking tribes who inhabit the coast and islands in the [[Andaman Sea]] on the west coast of [[Thailand]], the provinces of [[Satun Province|Satun]], [[Trang Province|Trang]], [[Krabi Province|Krabi]], [[Phuket Province|Phuket]], [[Phang Nga Province|Phang Nga]], and [[Ranong Province|Ranong]], up through the [[Mergui Archipelago]] of Myanmar. The group includes the Moken proper, the Moklen (Moklem), the Orang Sireh ([[Betel]]-leaf People), and the Orang Lanta. The last, the Orang Lanta, are a hybridized group formed when the Malay people settled the [[Lanta Islands]] where the proto-Malay Orang Sireh had been living. The Moken are considered to be mostly sedentary with more permanent villages in the provinces of Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Satun. These individuals also have closer ties to the countries in which they reside as they accept both the nationality and citizenship. Their children are also educated through local schools and are exposed to more mainstream cultural ideas. The Moken residing on the [[Surin Islands]] retain their more traditional methods and lifestyle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Moken Traditional Knowledge: An Unrecognised Form of Natural Resources Management and Conservation|last=Arunotai|first=Narumon|journal=International Social Science Journal|date=December 20, 2006|volume=58|issue=187|pages=139–150|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00599.x}}</ref>

The [[Burmese language|Burmese]] call the Moken ''Salone''.<ref>Anderson, John (1890). ''The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago''. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 1–5.</ref> In [[Thailand]] they are called ''chao le'', which can mean people who "live by the sea and pursue a marine livelihood" or those who speak the Austronesian language.<ref name=":0" /> Another term that can be used is ''chao nam'' ("people of the water"), although these terms are also used loosely to include the [[Urak Lawoi]] and even the [[Orang Laut]]. In Thailand, acculturated Moken are called ''Thai mai'' ("new Thais").

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Moken are also called "sea gypsies" (unrelated to the [[Romani people]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Fry |first1=Gerald W. |last2=Nieminen |first2=Gayla S. |last3=Smith |first3=Harold E. |year=2013 |title=Moken |encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Thailand |edition=Third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=253 |isbn=978-0-8108-7802-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 }}</ref><ref name="Verschuur-2019">{{Cite book|last=Verschuur |first=Xanthe |year=2019 |title=The Impact of Tourism on the Livelihood Strategies of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies': A Case Study on Koh Phayam, Thailand |location=Wageningen, Netherlands |publisher=[[Wageningen UR]] |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/526916 }}</ref> a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in [[Southeast Asia]] (see [[Sea Gypsies (disambiguation)]]). The [[Urak Lawoi]] are sometimes classified with the Moken, but they are linguistically and ethnologically distinct, being much more closely related to the Malay people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/urk|title=Urak Lawoi'|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628213628/http://iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-06-28 |title=Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago, Tarutao National Marine Park, Satun Province, Thailand |author=Dr. Supin Wongbusarakum |date=December 2005 }}</ref>

==Way of life==
[[File:Moken boat.jpg|thumb|A Moken boat. Note the bifurcated bow missing in traditional Thai fishing boats.]]
Their knowledge of the sea enables them to live off its [[fauna]] and [[flora]] by using simple tools such as nets and spears to forage for food, which allows them to impact the environment more minimally than other more intensive forms of subsistence. Furthermore, their frequent movement in kin groups of between two and ten families also allows the land to rest and prevents overuse. Moken are considered hunter-gatherers due to their nomadic lifestyle and lack of material good accumulation. They also believe strongly in the idea that natural resources cannot be owned individually but are rather something that the entire community has access to without restrictions. Their egalitarian society follows into their ancestral worship as they regularly present supernatural beings with food offerings. Aside from [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor worship]], the Moken have no religion.<ref name="BP-20170212">{{cite news|last1=Na Thalang|first1=Jeerawat|title=Sea gypsies turning the tide|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1197265/sea-gypsies-turning-the-tide|access-date=12 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=12 February 2017}}</ref>

More recently, they have reached out and begun trading some food ([[Sea cucumber|sea cucumbers]] and edible bird nests) as well as marine products like pearls for other necessities at local markets. Trading and epidemics ([[cholera]] and [[smallpox]]) also lead to their nomadic lifestyles in order to collect a variety of products to trade and to avoid the spread of deadly diseases. If an epidemic begins to spread, the infected members will remain at the location with a small amount of provisions, while healthy members will depart to a new location. The hope is that the provisions will allow the sick enough time to recuperate while not endangering the rest of the kin group with their sickness. The nomadic lifestyle can also reduce group conflict as affected parties may leave one kin group and enter another to give some distance and allow the feud to die down. After some time has passed and the arguing parties see each other once more, the intensity of the argument will have decreased leading to more amicable relationships.<ref name=":0" /> The Moken use 83 plant species for food, 33 for medicinal purposes, 53 for construction of huts, boats and tools, and 54 species for other purposes.<ref name=":0" />

During the dry north-east [[monsoon season]] (when the sea is relatively calm), the Moken used to live on their boats called ''[[Kabang (boat)|kabang]]'', which served not just as transportation, but also as a kitchen, bedroom, and living area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Kabang'': the living boat |journal=Techniques & Culture |date=2001-01-01 |last=Hinshiranan |first=Narumon |volume=35–36 |pages=499–507 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/tc/310 |issn=1952-420X |doi=10.4000/tc.310 |access-date=2023-07-14|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-moken-kaban.html |title=The Moken Kabang |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |work=Indigenous Boats |date=2012-10-13 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> The last ''kabang'' of the [[Surin Islands]] was built in 2006 and an initiative to revive the tradition started in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andamannetwork.org/cause/build-a-new-moken-kabang-houseboat/ |title=Build a New Moken Kabang Houseboat |work=Projects |publisher=North Andaman Network Foundation |date=2018-06-27 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> Previously the Moken used a ''kabang koman'', "a dug-out boat equipped with a [[salacca]] gunwale [where] Salacca is a light wood with a long stem".<ref name=":0" /> To construct the boat, the different pieces are fitted into each other with the natural resources the Moken can find on land. The boat's usage was discontinued more than 40 years ago as the salt water eroded the wood within three to sixth months, therefore new techniques were devised to create more robust boats. The ''kabang'' lasts longer and one anthropologist, Jacques Ivanoff, suggests that the boat with its bifurcated bow and stern represent the human body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ivanoff_Bountry" /> In monsoon season, which falls between the months of May and October, they set temporary camps on the mainland. During the [[monsoon]] season, they build additional boats and forage for food in the forest.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives; however, much of their traditional life, which is built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat.<ref>{{cite news |title=The South Asian monsoon, past, present and future |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2019/06/27/the-south-asian-monsoon-past-present-and-future |access-date=20 August 2019 |publisher=The Economist (online: free registration or subscription) |date=June 29, 2019 |pages=45–46 (two sentences) |quote="Their boat-dwelling descendants live on as the Moken, Orang Suku Laut and Bajau Laut. Today they are marginalised, subjected to ever-tightening pressure by the state to respect borders and come ashore."}}</ref>

== History ==
There is much speculation as to the historical origins of the Moken people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolff |first=John U. |year=2018 |title=Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=523–524 |isbn=978-1-5017-3598-1 }}</ref> It is thought that, due to their Austronesian language, they originated in Southern China as agriculturalists 5000–6000 years ago. From there, the Austronesian peoples dispersed and settled various South Asian Islands. It is theorized that the Moken were forced off of these coastal islands into a nomadic lifestyle on the water due to rising sea levels.

==Underwater sight==
For most of the human population, unaided vision underwater is very poor because the eye's [[cornea]] fails to focus light onto the [[retina]]. In the air, the cornea accomplishes two thirds of the focussing of light; this is missing when underwater, yielding [[Defocus aberration|blur]].<ref name="Gislén2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Dacke|first2=Marie|last3=Kröger|first3=Ronald H.H|last4=Abrahamsson|first4=Maths|last5=Nilsson|first5=Dan-Eric|last6=Warrant|first6=Eric J|date=May 2003|title=Superior Underwater Vision in a Human Population of Sea Gypsies|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=10|pages=833–836|doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00290-2|pmid=12747831|s2cid=18731746|issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moken children, however, are able to see underwater while [[freediving]] to collect clams, sea cucumbers, and more. Anna Gislén and colleagues showed that the children see better [[underwater vision|underwater]] than European children: their "spatial resolution ... [is] more than twice as good".<ref name="Gislén2006">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Warrant|first2=Eric J.|last3=Dacke|first3=Marie|last4=Kröger|first4=Ronald H.H.|date=October 2006|title=Visual training improves underwater vision in children|journal=Vision Research|volume=46|issue=20|pages=3443–3450|doi=10.1016/j.visres.2006.05.004|pmid=16806388|issn=0042-6989|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The researchers showed that the Moken children have the ability to [[Pupillary reflex|constrict]] their [[pupil]]s when underwater and the ability to [[Accommodation (eye)|increase the power of their eyes' lenses]] when underwater. Decreasing the size of the pupil improves the eye's [[depth of field]], reducing blur; increasing the power of the eyes' lenses also reducing blur.<ref name="Gislén2003"></ref><ref name = "Travis2003">{{cite journal |last= Travis |first= J. |title= Children of Sea See Clearly Underwater | journal= [[Science News]] | volume= 163 | issue= 20 | pages= 308–309 |date= 2003-05-17 |url= http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm#18 |access-date= 2018-05-06 | doi= 10.2307/4014626|jstor= 4014626 }}</ref>

Other than these abilities, the Moken children had regular corneal curvature meaning that their eyes had not evolved to be flatter like many fish nor had their eyes become [[myopic]] as their vision on land is still clear.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> She tested this theory on seventeen Moken children and eighteen European children through sessions involving testing of underwater vision. Gislén's experiment affirmed her hypothesis, and she further discovered that European children could train themselves to develop this same trait. After eleven training sessions over one month, these European children developed underwater visual acuity equal to the Moken children's. At the same time, Gislén also documented that the European children sustained temporary eye irritation ("red eyes") as a result of their underwater dives, unlike the Moken children.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Gislén's work highlights that both environmental/behavioral [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] and [[evolutionary adaptation]] are involved in the reported phenomenon of improved aquatic vision in Moken children.

Members of another sea nomad group, the [[Sama-Bajau]], appear to have a number of [[Sama-Bajau#Free-diving adaptations|genetic adaptations]] to facilitate a lifestyle involving extensive freediving.<ref name="Ilardo2018">{{cite journal|last1= Ilardo|first1=M. A.|last2= Moltke|first2= I.|last3= Korneliussen|first3=T. S.|last4= Cheng|first4= J.|last5= Stern|first5=A. J.|last6= Racimo|first6= F.|last7=de Barros Damgaard|first7= P.|last8= Sikora|first8= M.|last9= Seguin-Orlando|first9= A.|last10= Rasmussen|first10= S.|last11=van den Munckhof|first11=I. C. L.|last12=ter Horst|first12= R.|last13= Joosten|first13=L. A. B.|last14= Netea|first14=M. G.|last15= Salingkat|first15= S.|last16= Nielsen|first16= R.|last17= Willerslev|first17= E.|title= Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads|journal= Cell|volume= 173|issue= 3|date= 2018-04-18|pages= 569–580.e15|doi= 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054|pmid= 29677510|doi-access= free}}</ref>

==Governmental control==
The [[Burma|Burmese]] and [[Thailand|Thai]] governments have made attempts at assimilating the people into their own culture, but these efforts have met with limited success. Thai Moken have been permanently settled in villages located in the [[Surin Island]]s ([[Mu Ko Surin National Park]]),<ref name="settings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/surin7.htm|title=Environmental, social and cultural settings of the Surin Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140627232306/http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|url-status=dead|title="Mu Ko Surin National Park" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok, Thailand|archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> in [[Phuket Province]], on the northwestern coast of Phuket Island, and on the nearby [[Phi Phi]] Islands of [[Krabi Province]].<ref>Bauerlein, Monika (November 2005) "Sea change: they outsmarted the tsunami, but Thailand's ''sea gypsies'' could be swept away by an even greater force" ''Mother Jones'' 30(6): pp. 56–61;</ref>

The [[Andaman Sea]] off the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] coast was the subject of keen scrutiny from Myanmar's regime during the 1990s due to offshore [[petroleum]] discoveries by [[multinational corporation]]s including [[Unocal]], [[Petronas]] and others. Reports from the late-1990s told of forced relocation by Myanmar's [[military regime]] of the sea nomads to mainland sites. It was claimed most of the Moken peoples had been relocated by 1997, which is consistent with a pervasive pattern of [[forced relocation]] of suspect ethnic, economic and political groups, conducted throughout Myanmar during the 1990s.

In Thailand, the Moken have been the target of [[Land grabbing|land grabs]] by developers contesting their ownership of ancestral lands. Although nomadic peoples have resided in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces for several centuries, they have historically neglected to register official ownership of the land due to their lack of knowledge and involvement in legal protocol.<ref name="BP-20170212" />

==2004 tsunami==
The islands the Moken inhabit received much attention during the recovery from the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 tsunami]]. As they are keenly attuned to the ocean, the Moken in the [[Surin Islands]] knew the tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 was coming and managed to preserve many lives.<ref name=ISDR>{{cite book |last=Arunotai |first1=Narumon |url=https://www.unisdr.org/files/3646_IndigenousKnowledgeDRR.pdf |format=PDF |title=Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region |chapter=Saved by an Old Legend and a Keen Observation: The Case of Moken Sea Nomads in Thailand |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Rajib |editor2-last=Baumwoll |editor2-first=Jennifer |location=Bangkok |publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction]] |date=July 2008 |pages=72–78 |accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref> However, in the coastal villages of [[Phang Nga Province]], like [[Tap Tawan]], the Moken suffered severe devastation to housing and fishing boats in common with other Moken communities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Mark |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |title=PHOTOS: Thailand's fisherfolk rebuild after tsunami |work=AlertNet |publisher=[[Reuters Foundation]] |date=2005-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810203619/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |archivedate=2007-08-10 |accessdate=2023-07-14 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Moklenic languages]]
* [[Sama-Bajau]]
* [[Sea nomad (disambiguation)|Sea Nomads]], a disambiguation page
* [[Urak Lawoi]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
*[[Hugo Bernatzik|Bernatzik, H. A.]], & Ivanoff, J. (2005). ''Moken and Semang: 1936–2004, persistence and change''. Bangkok: White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-480-082-8}}
*Ivanoff, J. (2001). ''Rings of coral: Moken folktales''. Mergui archipelago project, no. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-7534-71-1}}
*Ivanoff, J. (1999). ''The Moken boat: symbolic technology''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-8434-90-7}}
*Ivanoff, J., Cholmeley, F. N., & Ivanoff, P. (1997). ''Moken: sea-gypsies of the Andaman Sea, post-war chronicles''. Bangkok: Cheney. {{ISBN|974-8496-65-1}}
*Lewis, M. B. (1960). ''Moken texts and word-list; a provisional interpretation''. Federation museums journal, v.4. [Kuala Lumpur]: Museums Dept., Federation of Malaya.
*White, W. G. (1922). ''The sea gypsies of Malaya; an account of the nomadic Mawken people of the Mergui Archipelago with a description of their ways of living, customs, habits, boats, occupations, etc''. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
*White, W. G. (1911). ''An introduction to the Mawken language''. Toungoo: S.P.G. Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|section|date=July 2017}}
{{commons category|Moken}}
* [http://projectmoken.com Project Moken]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-sea-gypsies-50109115/ "The Sea Gypsies"] (CBS-TV; 60 Minutes; 2005).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106051251/http://www.enchantingmyanmar.com/2011/01/salons-sea-gypsies-of-myanmar/ Salons: Sea Gypsies @ Enchanting Myanmar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524082833/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/ Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Subscription Required)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141844/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/online_extra.html Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Tsunami Extra)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622123216/http://www.phuketmagazine.com/the-moken-traditional-sea-gypsies/ Phuket Magazine: The Moken – Traditional Sea Gypsies]
* [http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm ProjectMaje.org] – Burma "Sea Gypsies" Compendium
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817091532/http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Moken Moken language and verbs]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt Ethnologue report for Moken]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930144758/http://www.xpeditions.be/publication/seagypsies/seagypsies.html The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island] – Expeditions, Research in Applied Anthropology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032253/http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=34 "The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island" by Antonio Graceffo]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article6902678.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6902678&sectionName=UKScience images of Moken children underwater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229164936/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/myanmar_moken.html Moken-Video-NAG]
* [http://www.burmaboating.com/blog/2013/10/7/book-on-the-mergui-archipelago-and-the-moken-people-reading-recommendations A reading list of books on the Moken and the Mergui Archipelago]
* [https://archive.org/details/Moken Moken music, Archive.org]

{{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Austronesian peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]

Moken

2024-09-16T14:57:17Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Underwater sight */ Copyedited to remove errors

{{Short description|Ethnic group of the Mergui Archipelago and Surin Islands}}
{{for|the language|Moken language}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Moken people''' '''Mawken/Morgan''' '''ဆလုံလူမျိုး/ชาวเล'''
| image = Moken girl.jpg
| caption = Moken girl wearing [[thanaka]] on her face
| population = 2,000 to 3,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/de15a14a-a357-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0|title=The lost world: Myanmar's Mergui Islands|website=Financial Times|date=19 April 2013 |access-date=2017-11-10}}</ref>
| popplace = {{flag|Thailand}} {{flag|Myanmar}}
| langs = [[Moken language|Moken]], [[Malay language| Malay]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], others
| rels = [[Veneration of the dead|Ancestor worship]], [[Buddhism]], [[Islam]]
| related = [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]], [[Orang Laut]], [[Bajau people|Bajau]]|
}}
[[File:Sea Nomads distribution map.jpg|thumb|300px|Regions inhabited by peoples usually known as "Sea Nomads".<ref name="sopher">{{cite journal|author=David E. Sopher|year=1965|title=The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia|journal=Memoirs of the National Museum|volume=5|pages=389–403|doi=10.2307/2051635 |jstor=2051635|s2cid=162358347 }}</ref> {{Legend|#86adfd|Moken}}{{Legend|#e8bb9c|[[Orang laut]]}}{{Legend|#88c885|[[Sama-Bajau]]}}]]
The '''Moken''' (also '''Mawken''' or '''Morgan'''; {{Lang-my|ဆလုံ လူမျိုး}}; {{lang-th|ชาวเล|lit=sea people|translit=chao le}}) are an [[Austronesian people]] of the [[Mergui Archipelago]], a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the [[Surin Islands]]. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 Moken live a semi-nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle heavily based on the sea, though this lifestyle is increasingly under threat.

The Moken identify in a common culture; there are 1500 men and 1500 women who speak the [[Moken language]], a distinct [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]]. Attempts by both Myanmar and Thailand to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] the Moken into the wider regional culture have met with very limited success.<ref name=Ivanoff_Bountry>{{cite web |url=http://www.lampipark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Moken-Sea-gypsies.pdf |format=PDF |title=Moken sea-gypsies |last=Ivanoff |first=Jacques |last2=Bountry |first2=Maxime |work=Lampi Marine National Park |publisher=International Scientific Network Tanaosri |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> However, the Moken face an uncertain future as their population decreases and their nomadic lifestyle and unsettled legal status leave them marginalized by modern property and immigration laws, maritime conservation and development programs, and tightening border policies.<ref>Some classifications do not include Moken under the Malayan languages, or even under the Aboriginal Malay group of languages. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt "Ethnologue report for Moken/Moklen" ''Ethnologue'']. Moken is considered part of, but isolated within, the (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian family, displaying no particular affinities to any other (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian language. Moreover, it has undergone strong areal influence from neighbouring Mon–Khmer languages, comparable to, but apparently independently from the [[Chamic languages]].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/galleries/moken-sea-gypsies |title='The ocean is our universe' - Survival International |publisher=Survivalinternational |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/25/stateless-sea/moken-burma-and-thailand |title=The Moken of Burma and Thailand |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://projectmoken.com/the-moken/ |title=The Moken |publisher=Projectmoken.com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
The people refer to themselves as Moken. The name is used for all of the Austronesian speaking tribes who inhabit the coast and islands in the [[Andaman Sea]] on the west coast of [[Thailand]], the provinces of [[Satun Province|Satun]], [[Trang Province|Trang]], [[Krabi Province|Krabi]], [[Phuket Province|Phuket]], [[Phang Nga Province|Phang Nga]], and [[Ranong Province|Ranong]], up through the [[Mergui Archipelago]] of Myanmar. The group includes the Moken proper, the Moklen (Moklem), the Orang Sireh ([[Betel]]-leaf People), and the Orang Lanta. The last, the Orang Lanta, are a hybridized group formed when the Malay people settled the [[Lanta Islands]] where the proto-Malay Orang Sireh had been living. The Moken are considered to be mostly sedentary with more permanent villages in the provinces of Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, and Satun. These individuals also have closer ties to the countries in which they reside as they accept both the nationality and citizenship. Their children are also educated through local schools and are exposed to more mainstream cultural ideas. The Moken residing on the [[Surin Islands]] retain their more traditional methods and lifestyle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Moken Traditional Knowledge: An Unrecognised Form of Natural Resources Management and Conservation|last=Arunotai|first=Narumon|journal=International Social Science Journal|date=December 20, 2006|volume=58|issue=187|pages=139–150|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2451.2006.00599.x}}</ref>

The [[Burmese language|Burmese]] call the Moken ''Salone''.<ref>Anderson, John (1890). ''The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago''. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 1–5.</ref> In [[Thailand]] they are called ''chao le'', which can mean people who "live by the sea and pursue a marine livelihood" or those who speak the Austronesian language.<ref name=":0" /> Another term that can be used is ''chao nam'' ("people of the water"), although these terms are also used loosely to include the [[Urak Lawoi]] and even the [[Orang Laut]]. In Thailand, acculturated Moken are called ''Thai mai'' ("new Thais").

Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Moken are also called "sea gypsies" (unrelated to the [[Romani people]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Fry |first1=Gerald W. |last2=Nieminen |first2=Gayla S. |last3=Smith |first3=Harold E. |year=2013 |title=Moken |encyclopedia=Historical Dictionary of Thailand |edition=Third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=253 |isbn=978-0-8108-7802-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 }}</ref><ref name="Verschuur-2019">{{Cite book|last=Verschuur |first=Xanthe |year=2019 |title=The Impact of Tourism on the Livelihood Strategies of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies': A Case Study on Koh Phayam, Thailand |location=Wageningen, Netherlands |publisher=[[Wageningen UR]] |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/526916 }}</ref> a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in [[Southeast Asia]] (see [[Sea Gypsies (disambiguation)]]). The [[Urak Lawoi]] are sometimes classified with the Moken, but they are linguistically and ethnologically distinct, being much more closely related to the Malay people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/urk|title=Urak Lawoi'|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628213628/http://iucn.org/themes/ceesp/WAMIP/Urak%20Lawoi%20pamphlet.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-06-28 |title=Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago, Tarutao National Marine Park, Satun Province, Thailand |author=Dr. Supin Wongbusarakum |date=December 2005 }}</ref>

==Way of life==
[[File:Moken boat.jpg|thumb|A Moken boat. Note the bifurcated bow missing in traditional Thai fishing boats.]]
Their knowledge of the sea enables them to live off its [[fauna]] and [[flora]] by using simple tools such as nets and spears to forage for food, which allows them to impact the environment more minimally than other more intensive forms of subsistence. Furthermore, their frequent movement in kin groups of between two and ten families also allows the land to rest and prevents overuse. Moken are considered hunter-gatherers due to their nomadic lifestyle and lack of material good accumulation. They also believe strongly in the idea that natural resources cannot be owned individually but are rather something that the entire community has access to without restrictions. Their egalitarian society follows into their ancestral worship as they regularly present supernatural beings with food offerings. Aside from [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor worship]], the Moken have no religion.<ref name="BP-20170212">{{cite news|last1=Na Thalang|first1=Jeerawat|title=Sea gypsies turning the tide|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1197265/sea-gypsies-turning-the-tide|access-date=12 February 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=12 February 2017}}</ref>

More recently, they have reached out and begun trading some food ([[Sea cucumber|sea cucumbers]] and edible bird nests) as well as marine products like pearls for other necessities at local markets. Trading and epidemics ([[cholera]] and [[smallpox]]) also lead to their nomadic lifestyles in order to collect a variety of products to trade and to avoid the spread of deadly diseases. If an epidemic begins to spread, the infected members will remain at the location with a small amount of provisions, while healthy members will depart to a new location. The hope is that the provisions will allow the sick enough time to recuperate while not endangering the rest of the kin group with their sickness. The nomadic lifestyle can also reduce group conflict as affected parties may leave one kin group and enter another to give some distance and allow the feud to die down. After some time has passed and the arguing parties see each other once more, the intensity of the argument will have decreased leading to more amicable relationships.<ref name=":0" /> The Moken use 83 plant species for food, 33 for medicinal purposes, 53 for construction of huts, boats and tools, and 54 species for other purposes.<ref name=":0" />

During the dry north-east [[monsoon season]] (when the sea is relatively calm), the Moken used to live on their boats called ''[[Kabang (boat)|kabang]]'', which served not just as transportation, but also as a kitchen, bedroom, and living area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Kabang'': the living boat |journal=Techniques & Culture |date=2001-01-01 |last=Hinshiranan |first=Narumon |volume=35–36 |pages=499–507 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/tc/310 |issn=1952-420X |doi=10.4000/tc.310 |access-date=2023-07-14|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-moken-kaban.html |title=The Moken Kabang |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |work=Indigenous Boats |date=2012-10-13 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> The last ''kabang'' of the [[Surin Islands]] was built in 2006 and an initiative to revive the tradition started in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andamannetwork.org/cause/build-a-new-moken-kabang-houseboat/ |title=Build a New Moken Kabang Houseboat |work=Projects |publisher=North Andaman Network Foundation |date=2018-06-27 |accessdate=2023-07-14}}</ref> Previously the Moken used a ''kabang koman'', "a dug-out boat equipped with a [[salacca]] gunwale [where] Salacca is a light wood with a long stem".<ref name=":0" /> To construct the boat, the different pieces are fitted into each other with the natural resources the Moken can find on land. The boat's usage was discontinued more than 40 years ago as the salt water eroded the wood within three to sixth months, therefore new techniques were devised to create more robust boats. The ''kabang'' lasts longer and one anthropologist, Jacques Ivanoff, suggests that the boat with its bifurcated bow and stern represent the human body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ivanoff_Bountry" /> In monsoon season, which falls between the months of May and October, they set temporary camps on the mainland. During the [[monsoon]] season, they build additional boats and forage for food in the forest.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives; however, much of their traditional life, which is built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat.<ref>{{cite news |title=The South Asian monsoon, past, present and future |url=https://www.economist.com/essay/2019/06/27/the-south-asian-monsoon-past-present-and-future |access-date=20 August 2019 |publisher=The Economist (online: free registration or subscription) |date=June 29, 2019 |pages=45–46 (two sentences) |quote="Their boat-dwelling descendants live on as the Moken, Orang Suku Laut and Bajau Laut. Today they are marginalised, subjected to ever-tightening pressure by the state to respect borders and come ashore."}}</ref>

== History ==
There is much speculation as to the historical origins of the Moken people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolff |first=John U. |year=2018 |title=Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=523–524 |isbn=978-1-5017-3598-1 }}</ref> It is thought that, due to their Austronesian language, they originated in Southern China as agriculturalists 5000–6000 years ago. From there, the Austronesian peoples dispersed and settled various South Asian Islands. It is theorized that the Moken were forced off of these coastal islands into a nomadic lifestyle on the water due to rising sea levels.

==Underwater sight==
For most of the human population, unaided vision underwater is very blurry because the eye's [[cornea]] fails to focus light onto the [[retina]]. In the air, the cornea accomplishes two thirds of the focussing of light.<ref name="Gislén2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Gislén|first1=Anna|last2=Dacke|first2=Marie|last3=Kröger|first3=Ronald H.H|last4=Abrahamsson|first4=Maths|last5=Nilsson|first5=Dan-Eric|last6=Warrant|first6=Eric J|date=May 2003|title=Superior Underwater Vision in a Human Population of Sea Gypsies|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=10|pages=833–836|doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00290-2|pmid=12747831|s2cid=18731746|issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moken children, however, are able to see underwater while [[freediving]] in order to collect clams, sea cucumbers, and more. Anna Gislén and colleagues showed that the children see better [[underwater vision|underwater]] than European children: their "spatial resolution ... [is] more than twice as good".<ref name="Gislén2003" /> The researchers showed that [[Pupillary reflex|constriction]] of the Moken children's [[pupil]]s improved the [[depth of field]] and that focusing of light using the [[Accommodation (eye)|the eye's lens]] improved the quality of focussing.<ref name="Gislén2003" /><ref name = "Travis2003">{{cite journal |last= Travis |first= J. |title= Children of Sea See Clearly Underwater | journal= [[Science News]] | volume= 163 | issue= 20 | pages= 308–309 |date= 2003-05-17 |url= http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm#18 |access-date= 2018-05-06 | doi= 10.2307/4014626|jstor= 4014626 }}</ref> Other than these abilities, the Moken children had regular corneal curvature meaning that their eyes had not evolved to be flatter like many fish nor had their eyes become [[myopic]] as their vision on land is still clear.<ref name=":1" /> She tested this theory on seventeen Moken children and eighteen European children through sessions involving testing of underwater vision. Gislén's experiment affirmed her hypothesis, and she further discovered that European children could train themselves to develop this same trait. After eleven training sessions over one month, these European children developed underwater visual acuity equal to the Moken children's. At the same time, Gislén also documented that the European children sustained temporary eye irritation ("red eyes") as a result of their underwater dives, unlike the Moken children.<ref name="Gislén2003" /> Gislén's work highlights that both environmental/behavioral [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] and [[evolutionary adaptation]] are involved in the reported phenomenon of improved aquatic vision in Moken children.

Members of another sea nomad group, the [[Sama-Bajau]], appear to have a number of [[Sama-Bajau#Free-diving adaptations|genetic adaptations]] to facilitate a lifestyle involving extensive freediving.<ref name="Ilardo2018">{{cite journal|last1= Ilardo|first1=M. A.|last2= Moltke|first2= I.|last3= Korneliussen|first3=T. S.|last4= Cheng|first4= J.|last5= Stern|first5=A. J.|last6= Racimo|first6= F.|last7=de Barros Damgaard|first7= P.|last8= Sikora|first8= M.|last9= Seguin-Orlando|first9= A.|last10= Rasmussen|first10= S.|last11=van den Munckhof|first11=I. C. L.|last12=ter Horst|first12= R.|last13= Joosten|first13=L. A. B.|last14= Netea|first14=M. G.|last15= Salingkat|first15= S.|last16= Nielsen|first16= R.|last17= Willerslev|first17= E.|title= Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads|journal= Cell|volume= 173|issue= 3|date= 2018-04-18|pages= 569–580.e15|doi= 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054|pmid= 29677510|doi-access= free}}</ref>

==Governmental control==
The [[Burma|Burmese]] and [[Thailand|Thai]] governments have made attempts at assimilating the people into their own culture, but these efforts have met with limited success. Thai Moken have been permanently settled in villages located in the [[Surin Island]]s ([[Mu Ko Surin National Park]]),<ref name="settings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/surin7.htm|title=Environmental, social and cultural settings of the Surin Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140627232306/http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/attraction.asp|url-status=dead|title="Mu Ko Surin National Park" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok, Thailand|archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> in [[Phuket Province]], on the northwestern coast of Phuket Island, and on the nearby [[Phi Phi]] Islands of [[Krabi Province]].<ref>Bauerlein, Monika (November 2005) "Sea change: they outsmarted the tsunami, but Thailand's ''sea gypsies'' could be swept away by an even greater force" ''Mother Jones'' 30(6): pp. 56–61;</ref>

The [[Andaman Sea]] off the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] coast was the subject of keen scrutiny from Myanmar's regime during the 1990s due to offshore [[petroleum]] discoveries by [[multinational corporation]]s including [[Unocal]], [[Petronas]] and others. Reports from the late-1990s told of forced relocation by Myanmar's [[military regime]] of the sea nomads to mainland sites. It was claimed most of the Moken peoples had been relocated by 1997, which is consistent with a pervasive pattern of [[forced relocation]] of suspect ethnic, economic and political groups, conducted throughout Myanmar during the 1990s.

In Thailand, the Moken have been the target of [[Land grabbing|land grabs]] by developers contesting their ownership of ancestral lands. Although nomadic peoples have resided in Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces for several centuries, they have historically neglected to register official ownership of the land due to their lack of knowledge and involvement in legal protocol.<ref name="BP-20170212" />

==2004 tsunami==
The islands the Moken inhabit received much attention during the recovery from the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 tsunami]]. As they are keenly attuned to the ocean, the Moken in the [[Surin Islands]] knew the tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 was coming and managed to preserve many lives.<ref name=ISDR>{{cite book |last=Arunotai |first1=Narumon |url=https://www.unisdr.org/files/3646_IndigenousKnowledgeDRR.pdf |format=PDF |title=Indigenous Knowledge for Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practices and Lessons Learned from Experiences in the Asia-Pacific Region |chapter=Saved by an Old Legend and a Keen Observation: The Case of Moken Sea Nomads in Thailand |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Rajib |editor2-last=Baumwoll |editor2-first=Jennifer |location=Bangkok |publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction]] |date=July 2008 |pages=72–78 |accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref> However, in the coastal villages of [[Phang Nga Province]], like [[Tap Tawan]], the Moken suffered severe devastation to housing and fishing boats in common with other Moken communities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Mark |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |title=PHOTOS: Thailand's fisherfolk rebuild after tsunami |work=AlertNet |publisher=[[Reuters Foundation]] |date=2005-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810203619/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photogallery/THfisherfolk.htm |archivedate=2007-08-10 |accessdate=2023-07-14 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Moklenic languages]]
* [[Sama-Bajau]]
* [[Sea nomad (disambiguation)|Sea Nomads]], a disambiguation page
* [[Urak Lawoi]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
*[[Hugo Bernatzik|Bernatzik, H. A.]], & Ivanoff, J. (2005). ''Moken and Semang: 1936–2004, persistence and change''. Bangkok: White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-480-082-8}}
*Ivanoff, J. (2001). ''Rings of coral: Moken folktales''. Mergui archipelago project, no. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-7534-71-1}}
*Ivanoff, J. (1999). ''The Moken boat: symbolic technology''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. {{ISBN|974-8434-90-7}}
*Ivanoff, J., Cholmeley, F. N., & Ivanoff, P. (1997). ''Moken: sea-gypsies of the Andaman Sea, post-war chronicles''. Bangkok: Cheney. {{ISBN|974-8496-65-1}}
*Lewis, M. B. (1960). ''Moken texts and word-list; a provisional interpretation''. Federation museums journal, v.4. [Kuala Lumpur]: Museums Dept., Federation of Malaya.
*White, W. G. (1922). ''The sea gypsies of Malaya; an account of the nomadic Mawken people of the Mergui Archipelago with a description of their ways of living, customs, habits, boats, occupations, etc''. London: Seeley, Service & Co.
*White, W. G. (1911). ''An introduction to the Mawken language''. Toungoo: S.P.G. Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|section|date=July 2017}}
{{commons category|Moken}}
* [http://projectmoken.com Project Moken]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-sea-gypsies-50109115/ "The Sea Gypsies"] (CBS-TV; 60 Minutes; 2005).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110106051251/http://www.enchantingmyanmar.com/2011/01/salons-sea-gypsies-of-myanmar/ Salons: Sea Gypsies @ Enchanting Myanmar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524082833/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/ Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Subscription Required)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141844/http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0504/feature4/online_extra.html Moken: Sea Gypsies @ National Geographic] (Tsunami Extra)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622123216/http://www.phuketmagazine.com/the-moken-traditional-sea-gypsies/ Phuket Magazine: The Moken – Traditional Sea Gypsies]
* [http://www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm ProjectMaje.org] – Burma "Sea Gypsies" Compendium
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180817091532/http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Moken Moken language and verbs]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mwt Ethnologue report for Moken]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930144758/http://www.xpeditions.be/publication/seagypsies/seagypsies.html The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island] – Expeditions, Research in Applied Anthropology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032253/http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=34 "The Sea Gypsies of Surin Island" by Antonio Graceffo]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article6902678.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6902678&sectionName=UKScience images of Moken children underwater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229164936/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/asia-southern/myanmar_moken.html Moken-Video-NAG]
* [http://www.burmaboating.com/blog/2013/10/7/book-on-the-mergui-archipelago-and-the-moken-people-reading-recommendations A reading list of books on the Moken and the Mergui Archipelago]
* [https://archive.org/details/Moken Moken music, Archive.org]

{{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Austronesian peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]

Bitdefender

2024-09-16T06:13:23Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Copyedited second paragraph

{{short description|Romanian cybersecurity technology company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Bitdefender
| logo = Bitdefender-Logo.png
| image = Bitdefender Headquarters Bucharest Romania.jpg
| image_caption = Bitdefender Headquarters in Bucharest, Romania
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| industry = [[Computer software]]
| products = [[Cybersecurity software]]
| services = [[Computer security]]
| genre =
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2001|11|6}}
| founder = Florin Talpeș
| dissolved =
| location = [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]]
| location_city =
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = Florin Talpeș ([[CEO]])
| revenue =
| owner =
| parent =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| footnotes =
| num_employees = 1,800+ (2023)
| homepage = {{Official URL}}
| location_country =
}}

'''Bitdefender''' is a Romanian [[cybersecurity]] technology company headquartered in [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]], with offices in the [[United States]], [[Europe]], [[Australia]] and the [[Middle East]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Interview with Florin Talpes, CEO at Bitdefender | url=http://blog.howtoweb.co/2013/10/interview-with-florin-talpes-ceo-at-bitdefender/ | access-date=20 July 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102183501/http://blog.howtoweb.co/2013/10/interview-with-florin-talpes-ceo-at-bitdefender/ | archive-date=2 November 2013 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Bitdefender Long Description|url=https://www.bitdefender.com/site/view/about-us.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205011701/http://www.bitdefender.com:80/site/view/about-us.html |archive-date=5 February 2011 |access-date=31 July 2017|website=Bitdefender|language=en}}</ref>

The company was founded in 2001 by the current CEO and main [[shareholder]], Florin Talpeș. Bitdefender develops and delivers cybersecurity products and services, including [[endpoint protection]], cloud and [[Managed security service|managed security]], [[antivirus software]], and security for the [[Internet of things]]. Bitdefender products are distributed through partners in over 150 countries<ref name=":0" /> and the US market is estimated to generate more than 40% of its revenues. As of 2023, the company employed more than 1,800 people worldwide.<ref name=":0" />
== History ==
Bitdefender software was originally developed by SOFTWIN, a company founded in 1990 in post-communist Romania. It was originally sold as AVX (Antivirus Expert) from 1996 until 2001, when the Bitdefender subsidiary was created, and AVX was rebranded under the Bitdefender name.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/67446/bitdefender |title=Definition of: Bitdefender |encyclopedia=PC Magazine Encyclopedia |access-date=17 May 2019}}</ref>

Since 2011, Bitdefender has expanded to include consumer and enterprise security products, and in 2021, an [[extended detection and response]] (XDR) platform.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Enterprise Review |url=https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/bitdefender-gravityzone-ultra |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=PCMAG |language=en}}</ref> Like most security suites, Bitdefender’s consumer services are managed through an online portal, called Bitdefender Central.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bitdefender Ultimate Security Review |url=https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/bitdefender-ultimate-security |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=PCMAG |language=en}}</ref>

In 2007, Bitdefender became a separate business entity with external capital entry, with Axxess Capital Investment Fund as a key shareholder.

From 2004 to 2015, the company expanded with offices in the United States, [[Germany]], [[United Kingdom]], [[Denmark]], and the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-01|title=M&A alert. Vitruvian Partners buys stake in Bitdefender from Axxess Capital|url=https://business-review.eu/news/ma-alert-vitruvian-partners-buys-stake-in-bitdefender-from-axxess-capital-153510|access-date=2021-01-15|website=Business Review|language=ro}}</ref>

The company joined the No More Ransom initiative in 2016, releasing free [[decryption]] tools for victims of ransom attacks to decrypt their devices without having to pay to do so.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lakshmanan |first=Ravie |date=19 September 2022 |title=Europol and Bitdefender Release Free Decryptor for LockerGoga Ransomware |url=https://thehackernews.com/2022/09/europol-and-bitdefender-release-free.html |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=The Hacker News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-10 |title=What is a ransomware decryptor? |url=https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cybersecurity/what-is-a-ransomware-decryptor |access-date=2024-08-08 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2018, Bitdefender opened a new subsidiary in Australia, through acquisition of assets from SMS eTech.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Romania's Bitdefender buys Australian partner SMS eTech|url=http://seenews.com/news/romanias-bitdefender-buys-australian-partner-sms-etech-626451|access-date=2021-01-15|website=seenews.com|language=en}}</ref> That year, the company also acquired behavioral and [[network security]] analysis company RedSocks,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kass |first=D. Howard |date=2018-10-23 |title=Bitdefender Acquires Network Security Analytics Startup RedSocks in Expansion Push - |url=https://www.msspalert.com/news/bitdefender-acquires-network-security-analytics-startup-redsocks-in-expansion-push |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=MSSP Alert |language=en}}</ref> and joined the Cybersecurity Tech Accord.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Signatories |url=https://cybertechaccord.org/signatories/ |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=Cybersecurity Tech Accord |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tech companies sign cyber accord |url=https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2018/tech-companies-sign-cyber-accord.html |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=Information Age}}</ref>

Bitdefender opened its own Security Operations Center in [[San Antonio, Texas]] in 2019. Bitdefender signed a multi-year partnership deal with [[Scuderia Ferrari]] on September 28, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bitdefender Team Partner - Ferrari.com |url=https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/formula1/partners/bitdefender |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=www.ferrari.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bitdefender's Partnership with Scuderia Ferrari |url=https://www.bitdefender.com/scuderiaferrari/ |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Bitdefender |language=en-US}}</ref>

Bitdefender’s 2020 research into the Interplanetary Storm [[botnet]] proxy network was provided to law enforcement ahead of the [[FBI]] dismantling the network in November 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-14 |title=District of Puerto Rico {{!}} Russian and Moldovan National Pleads Guilty to Operating Illegal Botnet Proxy Service that Infected Tens of Thousands of Internet-Connected Devices Around the World {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-pr/pr/russian-and-moldovan-national-pleads-guilty-operating-illegal-botnet-proxy-service |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref>

In December 2023, Bitdefender launched Scamio, a free AI-powered scam detector.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rees |first=Ali |date=2023-12-13 |title=Meet Scamio, Bitdefender's new free AI scam detector |url=https://readwrite.com/meet-scamio-bitdefenders-new-free-ai-scam-detector/ |url-status=live |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=ReadWrite}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-27 |title=Bitdefender's Scamio Integrates With WhatsApp In Australia |url=https://thecyberexpress.com/bitdefender-scamio-integrates-with-whatsapp/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In April 2024, Bitdefender announced the launch of Bitdefender Voyager Ventures, a corporate [[venture capital]] unit.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bains |first=Roshini |date=2024-04-24 |title=Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender launches CVC - |url=https://globalventuring.com/corporate/information-technology/cybersecurity-corporation-bitdefender-launches-cvc/ |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=globalventuring.com}}</ref>

=== Company milestones ===
'''2015:''' Bitdefender creates a new consumer product category with Bitdefender BOX and IoT security services.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-06|title=IoT News - Bitdefender BOX : the ultimate security solution for smart home environments?|url=https://iotbusinessnews.com/2017/12/06/64663-bitdefender-box-ultimate-security-solution-smart-home-environments/|access-date=2021-01-15|website=IoT Business News|language=en-US}}</ref>

'''2017:''' Bitdefender makes its first major acquisition by acquiring French partner Profil Technology Source.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Romania's Bitdefender buys France's Profil Technology|url=http://seenews.com/news/romanias-bitdefender-buys-frances-profil-technology-554434|access-date=2021-01-15|website=seenews.com|language=en}}</ref>

British fund [[Vitruvian Partners|Vitruvian]] buys a 30% stake in the Bitdefender, valuing Bitdefender at more than $600 million.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ilie|first=Luiza|date=2017-12-01|title=Vitruvian buys 30 pct stake in Romanian cyber security firm Bitdefender|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/romania-bitdefender-idUSL8N1O122A|access-date=2023-01-19}}</ref>

==Controversies and incidents==
=== Trojan.FakeAlert.5 ===
On March 20, 2010, computers running Bitdefender under [[64-bit]] versions of Windows were affected by a malfunctioning update that classified every executable program as well as [[DLL file]]s as infected. These files were all marked as 'Trojan.FakeAlert.5' and were moved into quarantine. This action led to software and systems malfunctions that affected users around the world.<ref>{{cite web|title = Bad Bitdefender Update Clobbers Windows PCs|url = https://www.pcworld.com/article/192000/bad_bitdefender_update_clobbers_windows_pcs.html|website = PC World|last = McMillan|first = Robert|access-date = 17 September 2017|archive-date = 27 October 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101027145722/http://www.pcworld.com/article/192000/bad_bitdefender_update_clobbers_windows_pcs.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> Bitdefender representatives announced the removal of the faulty update and a workaround for the users affected,<ref>{{cite web | title=Trojan.FakeAlert.5 Update issue | url=http://news.bitdefender.com/NW1431-en--Trojan.FakeAlert.5-Update-issue.html | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324155507/http://news.bitdefender.com/NW1431-en--Trojan.FakeAlert.5-Update-issue.html | archive-date=24 March 2010 }}</ref> except for those using the 2008 version.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://arstechnica.com/software/news/2010/03/bitdefender-update-breaks-64-bit-windows-pcs.ars|title = Bitdefender update breaks 64-bit Windows PCs|author = Peter Bright|date = 22 March 2010}}</ref>

=== DarkSide ransomware ===

In 2021, Bitdefender was accused of self-promotion when releasing and publicly announcing a decryptor to the detriment of victims of [[DarkSide (hacking group)|DarkSide]], a hacking group. In 2020, DarkSide switched their main encryption [[ransomware]] product over to an "affiliate" model wherein other attackers could download and use their software in exchange for a portion of the profits. However, they introduced a bug in the process where affiliate hackers would all use the same private [[RSA (cryptosystem)|RSA]] key - meaning that a decryption package for a single target who paid the ransom would work on any target that had the ransomware installed. Security researchers noticed and were quietly already helping victims of the software, but with no public notice, making it so that the attackers would only see an inexplicable decrease in ransom payments that could be written off as chance. Months later, Bitdefender publicly released a decryptor of their own development and issued a blog post describing the flaw. This was criticized in an article in the ''[[MIT Technology Review]]''. The article wrote that Bitdefender's program wasn't even safe - it was flawed and would "damage" files decrypted with it due to bugs within it, unlike the earlier decryptors that had been quietly used. Second, the blog post tipped off DarkSide as to the nature of the flaw; DarkSide promptly [[patch (software)|patched]] the bug and sarcastically thanked Bitdefender for pointing it out, then went on with their campaign of [[extortion]]. A notable incident that took place after Bitdefender's public disclosure was the [[Colonial Pipeline cyberattack]] in May 2021. While the security researchers who had been using the flaw before acknowledge that it's probable DarkSide would eventually have noticed and fixed the issue, they still criticized Bitdefender for using the bug merely for a brief burst of publicity, rather than in the way that would most help victims of the scheme.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dudley |first1=Renee |last2=Golden |first2=Daniel |date=May 24, 2021 |title=The Colonial pipeline ransomware hackers had a secret weapon: self-promoting cybersecurity firms |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/05/24/1025195/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-bitdefender/ |work=[[MIT Technology Review]] |access-date=May 25, 2021}}</ref> Bitdefender has defended their actions on their blog, saying that they only wished to make as many organizations as possible aware of the existence of the bug in DarkSide's ransom attacks.<ref>[https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/bitdefenders-position-on-ransomware-attacks-and-decryptors Bitdefender's Position on Ransomware Attacks and Decryptors]</ref> The article and blog post triggered a discussion among cybersecurity professionals about the pros and cons of publicly disclosing such vulnerabilities in malware.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/cybersecurity-transparency-hackerone/606914/ |title=Is there too much transparency in cybersecurity? |date=September 21, 2021 |first=Samantha |last=Schwartz |access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref>

== Awards ==
Bitdefender has won a number of awards from [[AV-Comparatives]], an anti-virus assessment firm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Awards |url=https://www.av-comparatives.org/awards/ |access-date=2021-01-15 |website=AV-Comparatives |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Test antivirus software Bitdefender |url=https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/manufacturer/bitdefender/ |access-date=2021-01-15 |website=www.av-test.org |language=de}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Comparison of antivirus software]]
* [[Comparison of firewalls]]
* [[Comparison of computer viruses]]
* [[Multiscanning]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.bitdefender.com}}
* [https://www.itworldcanada.com/article/cyber-security-today-week-in-review-for-may-28-2021/447838 A Q&A discussion] in ''IT World Canada'' on whether Bitdefender ought to have released the decryptor software w/r/t DarkSide

{{Antivirus software}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitdefender}}
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[[Category:Software companies of Romania]]
[[Category:Companies based in Bucharest]]
[[Category:Privately held companies of Romania]]
[[Category:Antivirus software]]
[[Category:Windows security software]]
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[[Category:Android (operating system) software]]
[[Category:2001 software]]
[[Category:Computer security software companies]]
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[[Category:Software companies established in 2001]]

Accommodation (vertebrate eye)

2024-09-03T14:07:29Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* External forces */ Copyedited

{{Short description|Focusing ability of eye}}
[[File:Accommodation (PSF).svg|thumbnail|Minimum (top) and maximum accommodation (bottom).]] [[File:A 13-15yr old horse lens laser focus.png|thumb|Two horse lenses suspended on water by cling wrap with four approximately parallel lasers directed through them. The 1{{nbsp}}cm spaced grid indicates a near focus focal length of around 6{{nbsp}}cm]]
'''Accommodation''' is the process by which the [[vertebrate]] [[eye]] changes [[optical power]] to maintain a clear image or [[focus (optics)|focus]] on an object as its distance varies. In this, distances vary for individuals from the [[far point]]—the maximum distance from the eye for which a clear image of an object can be seen, to the [[near point]]—the minimum distance for a clear image.
Accommodation usually acts like a [[reflex]], including part of the [[accommodation reflex|accommodation-convergence reflex]], but it can also be consciously controlled.

The main ways animals may change focus are:
* Changing the shape of the lens.
* Changing the position of the lens relative to the retina.
* Changing the axial length of the eyeball.
* Changing the shape of the cornea.

==Focusing mechanisms==
[[File:Eye and ray path3.svg|thumb|The path of light through the eye calculated using four refractive indexes, cornea and lens curvatures approximating components of real eyes. Note objects in some size ranges and distances do not require the light path to bend noticeably to achieve focus.]] Focusing the light scattered by objects in a three dimensional environment into a two dimensional collection of individual bright points of light requires the light to be bent. To get a good image of these points of light on a defined area requires a precise systematic bending of light called [[refraction]]. The [[real image]] formed from millions of these points of light is what animals see using their [[retina]]s. Very even systematic curvature of parts of the cornea and [[Lens (vertebrate anatomy)|lens]] produces this systematic bending of light onto the retina.[[File:Virtual eye showing the contribution to focus of different components.jpg|thumb|left|Virtual eye showing the contribution to focus of different components.]] Due to the nature of optics the focused image on the retina is always inverted relative to the object.

Different animals live in different environments having different [[refractive index]]es involving water, air and often both. The eyes are therefor required to bend light different amounts leading to different mechanisms of focus being used in different environments. The air/cornea interface involves a larger difference in refractive index than hydrated structures within the eye. As a result, animals living in air have most of the bending of light achieved at the air/cornea interface with the lens being involved in finer focus of the image. [[File:Human lens focusing from side & back views.webm|thumb|3D reconstruction based on measurements taken from a 20 year old human male focusing from 26mm to infinity (4.85 dioptre change). Side & back views shown. Most image distortions near the center are due to model being limited to 512 faces to make up the lens. Peripheral distortions are also present in animal lenses though are typically covered by the [[iris (anatomy)]]]] [[File:Eye lens focus 10m to 26mm.webm|thumb|The previous video of the eye lens changing shape with focus is placed into context as the lens in this video is placed into the context of a virtual eye.]]Generally mammals, birds and reptiles living in air vary their eyes' optical power by subtly and precisely changing the shape of the elastic lens using the [[ciliary body]].

The small difference in refractive index between water and the hydrated cornea means fish and amphibians need to bend the light more using the internal structures of the eye. Therefore, eyes evolved in water have a mechanism involving changing the distance between a rigid rounder more refractive lens and the retina using less uniform [[muscle]]s rather than subtly changing the shape of the lens itself using circularly arranged muscles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Augen |url=http://www.bio.vobs.at/physiologie/a-augen.php |website=www.bio.vobs.at |language=de |access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref>

===Land based animals and the shape changing lens===
Varying forms of direct experimental proof outlined in this article show that most non-aquatic vertebrates achieve focus, at least in part, by changing the shapes of their lenses.

What is less well understood is how the subtle, precise and very quick changes in lens shape are made. Direct experimental proof of any lens model is necessarily difficult as the vertebrate lens is transparent and only functions well in the living animals. When considering vertebrates, aspects of all models may play varying roles in lens focus. The models can be broadly divided into two camps. Those models that stress the importance of external forces acting on a more passively elastic lens and other models that include forces that may be generated by the lens internally.

==== External forces ====
The model of a shape changing lens of humans was proposed by [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]] in a lecture on the 27th Nov 1800.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Land |first1=M |title=Focusing by shape change in the lens of the eye: a commentary on Young (1801) 'On the mechanism of the eye'. |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |date=19 April 2015 |volume=370 |issue=1666 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2014.0308 |pmid=25750232|pmc=4360117 }}</ref> Others such as Helmholtz and Huxley refined the model in the mid-1800s explaining how the [[ciliary muscle]] contracts rounding the lens to focus near<ref>{{cite book |last1=Huxley |first1=Thomas H |title=Lessons in Elementary Physiology |date=1871 |publisher=MACMILLAN AND CO. |location=London and New York |pages=256–258 |edition=5th}}</ref> and this model was popularized by Helmholtz in 1909.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Helmholtz |first1=H. von |title=Treatise on physiological optics |date=1962 |publisher=Dover Publications Inc. |location=New York, NY |edition=English translation edited by JPC Southall. The Optical Society of America. From the third German Edition of Handbuch der Physiologischen Optik (1909), Leopold Voss, Leipzig. Dover reprint}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=R. F. |title=The force of contraction of the human ciliary muscle during accommodation |journal=The Journal of Physiology |date=1 August 1977 |volume=270 |issue=1 |pages=51–74 |doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1977.sp011938|pmid=915798 |pmc=1353417 }}</ref> The model may be summarized like this. Normally the lens is held under tension by its [[zonules|suspending ligaments]] and [[Capsule of lens|capsule]] being pulled tight by the pressure of the eyeball. At short focal distance the ciliary muscle contracts, stretching the ciliary body and relieving some of the tension on the suspensory ligaments, allowing the elastic lens to become more spherical, increasing refractive power. Changing focus to an object at a greater distance requires a thinner less curved lens. This is achieved by relaxing some of the sphincter-like ciliary muscles allowing the ciliarly body to spring back, pulling harder on the lens making it less curved and thinner, so increasing the [[Focus (optics)|focal distance]]. There is a problem with the Helmholtz model in that despite mathematical models being tried none has come close enough to working using only the Helmholtz mechanisms.<ref name="Mechanism of human accommodation as">{{cite journal |last1=Schachar |first1=Ronald A. |last2=Bax |first2=Andrew J. |title=Mechanism of human accommodation as analyzed by nonlinear finite element analysis |journal=Comprehensive Therapy |date=June 2001 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=122–132 |doi=10.1007/s12019-996-0006-5|pmid=11430259 |s2cid=71369369 }}</ref>
[[File:Schachar model of focus.svg|thumb|Schachar model of lens focus]]Schachar has proposed a model for land based vertebrates that was not well received.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Atchison |first1=DA |title=Accommodation and presbyopia. |journal=Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics|date=July 1995 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=255–72 |doi=10.1046/j.1475-1313.1995.9500020e.x |pmid=7667018|s2cid=24282106 }}</ref> The theory allows mathematical modeling to more accurately reflect the way the lens focuses while also taking into account the complexities in the suspensory ligaments and the presence of radial as well as circular muscles in the ciliary body.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shao |first1=Yilei |last2=Tao |first2=Aizhu |last3=Jiang |first3=Hong |last4=Mao |first4=Xinjie |last5=Zhong |first5=Jianguang |last6=Shen |first6=Meixiao |last7=Lu |first7=Fan |last8=Xu |first8=Zhe |last9=Karp |first9=Carol L. |last10=Wang |first10=Jianhua |title=Age-Related Changes in the Anterior Segment Biometry During Accommodation |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date=1 June 2015 |volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=3522–3530 |doi=10.1167/iovs.15-16825|pmid=26030106 |pmc=4464043 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schachar |first1=Ronald A. |title=Human Accommodative Ciliary Muscle Configuration Changes Are Consistent With Schachar's Mechanism of Accommodation |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date=22 September 2015 |volume=56 |issue=10 |pages=6075 |doi=10.1167/iovs.15-17452|pmid=26393665 }}</ref> In this model the ligaments may pull to varying degrees on the lens at the equator using the radial muscles, while the ligaments offset from the equator to the front and back<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Streeten |first=B. W. |date=April 1977 |title=The zonular insertion: a scanning electron microscopic study |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/844993/ |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=364–375 |issn=0146-0404 |pmid=844993}}</ref> are relaxed to varying degrees by contracting the circular muscles.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schachar |first1=RA |title=Zonular function: a new hypothesis with clinical implications. |journal=Annals of Ophthalmology |date=March 1994 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=36–8 |pmid=8010701}}</ref> These multiple actions<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knaus |first1=Katherine R. |last2=Hipsley |first2=AnnMarie |last3=Blemker |first3=Silvia S. |title=The action of ciliary muscle contraction on accommodation of the lens explored with a 3D model |journal=Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology |date=June 2021 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=879–894 |doi=10.1007/s10237-021-01417-9|pmid=33491156 |s2cid=231704221 }}</ref> operating on the elastic lens allows it to change lens shape at the front more subtly. Not only changing focus, but also correcting for lens aberrations that might otherwise result from the changing shape while better fitting mathematical modeling.<ref name="Mechanism of human accommodation as"/>

The "[[catenary]]" model of lens focus proposed by [[D. Jackson Coleman|Coleman]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=D. Jackson |title=Unified Model for Accommodative Mechanism |journal=American Journal of Ophthalmology |date=June 1970 |volume=69 |issue=6 |pages=1063–1079 |doi=10.1016/0002-9394(70)91057-3|pmid=5423772 }}</ref> demands less tension on the ligaments suspending the lens. Rather than the lens as a whole being stretched thinner for distance vision and allowed to relax for near focus, contraction of the circular ciliary muscles results in the lens having less hydrostatic pressure against its front. The lens front can then reform its shape between the suspensory ligaments in a similar way to a slack chain hanging between two poles might change its curve when the poles are moved closer together. This model requires precise fluid movement of the lens front only rather than trying to change the shape of the lens as a whole. While this concept may be involved in the focusing it has been shown by Scheimpflug photography that the rear of the lens also changes shape in the living eye.<ref name="Constant Volume of the Human Lens a">{{cite journal |last1=Hermans |first1=Erik A. |last2=Pouwels |first2=Petra J. W. |last3=Dubbelman |first3=Michiel |last4=Kuijer |first4=Joost P. A. |last5=van der Heijde |first5=Rob G. L. |last6=Heethaar |first6=Rob M. |title=Constant Volume of the Human Lens and Decrease in Surface Area of the Capsular Bag during Accommodation: An MRI and Scheimpflug Study |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date=1 January 2009 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=281–289 |doi=10.1167/iovs.08-2124|pmid=18676625 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Internal forces ====
[[File:Human Lens Scheimpflug layers.svg|thumb|Tracing of Scheimpflug photographs of 20 year old human lens being thicker focusing near and thinner when focusing far. Internal layering of the lens is also significant]] [[File:Wrinkled lens fibers.jpg|thumb|Wrinkled lens fibers in picture below compared to straight fibers above]]When Thomas Young proposed the changing of the human lens's shape as the mechanism for focal accommodation in 1801 he thought the lens may be a muscle capable of contraction. This type of model is termed intracapsular accommodation as it relies on activity within the lens. In a 1911 Nobel lecture Allvar Gullstrand spoke on "How I found the intracapsular mechanism of accommodation" and this aspect of lens focusing continues to be investigated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=PAU |first1=H |title=[Accommodative shift of the nucleus of the lens in intracapsular accommodation]. |journal=Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde und für augenärztliche Fortbildung |date=1952 |volume=121 |issue=2 |pages=224–6 |pmid=14955961}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huggert |first1=Arne |title=The Intracapsular Mechanism of Accommodation |journal=Acta Ophthalmologica |date=27 May 2009 |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=389–397 |doi=10.1111/j.1755-3768.1964.tb03627.x|pmid=14213923 |s2cid=37325357 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=López-Gil |first1=Norberto |title=Gullstrand Intracapsular Accommodation Mechanism Revised |journal=Photonics |date=3 March 2022 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=152 |doi=10.3390/photonics9030152|bibcode=2022Photo...9..152L |doi-access=free }}</ref> Young spent time searching for the nerves that could stimulate the lens to contract without success. Since that time it has become clear the lens is not a simple muscle stimulated by a nerve so the 1909 Helmholtz model took precedence. Pre-twentieth century investigators did not have the benefit of many later discoveries and techniques. Membrane proteins such as [[aquaporin]]s which allow water to flow into and out of cells are the most abundant membrane protein in the lens.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Broekhuyse |first1=R. M. |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=E. D. |last3=Stols |first3=A. L. |title=Lens membranes II. Isolation and characterization of the main intrinsic polypeptide (MIP) of bovine lens fiber membranes |journal=Experimental Eye Research |date=September 1976 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=365–371 |doi=10.1016/0014-4835(76)90135-4|pmid=976377 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mulders |first1=SM |last2=Preston |first2=GM |last3=Deen |first3=PM |last4=Guggino |first4=WB |last5=van Os |first5=CH |last6=Agre |first6=P |title=Water channel properties of major intrinsic protein of lens. |journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry |date=14 April 1995 |volume=270 |issue=15 |pages=9010–16 |doi=10.1074/jbc.270.15.9010 |pmid=7536742|doi-access=free |hdl=2066/216433 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Connexin]]s which allow electrical coupling of cells are also prevalent. Electron microscopy and immunofluorescent microscopy show fiber cells to be highly variable in structure and composition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kuszak |first1=J |last2=Alcala |first2=J |last3=Maisel |first3=H |title=The surface morphology of embryonic and adult chick lens-fiber cells. |journal=The American Journal of Anatomy |date=December 1980 |volume=159 |issue=4 |pages=395–410 |doi=10.1002/aja.1001590406 |pmid=7223675}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gruijters |first1=WT |last2=Kistler |first2=J |last3=Bullivant |first3=S |title=Formation, distribution and dissociation of intercellular junctions in the lens. |journal=Journal of Cell Science |date=October 1987 |volume=88 ( Pt 3) |issue=3 |pages=351–9 |doi=10.1242/jcs.88.3.351 |pmid=3448099}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gruijters |first1=WT |title=A non-connexon protein (MIP) is involved in eye lens gap-junction formation. |journal=Journal of Cell Science |date=July 1989 |volume=93 ( Pt 3) |issue=3 |pages=509–13 |doi=10.1242/jcs.93.3.509 |pmid=2691517}}</ref> Magnetic resonance imaging confirms a layering in the lens that may allow for different refractive plans within it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hermans |first1=EA |last2=Dubbelman |first2=M |last3=Van der Heijde |first3=R |last4=Heethaar |first4=RM |title=Equivalent refractive index of the human lens upon accommodative response. |journal=Optometry and Vision Science |date=December 2008 |volume=85 |issue=12 |pages=1179–84 |doi=10.1097/OPX.0b013e31818e8d57 |pmid=19050472|s2cid=205907383 }}</ref> The [[refractive index]] of human lens varies from approximately 1.406 in the central layers down to 1.386 in less dense layers of the lens.<ref>Hecht, Eugene. ''Optics'', 2nd ed. (1987), Addison Wesley, {{ISBN|0-201-11609-X}}. p. 178.</ref> This [[gradient-index optics|index gradient]] enhances the [[optical power]] of the lens. As more is learned about mammalian lens structure from ''in situ'' [[Scheimpflug principle|Scheimpflug photography]], MRI<ref name="Constant Volume of the Human Lens a"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stahnke |first1=T. |last2=Hadlich |first2=S. |last3=Wree |first3=A. |last4=Guthoff |first4=R. |last5=Stachs |first5=O. |last6=Langner |first6=S. |title=Magnetresonanzmikroskopie des Akkommodationsapparats |journal=Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde |date=16 December 2016 |volume=233 |issue=12 |pages=1320–1323 |doi=10.1055/s-0042-118599|pmid=27984837 |s2cid=78808282 }}</ref> and physiological investigations it is becoming apparent the lens itself is not responding entirely passively to the surrounding ciliary muscle but may be able to change its overall refractive index through mechanisms involving water dynamics in the lens still to be clarified.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vaghefi |first1=E |last2=Pontre |first2=BP |last3=Jacobs |first3=MD |last4=Donaldson |first4=PJ |title=Visualizing ocular lens fluid dynamics using MRI: manipulation of steady state water content and water fluxes. |journal=American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology |date=August 2011 |volume=301 |issue=2 |pages=R335-42 |doi=10.1152/ajpregu.00173.2011 |pmid=21593426|s2cid=9525037 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donaldson |first1=Paul J. |last2=Chen |first2=Yadi |last3=Petrova |first3=Rosica S. |last4=Grey |first4=Angus C. |last5=Lim |first5=Julie C. |title=Regulation of lens water content: Effects on the physiological optics of the lens |journal=Progress in Retinal and Eye Research |date=December 2022 |volume=95 |pages=101152 |doi=10.1016/j.preteyeres.2022.101152|pmid=36470825 |s2cid=254243790 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Suzuki-Kerr |first1=H |last2=Walker |first2=KL |last3=Han |first3=MH |last4=Lim |first4=JC |last5=Donaldson |first5=PJ |title=Hyposmotic stress causes ATP release in a discrete zone within the outer cortex of rat lens. |journal=Molecular Vision |date=2022 |volume=28 |pages=245–256 |pmid=36284672|pmc=9514545 }}</ref> The accompanying micrograph shows wrinkled fibers from a relaxed sheep lens after it is removed from the animal indicating shortening of the lens fibers during near focus accommodation. The age related changes in the human lens may also be related to changes in the water dynamics in the lens.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moffat |first1=BA |last2=Landman |first2=KA |last3=Truscott |first3=RJ |last4=Sweeney |first4=MH |last5=Pope |first5=JM |title=Age-related changes in the kinetics of water transport in normal human lenses. |journal=Experimental Eye Research |date=December 1999 |volume=69 |issue=6 |pages=663–9 |doi=10.1006/exer.1999.0747 |pmid=10620395}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=C.E. |last2=Atchison |first2=D.A. |last3=Meder |first3=R. |last4=Pope |first4=J.M. |title=Refractive index distribution and optical properties of the isolated human lens measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) |journal=Vision Research |date=August 2005 |volume=45 |issue=18 |pages=2352–2366 |doi=10.1016/j.visres.2005.03.008|pmid=15979462 |s2cid=8894700 }}</ref>

=====Human eyes=====
{{Merge from|Amplitude of accommodation|discuss=Talk:Accommodation_(vertebrate_eye)#Proposal_to_merge_Amplitude_of_accommodation |date=July 2024|section=TRUE}}

[[File:Duane (1922) Fig 4 modified.svg|thumb|200px|right|Duane's classical curves showing the amplitude or width of accommodation as changing with age. Mean (B) and approximate lower (A) and upper (C) standard deviations are shown.<ref name="Duane" />]] The young human eye can change focus from distance (infinity) to as near as 6.5 cm from the eye.<ref name="Ai_Hong_Chen">{{cite journal | last1=Chen | first1=Ai Hong | last2=O'Leary | first2=Daniel J. | last3=Howell | first3=Edwin R. | title=Near visual function in young children. Part I: near point of convergence. Part II: amplitude of accommodation. Part III: near heterophoria | journal=Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics | volume=20 | issue=3 | date=2000 | issn=0275-5408 | doi=10.1046/j.1475-1313.2000.00498.x | pages=185–198| pmid=10897340 }}</ref><ref>That value follows from the maximum accommodative power and can be calculated as 100 cm/15 dpt.</ref> This dramatic change in focal power of the eye of approximately 15 dioptres (the reciprocal of focal length in metres) occurs as a consequence of a reduction in [[Zonule of Zinn|zonular]] tension induced by [[ciliary muscle]] contraction. This process can occur in as little as 224 ± 30 milliseconds in bright light.<ref>{{Cite journal |pmc = 2908311|year = 2010|last1 = Lockhart|first1 = T. E.|title = Effects of Age on Dynamic Accommodation|journal = Ergonomics|volume = 53|issue = 7|pages = 892–903|last2 = Shi|first2 = W.|pmid = 20582770|doi = 10.1080/00140139.2010.489968}}</ref> The amplitude of accommodation declines with age. By the fifth decade of life the accommodative amplitude can decline so that the near point of the eye is more remote than the reading distance. When this occurs the patient is [[presbyopic]]. Once presbyopia occurs, those who are [[emmetropic]] (i.e., do not require optical correction for distance vision) will need an optical aid for [[Near visual acuity|near vision]]; those who are [[myopic]] (nearsighted and require an optical correction for distance or far vision), will find that they see better at near without their distance correction; and those who are [[hyperopic]] (farsighted) will find that they may need a correction for both distance and near vision. Note that these effects are most noticeable when the [[pupil]] is large; i.e. in dim light. The age-related decline in accommodation occurs almost universally to less than 2 dioptres by the time a person reaches 45 to 50 years, by which time most of the population will have noticed a decrease in their ability to focus on close objects and hence require glasses for reading or bifocal lenses. Accommodation decreases to about 1 dioptre at the age of 70 years. The dependency of accommodation amplitude on age is graphically summarized by [[Alexander Duane|Duane]]'s classical curves.<ref name="Duane">{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1016/s0002-9394(22)90793-7|title = Studies in Monocular and Binocular Accommodation with their Clinical Applications|journal = American Journal of Ophthalmology|volume = 5|issue = 11|pages = 865–877|year = 1922|last1 = Duane|first1 = Alexander| s2cid=43172462 |url = https://zenodo.org/record/1529034}}</ref>

======Theories on how humans focus======
* '''Helmholtz'''—The most widely held<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baumeister |first1=M. |last2=Kohnen |first2=T. |title=Akkommodation und Presbyopie: Teil 1: Physiologie der Akkommodation und Entwicklung der Presbyopie |journal=Der Ophthalmologe |date=June 2008 |volume=105 |issue=6 |pages=597–610 |doi=10.1007/s00347-008-1761-8 |pmid=18594896 |language=de}}</ref> theory of accommodation is that proposed by [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] in 1855. When viewing a far object, the circularly arranged [[ciliary muscle]] relaxes allowing the [[Lens (anatomy)|lens]] [[Zonule of Zinn|zonules]] and suspensory ligaments to pull on the lens, flattening it. The source of the tension is the pressure that the vitreous and aqueous humours exert outwards onto the [[sclera]]. When viewing a near object, the ciliary muscles contract (resisting the outward pressure on the sclera) causing the lens zonules to slacken which allows the lens to spring back into a thicker, more convex, form.
* '''Schachar'''—Ronald A. Schachar has proposed in 1992 what has been called a "rather bizarre geometric theory"<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Atchison | first1 = David A. | title = Accommodation and presbyopia| journal = Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics| volume = 15 | issue = 4 | pages = 255–212| year = 1995 | doi = 10.1046/j.1475-1313.1995.9500020e.x | pmid = 7667018 | s2cid = 24282106 }}</ref> which claims that focus by the human lens is associated with increased tension on the lens via the equatorial zonules; that when the ciliary muscle contracts, equatorial zonular tension is increased, causing the central surfaces of the crystalline lens to steepen, the central thickness of the lens to increase (anterior-posterior diameter), and the peripheral surfaces of the lens to flatten. While the tension on equatorial zonules is increased during accommodation, the anterior and posterior zonules are simultaneously relaxing. The increased equatorial zonular tension keeps the lens stable and flattens the peripheral lens surface during accommodation. As a consequence, gravity does not affect the amplitude of accommodation and primary [[spherical aberration]] shifts in the negative direction during accommodation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schachar |first1=R. A. |title=The Mechanism of Accommodation and Presbyopia. |date=2012 |publisher=Kugler Publications |location=The Hague |isbn=978-90-6299-233-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zhou|first1=X-Y|last2=Wang|first2=L|last3=Zhou|first3=X-T|last4=Yu|first4=Z-Q|date=2014-10-24|title=Wavefront aberration changes caused by a gradient of increasing accommodation stimuli|journal=Eye| volume=29|issue=1|pages=115–121|doi=10.1038/eye.2014.244|pmid=25341432|pmc=4289835|issn=0950-222X|doi-access=free}}</ref> The theory has not found much independent support.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
* '''Catenary'''—[[D. Jackson Coleman]] proposes that the lens, zonule and anterior vitreous comprise a diaphragm between the anterior and vitreous chambers of the eye.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Coleman|first=D. Jackson|date=June 1970|title=Unified Model for Accommodative Mechanism|journal=American Journal of Ophthalmology|volume=69|issue=6|pages=1063–1079|doi=10.1016/0002-9394(70)91057-3|pmid=5423772|issn=0002-9394}}</ref> Ciliary muscle contraction initiates a pressure gradient between the vitreous and aqueous compartments that support the anterior lens shape. It is in this lens shape that the mechanically reproducible state of a steep radius of curvature in the center of the lens with slight flattening of the peripheral anterior lens, i.e. the shape, in cross section, of a [[catenary]] occurs. The anterior capsule and the zonule form a trampoline shape or hammock shaped surface that is totally reproducible depending on the circular dimensions, i.e. the diameter of the ciliary body (Müeller's muscle). The ciliary body thus directs the shape like the pylons of a suspension bridge, but does not need to support an equatorial traction force to flatten the lens.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=DJ |title=On the hydraulic suspension theory of accommodation. |journal=Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc |date=1986 |volume=84 |pages=846–68 |pmid=3590482 |pmc=1298753}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=DJ |last2=Fish |first2=SK |title=Presbyopia, accommodation, and the mature catenary. |journal=Ophthalmology |date=September 2001 |volume=108 |issue=9 |pages=1544–51 |doi=10.1016/s0161-6420(01)00691-1 |pmid=11535447}}</ref>

======Induced effects of accommodation======
When humans accommodate to a near object, they also [[Convergence (eye)|converge]] their eyes and constrict their [[pupil]]s. The combination of these three movements (accommodation, convergence and [[miosis]]) is under the control of the [[Edinger-Westphal nucleus]] and is referred to as the ''near triad'', or [[accommodation reflex]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bhola |first1=Rahul |title=EyeRounds.org: Tutorial: Binocular Vision |url=http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/eyeforum/tutorials/Bhola-BinocularVision.htm |website=webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu |publisher=University of Iowa |access-date=11 September 2020 |date=23 January 2006}}</ref> While it is well understood that proper convergence is necessary to prevent [[diplopia]], the functional role of the pupillary constriction remains less clear. Arguably, it may increase the [[depth of field]] by reducing the [[aperture]] of the eye, and thus reduce the amount of accommodation needed to bring the image in focus on the retina.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Wang | first1 = B. | last2 = Ciuffreda | first2 = K. J. | doi = 10.1016/j.survophthal.2005.11.003 | title = Depth-of-Focus of the Human Eye: Theory and Clinical Implications | journal = Survey of Ophthalmology | volume = 51 | issue = 1 | pages = 75–85 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16414364}}</ref>

There is a measurable ratio ([[Matthiessen's ratio]]) between how much convergence takes place because of accommodation (AC/A ratio, CA/C ratio). Abnormalities with this can lead to [[binocular vision]] problems.<ref name="borish2">{{cite book |last1=William J. |first1=Benjamin |title=Borish's Clinical Refraction |date=2006 |publisher=Butterworth Heinemann/Elsevier |location=St. Louis Mo. |isbn=978-0-7506-7524-6 |edition=2nd |chapter= Fusion and binocularity}}</ref>

======Anomalies of accommodation described in humans======
There are many types of accommodation anomalies. It can be broadly classified into two, decreased accommodation and increased accommodation.<ref name="Khurana-Opt">{{cite book |last1=Khurana |first1=AK |title=Theory and practice of optics and refraction |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-81-312-1132-8 |pages=100–107 |edition=2nd |chapter=Asthenopia, anomalies of accommodation and convergence|date=September 2008 }}</ref> Decreased accommodation may occur due to physiological (presbyopia), pharmacological (cycloplegia) or pathological.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Excessive accommodation and spasm of accommodation are types of increased accommodation.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

======Presbyopia======
[[Presbyopia]], physiological insufficiency of accommodation due to age related changes in lens (decreased elasticity and increased hardness) and ciliary muscle power is the commonest form of accommodative dysfunction.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> It will cause gradual decrease in near vision.

======Accommodative insufficiency======
[[Accommodative insufficiency]] is the condition where amplitude of accommodation of a person is lesser compared to physiological limits for their age.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Premature sclerosis of lens or ciliary muscle weaknesses due to systemic or local cases may cause accommodative insufficiency.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/>
Accommodative insufficiency is further categorised into different categories.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

======Ill-sustained accommodation======
Ill-sustained accommodation is a condition similar to accommodative insufficiency. In this, range of accommodation will be normal, but after excessive near work accommodative power will decrease.<ref name="Duke-Elder">{{cite book |last1=Duke |first1=Elder's |title=The practice of refraction |date=1969 |publisher=Churchill |location=London |isbn=0-7000-1410-1 |edition=8th |chapter=Anomalies of accommodation}}</ref>

======Paralysis of accommodation======
In paralysis of accommodation, amplitude of accommodation is either markedly reduced or completely absent ([[cycloplegia]]).<ref name="borish"/> It may occur due to ciliary muscle paralysis or occulomotor nerve paralysis.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Parasympatholytic drugs like atropine will also cause paralysis of accommodation.<ref name="Duke-Elder"/>

======Unequal accommodation======
If there is amplitude of accommodation between the eyes differ 0.5 dioptre or more, it is considered as unequal.<ref name="borish"/> Organic diseases, [[head trauma]] or functional [[amblyopia]] may be responsible for unequal accommodation.<ref name="borish"/>

======Accommodative infacility======
[[Accommodative infacility]] is also known as accommodative inertia.<ref name="borish"/> In this condition there will be difficulty in changing accommodation from one point to other. There may be difficulty in adjusting focus from distance from near.<ref name="Duke-Elder"/> It is a comparatively rare condition.

======Spasm of accommodation======
[[Spasm of accommodation]] also known as ciliary spasm is a condition of abnormally excessive accommodation which is out of voluntary control of the person.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Vision may be blurred due to induced [[pseudomyopia]].

======Accommodative excess======
[[Accommodative excess]] occurs when an individual uses more than normal accommodation for performing certain near work. Modern definitions simply regard it as an inability to relax accommodation readily.<ref name="borish">{{cite book |last1=William J. |first1=Benjamin |title=Borish's clinical refraction |date=2006 |publisher=Butterworth Heinemann/Elsevier |location=St. Louis Mo. |isbn=978-0-7506-7524-6 |edition=2nd |chapter= Accommodation, the Pupil, and Presbyopia| page=112}}</ref>

===Aquatic animals===
[[File:Diving bird lens accommodation.svg|thumb|left|Diving bird (Cormorant) lens focusing can be up to 80 dioptres for clearer underwater vision.]] [[File:Bony fish eye multilang.svg|thumb|left|Bony fish eye. Note the harder more spherical lens than in land based animals and a none circular muscle to pull the lens backward]] Aquatic animals include some that also thrive in the air so focusing mechanisms vary more than in those that are only land based. Some whales and seals are able to focus above and below water having two areas of retina with high numbers of rods and cones<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mass |first1=Alla M. |last2=Supin |first2=Alexander YA. |title=Adaptive features of aquatic mammals' eye |journal=The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology |date=June 2007 |volume=290 |issue=6 |pages=701–715 |doi=10.1002/ar.20529|pmid=17516421 |s2cid=39925190 |doi-access=free }}</ref> rather than one as in humans. Having two high resolution area of retina presumably allows two axis of vision one for above and one for below water. In [[reptile]]s and [[bird]]s, the ciliary body which supports the lens via suspensory ligaments also touches the lens with a number of pads on its inner surface. These pads compress and release the lens to modify its shape while focusing on objects at different distances; the suspensory ligaments usually perform this function in [[mammal]]s. With [[vision in fish]] and [[amphibian]]s, the lens is fixed in shape, and focusing is instead achieved by moving the lens forwards or backwards within the eye using a muscle called the retractor lentus.<ref name=VB>{{cite book |author=Romer, Alfred Sherwood|author2=Parsons, Thomas S.|year=1977 |title=The Vertebrate Body |publisher=Holt-Saunders International |location= Philadelphia, PA|pages= 463–464|isbn= 978-0-03-910284-5}}</ref>

In [[cartilaginous fish]], the suspensory ligaments are replaced by a membrane, including a small muscle at the underside of the lens. This muscle pulls the lens forward from its relaxed position when focusing on nearby objects. In [[teleost]]s, by contrast, a muscle projects from a vascular structure in the floor of the eye, called the ''falciform process'', and serves to pull the lens backwards from the relaxed position to focus on distant objects. While amphibians move the lens forward, as do cartilaginous fish, the muscles involved are not [[homology (biology)|similar]] in either type of animal. In [[frog]]s, there are two muscles, one above and one below the lens, while other amphibians have only the lower muscle.<ref name=VB/>

In the simplest vertebrates, the [[lamprey]]s and [[hagfish]], the lens is not attached to the outer surface of the eyeball at all. There is no aqueous humor in these fish, and the vitreous body simply presses the lens against the surface of the cornea. To focus its eyes, a lamprey flattens the cornea using muscles outside of the eye and pushes the lens backwards.<ref name=VB/>

While not vertebrate, brief mention is made here of the convergent evolution of vertebrate and [[Mollusc eye|Molluscan eyes]]. The most complex Molluscan eye is the [[Cephalopod eye]] which is superficially similar structure and function to a vertebrate eye, including accommodation, while differing in basic ways such as having a two part lens and no cornea.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jagger |first1=W. S |last2=Sands |first2=P. J |title=A wide-angle gradient index optical model of the crystalline lens and eye of the octopus |journal=Vision Research |date=1 August 1999 |volume=39 |issue=17 |pages=2841–2852 |doi=10.1016/S0042-6989(99)00012-7|pmid=10492814 |s2cid=17808919 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schaeffel |first1=F. |last2=Murphy |first2=C.J. |last3=Howland |first3=H.C. |title=Accommodation in the cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |date=15 November 1999 |volume=202 |issue=22 |pages=3127–3134 |doi=10.1242/jeb.202.22.3127|pmid=10539961 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The fundamental requirements of optics must be filled by all eyes with lenses using the tissues at their disposal so superficially eyes all tend to look similar. It is the way optical requirements are met using different cell types and structural mechanisms that varies among animals.

==See also==

===Disorders of and relating to accommodation===
* [[Esotropia|Accommodative esotropia]]
* Latent [[hyperopia]]
* [[Myopia]]
* [[Pseudomyopia]]

===Other===
* [[Accommodation in fish]]
* [[Adaptation (eye)]]
* [[Amplitude of accommodation]]
* [[Cycloplegia]]
* [[Cyclospasm]]
* [[Edinger-Westphal nucleus]]
* [[Mandelbaum Effect]]
* [[Negative relative accommodation]]
* [[Positive relative accommodation]]

==References==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{eMedicine|oph|723}}—"Presbyopia: Cause and Treatment"
* {{MeshName|Ocular+Accommodation}}

{{Visual system}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accommodation (Eye)}}
[[Category:Eye]]
[[Category:Optometry]]
[[Category:Ophthalmology]]
[[Category:Vision]]

Accommodation (vertebrate eye)

2024-09-03T14:04:21Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* External forces */ Added link to Thomas Young's article

{{Short description|Focusing ability of eye}}
[[File:Accommodation (PSF).svg|thumbnail|Minimum (top) and maximum accommodation (bottom).]] [[File:A 13-15yr old horse lens laser focus.png|thumb|Two horse lenses suspended on water by cling wrap with four approximately parallel lasers directed through them. The 1{{nbsp}}cm spaced grid indicates a near focus focal length of around 6{{nbsp}}cm]]
'''Accommodation''' is the process by which the [[vertebrate]] [[eye]] changes [[optical power]] to maintain a clear image or [[focus (optics)|focus]] on an object as its distance varies. In this, distances vary for individuals from the [[far point]]—the maximum distance from the eye for which a clear image of an object can be seen, to the [[near point]]—the minimum distance for a clear image.
Accommodation usually acts like a [[reflex]], including part of the [[accommodation reflex|accommodation-convergence reflex]], but it can also be consciously controlled.

The main ways animals may change focus are:
* Changing the shape of the lens.
* Changing the position of the lens relative to the retina.
* Changing the axial length of the eyeball.
* Changing the shape of the cornea.

==Focusing mechanisms==
[[File:Eye and ray path3.svg|thumb|The path of light through the eye calculated using four refractive indexes, cornea and lens curvatures approximating components of real eyes. Note objects in some size ranges and distances do not require the light path to bend noticeably to achieve focus.]] Focusing the light scattered by objects in a three dimensional environment into a two dimensional collection of individual bright points of light requires the light to be bent. To get a good image of these points of light on a defined area requires a precise systematic bending of light called [[refraction]]. The [[real image]] formed from millions of these points of light is what animals see using their [[retina]]s. Very even systematic curvature of parts of the cornea and [[Lens (vertebrate anatomy)|lens]] produces this systematic bending of light onto the retina.[[File:Virtual eye showing the contribution to focus of different components.jpg|thumb|left|Virtual eye showing the contribution to focus of different components.]] Due to the nature of optics the focused image on the retina is always inverted relative to the object.

Different animals live in different environments having different [[refractive index]]es involving water, air and often both. The eyes are therefor required to bend light different amounts leading to different mechanisms of focus being used in different environments. The air/cornea interface involves a larger difference in refractive index than hydrated structures within the eye. As a result, animals living in air have most of the bending of light achieved at the air/cornea interface with the lens being involved in finer focus of the image. [[File:Human lens focusing from side & back views.webm|thumb|3D reconstruction based on measurements taken from a 20 year old human male focusing from 26mm to infinity (4.85 dioptre change). Side & back views shown. Most image distortions near the center are due to model being limited to 512 faces to make up the lens. Peripheral distortions are also present in animal lenses though are typically covered by the [[iris (anatomy)]]]] [[File:Eye lens focus 10m to 26mm.webm|thumb|The previous video of the eye lens changing shape with focus is placed into context as the lens in this video is placed into the context of a virtual eye.]]Generally mammals, birds and reptiles living in air vary their eyes' optical power by subtly and precisely changing the shape of the elastic lens using the [[ciliary body]].

The small difference in refractive index between water and the hydrated cornea means fish and amphibians need to bend the light more using the internal structures of the eye. Therefore, eyes evolved in water have a mechanism involving changing the distance between a rigid rounder more refractive lens and the retina using less uniform [[muscle]]s rather than subtly changing the shape of the lens itself using circularly arranged muscles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Augen |url=http://www.bio.vobs.at/physiologie/a-augen.php |website=www.bio.vobs.at |language=de |access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref>

===Land based animals and the shape changing lens===
Varying forms of direct experimental proof outlined in this article show that most non-aquatic vertebrates achieve focus, at least in part, by changing the shapes of their lenses.

What is less well understood is how the subtle, precise and very quick changes in lens shape are made. Direct experimental proof of any lens model is necessarily difficult as the vertebrate lens is transparent and only functions well in the living animals. When considering vertebrates, aspects of all models may play varying roles in lens focus. The models can be broadly divided into two camps. Those models that stress the importance of external forces acting on a more passively elastic lens and other models that include forces that may be generated by the lens internally.

==== External forces ====
The model of a shape changing lens of humans was proposed by [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]] in a lecture on the 27th Nov 1800.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Land |first1=M |title=Focusing by shape change in the lens of the eye: a commentary on Young (1801) 'On the mechanism of the eye'. |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |date=19 April 2015 |volume=370 |issue=1666 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2014.0308 |pmid=25750232|pmc=4360117 }}</ref> Others such as Helmholtz and Huxley refined the model in the mid-1800s explaining how the [[ciliary muscle]] contracts rounding the lens to focus near<ref>{{cite book |last1=Huxley |first1=Thomas H |title=Lessons in Elementary Physiology |date=1871 |publisher=MACMILLAN AND CO. |location=London and New York |pages=256–258 |edition=5th}}</ref> and this model was popularized by Helmholtz in 1909.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Helmholtz |first1=H. von |title=Treatise on physiological optics |date=1962 |publisher=Dover Publications Inc. |location=New York, NY |edition=English translation edited by JPC Southall. The Optical Society of America. From the third German Edition of Handbuch der Physiologischen Optik (1909), Leopold Voss, Leipzig. Dover reprint}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=R. F. |title=The force of contraction of the human ciliary muscle during accommodation |journal=The Journal of Physiology |date=1 August 1977 |volume=270 |issue=1 |pages=51–74 |doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1977.sp011938|pmid=915798 |pmc=1353417 }}</ref> The model may be summarized like this. Normally the lens is held under tension by its [[zonules|suspending ligaments]] and [[Capsule of lens|capsule]] being pulled tight by the pressure of the eyeball. At short focal distance the ciliary muscle contracts, stretching the ciliary body and relieving some of the tension on the suspensory ligaments, allowing the lens to elastically round up a bit, increasing refractive power. Changing focus to an object at a greater distance requires a thinner less curved lens. This is achieved by relaxing some of the sphincter like ciliary muscles allowing the ciliarly body to spring back, pulling harder on the lens making it less curved and thinner, so increasing the [[Focus (optics)|focal distance]]. There is a problem with the Helmholtz model in that despite mathematical models being tried none has come close enough to working using only the Helmholtz mechanisms.<ref name="Mechanism of human accommodation as">{{cite journal |last1=Schachar |first1=Ronald A. |last2=Bax |first2=Andrew J. |title=Mechanism of human accommodation as analyzed by nonlinear finite element analysis |journal=Comprehensive Therapy |date=June 2001 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=122–132 |doi=10.1007/s12019-996-0006-5|pmid=11430259 |s2cid=71369369 }}</ref>
[[File:Schachar model of focus.svg|thumb|Schachar model of lens focus]]Schachar has proposed a model for land based vertebrates that was not well received.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Atchison |first1=DA |title=Accommodation and presbyopia. |journal=Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics|date=July 1995 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=255–72 |doi=10.1046/j.1475-1313.1995.9500020e.x |pmid=7667018|s2cid=24282106 }}</ref> The theory allows mathematical modeling to more accurately reflect the way the lens focuses while also taking into account the complexities in the suspensory ligaments and the presence of radial as well as circular muscles in the ciliary body.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shao |first1=Yilei |last2=Tao |first2=Aizhu |last3=Jiang |first3=Hong |last4=Mao |first4=Xinjie |last5=Zhong |first5=Jianguang |last6=Shen |first6=Meixiao |last7=Lu |first7=Fan |last8=Xu |first8=Zhe |last9=Karp |first9=Carol L. |last10=Wang |first10=Jianhua |title=Age-Related Changes in the Anterior Segment Biometry During Accommodation |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date=1 June 2015 |volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=3522–3530 |doi=10.1167/iovs.15-16825|pmid=26030106 |pmc=4464043 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schachar |first1=Ronald A. |title=Human Accommodative Ciliary Muscle Configuration Changes Are Consistent With Schachar's Mechanism of Accommodation |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date=22 September 2015 |volume=56 |issue=10 |pages=6075 |doi=10.1167/iovs.15-17452|pmid=26393665 }}</ref> In this model the ligaments may pull to varying degrees on the lens at the equator using the radial muscles, while the ligaments offset from the equator to the front and back<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Streeten |first=B. W. |date=April 1977 |title=The zonular insertion: a scanning electron microscopic study |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/844993/ |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=364–375 |issn=0146-0404 |pmid=844993}}</ref> are relaxed to varying degrees by contracting the circular muscles.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schachar |first1=RA |title=Zonular function: a new hypothesis with clinical implications. |journal=Annals of Ophthalmology |date=March 1994 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=36–8 |pmid=8010701}}</ref> These multiple actions<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knaus |first1=Katherine R. |last2=Hipsley |first2=AnnMarie |last3=Blemker |first3=Silvia S. |title=The action of ciliary muscle contraction on accommodation of the lens explored with a 3D model |journal=Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology |date=June 2021 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=879–894 |doi=10.1007/s10237-021-01417-9|pmid=33491156 |s2cid=231704221 }}</ref> operating on the elastic lens allows it to change lens shape at the front more subtly. Not only changing focus, but also correcting for lens aberrations that might otherwise result from the changing shape while better fitting mathematical modeling.<ref name="Mechanism of human accommodation as"/>

The "[[catenary]]" model of lens focus proposed by [[D. Jackson Coleman|Coleman]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=D. Jackson |title=Unified Model for Accommodative Mechanism |journal=American Journal of Ophthalmology |date=June 1970 |volume=69 |issue=6 |pages=1063–1079 |doi=10.1016/0002-9394(70)91057-3|pmid=5423772 }}</ref> demands less tension on the ligaments suspending the lens. Rather than the lens as a whole being stretched thinner for distance vision and allowed to relax for near focus, contraction of the circular ciliary muscles results in the lens having less hydrostatic pressure against its front. The lens front can then reform its shape between the suspensory ligaments in a similar way to a slack chain hanging between two poles might change its curve when the poles are moved closer together. This model requires precise fluid movement of the lens front only rather than trying to change the shape of the lens as a whole. While this concept may be involved in the focusing it has been shown by Scheimpflug photography that the rear of the lens also changes shape in the living eye.<ref name="Constant Volume of the Human Lens a">{{cite journal |last1=Hermans |first1=Erik A. |last2=Pouwels |first2=Petra J. W. |last3=Dubbelman |first3=Michiel |last4=Kuijer |first4=Joost P. A. |last5=van der Heijde |first5=Rob G. L. |last6=Heethaar |first6=Rob M. |title=Constant Volume of the Human Lens and Decrease in Surface Area of the Capsular Bag during Accommodation: An MRI and Scheimpflug Study |journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date=1 January 2009 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=281–289 |doi=10.1167/iovs.08-2124|pmid=18676625 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Internal forces ====
[[File:Human Lens Scheimpflug layers.svg|thumb|Tracing of Scheimpflug photographs of 20 year old human lens being thicker focusing near and thinner when focusing far. Internal layering of the lens is also significant]] [[File:Wrinkled lens fibers.jpg|thumb|Wrinkled lens fibers in picture below compared to straight fibers above]]When Thomas Young proposed the changing of the human lens's shape as the mechanism for focal accommodation in 1801 he thought the lens may be a muscle capable of contraction. This type of model is termed intracapsular accommodation as it relies on activity within the lens. In a 1911 Nobel lecture Allvar Gullstrand spoke on "How I found the intracapsular mechanism of accommodation" and this aspect of lens focusing continues to be investigated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=PAU |first1=H |title=[Accommodative shift of the nucleus of the lens in intracapsular accommodation]. |journal=Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde und für augenärztliche Fortbildung |date=1952 |volume=121 |issue=2 |pages=224–6 |pmid=14955961}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huggert |first1=Arne |title=The Intracapsular Mechanism of Accommodation |journal=Acta Ophthalmologica |date=27 May 2009 |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=389–397 |doi=10.1111/j.1755-3768.1964.tb03627.x|pmid=14213923 |s2cid=37325357 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=López-Gil |first1=Norberto |title=Gullstrand Intracapsular Accommodation Mechanism Revised |journal=Photonics |date=3 March 2022 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=152 |doi=10.3390/photonics9030152|bibcode=2022Photo...9..152L |doi-access=free }}</ref> Young spent time searching for the nerves that could stimulate the lens to contract without success. Since that time it has become clear the lens is not a simple muscle stimulated by a nerve so the 1909 Helmholtz model took precedence. Pre-twentieth century investigators did not have the benefit of many later discoveries and techniques. Membrane proteins such as [[aquaporin]]s which allow water to flow into and out of cells are the most abundant membrane protein in the lens.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Broekhuyse |first1=R. M. |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=E. D. |last3=Stols |first3=A. L. |title=Lens membranes II. Isolation and characterization of the main intrinsic polypeptide (MIP) of bovine lens fiber membranes |journal=Experimental Eye Research |date=September 1976 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=365–371 |doi=10.1016/0014-4835(76)90135-4|pmid=976377 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mulders |first1=SM |last2=Preston |first2=GM |last3=Deen |first3=PM |last4=Guggino |first4=WB |last5=van Os |first5=CH |last6=Agre |first6=P |title=Water channel properties of major intrinsic protein of lens. |journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry |date=14 April 1995 |volume=270 |issue=15 |pages=9010–16 |doi=10.1074/jbc.270.15.9010 |pmid=7536742|doi-access=free |hdl=2066/216433 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Connexin]]s which allow electrical coupling of cells are also prevalent. Electron microscopy and immunofluorescent microscopy show fiber cells to be highly variable in structure and composition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kuszak |first1=J |last2=Alcala |first2=J |last3=Maisel |first3=H |title=The surface morphology of embryonic and adult chick lens-fiber cells. |journal=The American Journal of Anatomy |date=December 1980 |volume=159 |issue=4 |pages=395–410 |doi=10.1002/aja.1001590406 |pmid=7223675}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gruijters |first1=WT |last2=Kistler |first2=J |last3=Bullivant |first3=S |title=Formation, distribution and dissociation of intercellular junctions in the lens. |journal=Journal of Cell Science |date=October 1987 |volume=88 ( Pt 3) |issue=3 |pages=351–9 |doi=10.1242/jcs.88.3.351 |pmid=3448099}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gruijters |first1=WT |title=A non-connexon protein (MIP) is involved in eye lens gap-junction formation. |journal=Journal of Cell Science |date=July 1989 |volume=93 ( Pt 3) |issue=3 |pages=509–13 |doi=10.1242/jcs.93.3.509 |pmid=2691517}}</ref> Magnetic resonance imaging confirms a layering in the lens that may allow for different refractive plans within it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hermans |first1=EA |last2=Dubbelman |first2=M |last3=Van der Heijde |first3=R |last4=Heethaar |first4=RM |title=Equivalent refractive index of the human lens upon accommodative response. |journal=Optometry and Vision Science |date=December 2008 |volume=85 |issue=12 |pages=1179–84 |doi=10.1097/OPX.0b013e31818e8d57 |pmid=19050472|s2cid=205907383 }}</ref> The [[refractive index]] of human lens varies from approximately 1.406 in the central layers down to 1.386 in less dense layers of the lens.<ref>Hecht, Eugene. ''Optics'', 2nd ed. (1987), Addison Wesley, {{ISBN|0-201-11609-X}}. p. 178.</ref> This [[gradient-index optics|index gradient]] enhances the [[optical power]] of the lens. As more is learned about mammalian lens structure from ''in situ'' [[Scheimpflug principle|Scheimpflug photography]], MRI<ref name="Constant Volume of the Human Lens a"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stahnke |first1=T. |last2=Hadlich |first2=S. |last3=Wree |first3=A. |last4=Guthoff |first4=R. |last5=Stachs |first5=O. |last6=Langner |first6=S. |title=Magnetresonanzmikroskopie des Akkommodationsapparats |journal=Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde |date=16 December 2016 |volume=233 |issue=12 |pages=1320–1323 |doi=10.1055/s-0042-118599|pmid=27984837 |s2cid=78808282 }}</ref> and physiological investigations it is becoming apparent the lens itself is not responding entirely passively to the surrounding ciliary muscle but may be able to change its overall refractive index through mechanisms involving water dynamics in the lens still to be clarified.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vaghefi |first1=E |last2=Pontre |first2=BP |last3=Jacobs |first3=MD |last4=Donaldson |first4=PJ |title=Visualizing ocular lens fluid dynamics using MRI: manipulation of steady state water content and water fluxes. |journal=American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology |date=August 2011 |volume=301 |issue=2 |pages=R335-42 |doi=10.1152/ajpregu.00173.2011 |pmid=21593426|s2cid=9525037 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donaldson |first1=Paul J. |last2=Chen |first2=Yadi |last3=Petrova |first3=Rosica S. |last4=Grey |first4=Angus C. |last5=Lim |first5=Julie C. |title=Regulation of lens water content: Effects on the physiological optics of the lens |journal=Progress in Retinal and Eye Research |date=December 2022 |volume=95 |pages=101152 |doi=10.1016/j.preteyeres.2022.101152|pmid=36470825 |s2cid=254243790 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Suzuki-Kerr |first1=H |last2=Walker |first2=KL |last3=Han |first3=MH |last4=Lim |first4=JC |last5=Donaldson |first5=PJ |title=Hyposmotic stress causes ATP release in a discrete zone within the outer cortex of rat lens. |journal=Molecular Vision |date=2022 |volume=28 |pages=245–256 |pmid=36284672|pmc=9514545 }}</ref> The accompanying micrograph shows wrinkled fibers from a relaxed sheep lens after it is removed from the animal indicating shortening of the lens fibers during near focus accommodation. The age related changes in the human lens may also be related to changes in the water dynamics in the lens.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moffat |first1=BA |last2=Landman |first2=KA |last3=Truscott |first3=RJ |last4=Sweeney |first4=MH |last5=Pope |first5=JM |title=Age-related changes in the kinetics of water transport in normal human lenses. |journal=Experimental Eye Research |date=December 1999 |volume=69 |issue=6 |pages=663–9 |doi=10.1006/exer.1999.0747 |pmid=10620395}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=C.E. |last2=Atchison |first2=D.A. |last3=Meder |first3=R. |last4=Pope |first4=J.M. |title=Refractive index distribution and optical properties of the isolated human lens measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) |journal=Vision Research |date=August 2005 |volume=45 |issue=18 |pages=2352–2366 |doi=10.1016/j.visres.2005.03.008|pmid=15979462 |s2cid=8894700 }}</ref>

=====Human eyes=====
{{Merge from|Amplitude of accommodation|discuss=Talk:Accommodation_(vertebrate_eye)#Proposal_to_merge_Amplitude_of_accommodation |date=July 2024|section=TRUE}}

[[File:Duane (1922) Fig 4 modified.svg|thumb|200px|right|Duane's classical curves showing the amplitude or width of accommodation as changing with age. Mean (B) and approximate lower (A) and upper (C) standard deviations are shown.<ref name="Duane" />]] The young human eye can change focus from distance (infinity) to as near as 6.5 cm from the eye.<ref name="Ai_Hong_Chen">{{cite journal | last1=Chen | first1=Ai Hong | last2=O'Leary | first2=Daniel J. | last3=Howell | first3=Edwin R. | title=Near visual function in young children. Part I: near point of convergence. Part II: amplitude of accommodation. Part III: near heterophoria | journal=Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics | volume=20 | issue=3 | date=2000 | issn=0275-5408 | doi=10.1046/j.1475-1313.2000.00498.x | pages=185–198| pmid=10897340 }}</ref><ref>That value follows from the maximum accommodative power and can be calculated as 100 cm/15 dpt.</ref> This dramatic change in focal power of the eye of approximately 15 dioptres (the reciprocal of focal length in metres) occurs as a consequence of a reduction in [[Zonule of Zinn|zonular]] tension induced by [[ciliary muscle]] contraction. This process can occur in as little as 224 ± 30 milliseconds in bright light.<ref>{{Cite journal |pmc = 2908311|year = 2010|last1 = Lockhart|first1 = T. E.|title = Effects of Age on Dynamic Accommodation|journal = Ergonomics|volume = 53|issue = 7|pages = 892–903|last2 = Shi|first2 = W.|pmid = 20582770|doi = 10.1080/00140139.2010.489968}}</ref> The amplitude of accommodation declines with age. By the fifth decade of life the accommodative amplitude can decline so that the near point of the eye is more remote than the reading distance. When this occurs the patient is [[presbyopic]]. Once presbyopia occurs, those who are [[emmetropic]] (i.e., do not require optical correction for distance vision) will need an optical aid for [[Near visual acuity|near vision]]; those who are [[myopic]] (nearsighted and require an optical correction for distance or far vision), will find that they see better at near without their distance correction; and those who are [[hyperopic]] (farsighted) will find that they may need a correction for both distance and near vision. Note that these effects are most noticeable when the [[pupil]] is large; i.e. in dim light. The age-related decline in accommodation occurs almost universally to less than 2 dioptres by the time a person reaches 45 to 50 years, by which time most of the population will have noticed a decrease in their ability to focus on close objects and hence require glasses for reading or bifocal lenses. Accommodation decreases to about 1 dioptre at the age of 70 years. The dependency of accommodation amplitude on age is graphically summarized by [[Alexander Duane|Duane]]'s classical curves.<ref name="Duane">{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1016/s0002-9394(22)90793-7|title = Studies in Monocular and Binocular Accommodation with their Clinical Applications|journal = American Journal of Ophthalmology|volume = 5|issue = 11|pages = 865–877|year = 1922|last1 = Duane|first1 = Alexander| s2cid=43172462 |url = https://zenodo.org/record/1529034}}</ref>

======Theories on how humans focus======
* '''Helmholtz'''—The most widely held<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baumeister |first1=M. |last2=Kohnen |first2=T. |title=Akkommodation und Presbyopie: Teil 1: Physiologie der Akkommodation und Entwicklung der Presbyopie |journal=Der Ophthalmologe |date=June 2008 |volume=105 |issue=6 |pages=597–610 |doi=10.1007/s00347-008-1761-8 |pmid=18594896 |language=de}}</ref> theory of accommodation is that proposed by [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] in 1855. When viewing a far object, the circularly arranged [[ciliary muscle]] relaxes allowing the [[Lens (anatomy)|lens]] [[Zonule of Zinn|zonules]] and suspensory ligaments to pull on the lens, flattening it. The source of the tension is the pressure that the vitreous and aqueous humours exert outwards onto the [[sclera]]. When viewing a near object, the ciliary muscles contract (resisting the outward pressure on the sclera) causing the lens zonules to slacken which allows the lens to spring back into a thicker, more convex, form.
* '''Schachar'''—Ronald A. Schachar has proposed in 1992 what has been called a "rather bizarre geometric theory"<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Atchison | first1 = David A. | title = Accommodation and presbyopia| journal = Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics| volume = 15 | issue = 4 | pages = 255–212| year = 1995 | doi = 10.1046/j.1475-1313.1995.9500020e.x | pmid = 7667018 | s2cid = 24282106 }}</ref> which claims that focus by the human lens is associated with increased tension on the lens via the equatorial zonules; that when the ciliary muscle contracts, equatorial zonular tension is increased, causing the central surfaces of the crystalline lens to steepen, the central thickness of the lens to increase (anterior-posterior diameter), and the peripheral surfaces of the lens to flatten. While the tension on equatorial zonules is increased during accommodation, the anterior and posterior zonules are simultaneously relaxing. The increased equatorial zonular tension keeps the lens stable and flattens the peripheral lens surface during accommodation. As a consequence, gravity does not affect the amplitude of accommodation and primary [[spherical aberration]] shifts in the negative direction during accommodation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schachar |first1=R. A. |title=The Mechanism of Accommodation and Presbyopia. |date=2012 |publisher=Kugler Publications |location=The Hague |isbn=978-90-6299-233-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zhou|first1=X-Y|last2=Wang|first2=L|last3=Zhou|first3=X-T|last4=Yu|first4=Z-Q|date=2014-10-24|title=Wavefront aberration changes caused by a gradient of increasing accommodation stimuli|journal=Eye| volume=29|issue=1|pages=115–121|doi=10.1038/eye.2014.244|pmid=25341432|pmc=4289835|issn=0950-222X|doi-access=free}}</ref> The theory has not found much independent support.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
* '''Catenary'''—[[D. Jackson Coleman]] proposes that the lens, zonule and anterior vitreous comprise a diaphragm between the anterior and vitreous chambers of the eye.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Coleman|first=D. Jackson|date=June 1970|title=Unified Model for Accommodative Mechanism|journal=American Journal of Ophthalmology|volume=69|issue=6|pages=1063–1079|doi=10.1016/0002-9394(70)91057-3|pmid=5423772|issn=0002-9394}}</ref> Ciliary muscle contraction initiates a pressure gradient between the vitreous and aqueous compartments that support the anterior lens shape. It is in this lens shape that the mechanically reproducible state of a steep radius of curvature in the center of the lens with slight flattening of the peripheral anterior lens, i.e. the shape, in cross section, of a [[catenary]] occurs. The anterior capsule and the zonule form a trampoline shape or hammock shaped surface that is totally reproducible depending on the circular dimensions, i.e. the diameter of the ciliary body (Müeller's muscle). The ciliary body thus directs the shape like the pylons of a suspension bridge, but does not need to support an equatorial traction force to flatten the lens.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=DJ |title=On the hydraulic suspension theory of accommodation. |journal=Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc |date=1986 |volume=84 |pages=846–68 |pmid=3590482 |pmc=1298753}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=DJ |last2=Fish |first2=SK |title=Presbyopia, accommodation, and the mature catenary. |journal=Ophthalmology |date=September 2001 |volume=108 |issue=9 |pages=1544–51 |doi=10.1016/s0161-6420(01)00691-1 |pmid=11535447}}</ref>

======Induced effects of accommodation======
When humans accommodate to a near object, they also [[Convergence (eye)|converge]] their eyes and constrict their [[pupil]]s. The combination of these three movements (accommodation, convergence and [[miosis]]) is under the control of the [[Edinger-Westphal nucleus]] and is referred to as the ''near triad'', or [[accommodation reflex]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bhola |first1=Rahul |title=EyeRounds.org: Tutorial: Binocular Vision |url=http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/eyeforum/tutorials/Bhola-BinocularVision.htm |website=webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu |publisher=University of Iowa |access-date=11 September 2020 |date=23 January 2006}}</ref> While it is well understood that proper convergence is necessary to prevent [[diplopia]], the functional role of the pupillary constriction remains less clear. Arguably, it may increase the [[depth of field]] by reducing the [[aperture]] of the eye, and thus reduce the amount of accommodation needed to bring the image in focus on the retina.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Wang | first1 = B. | last2 = Ciuffreda | first2 = K. J. | doi = 10.1016/j.survophthal.2005.11.003 | title = Depth-of-Focus of the Human Eye: Theory and Clinical Implications | journal = Survey of Ophthalmology | volume = 51 | issue = 1 | pages = 75–85 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16414364}}</ref>

There is a measurable ratio ([[Matthiessen's ratio]]) between how much convergence takes place because of accommodation (AC/A ratio, CA/C ratio). Abnormalities with this can lead to [[binocular vision]] problems.<ref name="borish2">{{cite book |last1=William J. |first1=Benjamin |title=Borish's Clinical Refraction |date=2006 |publisher=Butterworth Heinemann/Elsevier |location=St. Louis Mo. |isbn=978-0-7506-7524-6 |edition=2nd |chapter= Fusion and binocularity}}</ref>

======Anomalies of accommodation described in humans======
There are many types of accommodation anomalies. It can be broadly classified into two, decreased accommodation and increased accommodation.<ref name="Khurana-Opt">{{cite book |last1=Khurana |first1=AK |title=Theory and practice of optics and refraction |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-81-312-1132-8 |pages=100–107 |edition=2nd |chapter=Asthenopia, anomalies of accommodation and convergence|date=September 2008 }}</ref> Decreased accommodation may occur due to physiological (presbyopia), pharmacological (cycloplegia) or pathological.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Excessive accommodation and spasm of accommodation are types of increased accommodation.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

======Presbyopia======
[[Presbyopia]], physiological insufficiency of accommodation due to age related changes in lens (decreased elasticity and increased hardness) and ciliary muscle power is the commonest form of accommodative dysfunction.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> It will cause gradual decrease in near vision.

======Accommodative insufficiency======
[[Accommodative insufficiency]] is the condition where amplitude of accommodation of a person is lesser compared to physiological limits for their age.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Premature sclerosis of lens or ciliary muscle weaknesses due to systemic or local cases may cause accommodative insufficiency.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/>
Accommodative insufficiency is further categorised into different categories.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

======Ill-sustained accommodation======
Ill-sustained accommodation is a condition similar to accommodative insufficiency. In this, range of accommodation will be normal, but after excessive near work accommodative power will decrease.<ref name="Duke-Elder">{{cite book |last1=Duke |first1=Elder's |title=The practice of refraction |date=1969 |publisher=Churchill |location=London |isbn=0-7000-1410-1 |edition=8th |chapter=Anomalies of accommodation}}</ref>

======Paralysis of accommodation======
In paralysis of accommodation, amplitude of accommodation is either markedly reduced or completely absent ([[cycloplegia]]).<ref name="borish"/> It may occur due to ciliary muscle paralysis or occulomotor nerve paralysis.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Parasympatholytic drugs like atropine will also cause paralysis of accommodation.<ref name="Duke-Elder"/>

======Unequal accommodation======
If there is amplitude of accommodation between the eyes differ 0.5 dioptre or more, it is considered as unequal.<ref name="borish"/> Organic diseases, [[head trauma]] or functional [[amblyopia]] may be responsible for unequal accommodation.<ref name="borish"/>

======Accommodative infacility======
[[Accommodative infacility]] is also known as accommodative inertia.<ref name="borish"/> In this condition there will be difficulty in changing accommodation from one point to other. There may be difficulty in adjusting focus from distance from near.<ref name="Duke-Elder"/> It is a comparatively rare condition.

======Spasm of accommodation======
[[Spasm of accommodation]] also known as ciliary spasm is a condition of abnormally excessive accommodation which is out of voluntary control of the person.<ref name="Khurana-Opt"/> Vision may be blurred due to induced [[pseudomyopia]].

======Accommodative excess======
[[Accommodative excess]] occurs when an individual uses more than normal accommodation for performing certain near work. Modern definitions simply regard it as an inability to relax accommodation readily.<ref name="borish">{{cite book |last1=William J. |first1=Benjamin |title=Borish's clinical refraction |date=2006 |publisher=Butterworth Heinemann/Elsevier |location=St. Louis Mo. |isbn=978-0-7506-7524-6 |edition=2nd |chapter= Accommodation, the Pupil, and Presbyopia| page=112}}</ref>

===Aquatic animals===
[[File:Diving bird lens accommodation.svg|thumb|left|Diving bird (Cormorant) lens focusing can be up to 80 dioptres for clearer underwater vision.]] [[File:Bony fish eye multilang.svg|thumb|left|Bony fish eye. Note the harder more spherical lens than in land based animals and a none circular muscle to pull the lens backward]] Aquatic animals include some that also thrive in the air so focusing mechanisms vary more than in those that are only land based. Some whales and seals are able to focus above and below water having two areas of retina with high numbers of rods and cones<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mass |first1=Alla M. |last2=Supin |first2=Alexander YA. |title=Adaptive features of aquatic mammals' eye |journal=The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology |date=June 2007 |volume=290 |issue=6 |pages=701–715 |doi=10.1002/ar.20529|pmid=17516421 |s2cid=39925190 |doi-access=free }}</ref> rather than one as in humans. Having two high resolution area of retina presumably allows two axis of vision one for above and one for below water. In [[reptile]]s and [[bird]]s, the ciliary body which supports the lens via suspensory ligaments also touches the lens with a number of pads on its inner surface. These pads compress and release the lens to modify its shape while focusing on objects at different distances; the suspensory ligaments usually perform this function in [[mammal]]s. With [[vision in fish]] and [[amphibian]]s, the lens is fixed in shape, and focusing is instead achieved by moving the lens forwards or backwards within the eye using a muscle called the retractor lentus.<ref name=VB>{{cite book |author=Romer, Alfred Sherwood|author2=Parsons, Thomas S.|year=1977 |title=The Vertebrate Body |publisher=Holt-Saunders International |location= Philadelphia, PA|pages= 463–464|isbn= 978-0-03-910284-5}}</ref>

In [[cartilaginous fish]], the suspensory ligaments are replaced by a membrane, including a small muscle at the underside of the lens. This muscle pulls the lens forward from its relaxed position when focusing on nearby objects. In [[teleost]]s, by contrast, a muscle projects from a vascular structure in the floor of the eye, called the ''falciform process'', and serves to pull the lens backwards from the relaxed position to focus on distant objects. While amphibians move the lens forward, as do cartilaginous fish, the muscles involved are not [[homology (biology)|similar]] in either type of animal. In [[frog]]s, there are two muscles, one above and one below the lens, while other amphibians have only the lower muscle.<ref name=VB/>

In the simplest vertebrates, the [[lamprey]]s and [[hagfish]], the lens is not attached to the outer surface of the eyeball at all. There is no aqueous humor in these fish, and the vitreous body simply presses the lens against the surface of the cornea. To focus its eyes, a lamprey flattens the cornea using muscles outside of the eye and pushes the lens backwards.<ref name=VB/>

While not vertebrate, brief mention is made here of the convergent evolution of vertebrate and [[Mollusc eye|Molluscan eyes]]. The most complex Molluscan eye is the [[Cephalopod eye]] which is superficially similar structure and function to a vertebrate eye, including accommodation, while differing in basic ways such as having a two part lens and no cornea.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jagger |first1=W. S |last2=Sands |first2=P. J |title=A wide-angle gradient index optical model of the crystalline lens and eye of the octopus |journal=Vision Research |date=1 August 1999 |volume=39 |issue=17 |pages=2841–2852 |doi=10.1016/S0042-6989(99)00012-7|pmid=10492814 |s2cid=17808919 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schaeffel |first1=F. |last2=Murphy |first2=C.J. |last3=Howland |first3=H.C. |title=Accommodation in the cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |date=15 November 1999 |volume=202 |issue=22 |pages=3127–3134 |doi=10.1242/jeb.202.22.3127|pmid=10539961 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The fundamental requirements of optics must be filled by all eyes with lenses using the tissues at their disposal so superficially eyes all tend to look similar. It is the way optical requirements are met using different cell types and structural mechanisms that varies among animals.

==See also==

===Disorders of and relating to accommodation===
* [[Esotropia|Accommodative esotropia]]
* Latent [[hyperopia]]
* [[Myopia]]
* [[Pseudomyopia]]

===Other===
* [[Accommodation in fish]]
* [[Adaptation (eye)]]
* [[Amplitude of accommodation]]
* [[Cycloplegia]]
* [[Cyclospasm]]
* [[Edinger-Westphal nucleus]]
* [[Mandelbaum Effect]]
* [[Negative relative accommodation]]
* [[Positive relative accommodation]]

==References==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{eMedicine|oph|723}}—"Presbyopia: Cause and Treatment"
* {{MeshName|Ocular+Accommodation}}

{{Visual system}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accommodation (Eye)}}
[[Category:Eye]]
[[Category:Optometry]]
[[Category:Ophthalmology]]
[[Category:Vision]]

Heterophoria

2024-09-03T13:49:34Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added reference for latent fusion

{{distinguish|Heterophobia}}
{{cleanup|reason=inappropriate tone and lack of proper citation|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox medical condition (new)
| name = Heterophoria
| image =
| caption =
| pronounce =
| field = [[Optometry]] [[Ophthalmology]]
| synonyms =
| symptoms =
| complications =
| onset =
| duration =
| types =
| causes =
| risks =
| diagnosis =
| differential =
| prevention =
| treatment =
| medication =
| prognosis =
| frequency =
| deaths =
}}

'''Heterophoria''' is an [[eye]] condition in which the directions that the eyes are pointing at rest position, when ''not'' performing [[binocular fusion]], are not the same as each other, or, "not straight". This condition can be [[esophoria]], where the eyes tend to cross inward in the absence of fusion; [[exophoria]], in which they diverge; hyperphoria, in which one eye points up or down relative to the other; or [[cyclophoria]], in which one eye is rotated differently around its line of sight from that of the other. Phorias are known as 'latent squint' because the tendency of the eyes to deviate is kept latent (hidden) by fusion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Underwood |first1=Dewey |title=Heterophoria: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Management |url=https://www.aimu.us/heterophoria/ |website=AIMU |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref> A person with two normal eyes has single vision (usually) because of the combined use of the sensory and motor systems. The motor system acts to point both eyes at the target of interest; any offset is detected visually (and the motor system corrects it). Heterophoria occurs only during dissociation of the left eye and right eye, when fusion of the eyes is absent. If you cover one eye (e.g., with your hand) you remove the sensory information about the eye's position in the orbit. Without this, there is no stimulus to binocular fusion, and the eye will move to a position of "rest". The difference between this position, and where it would be were the eye uncovered, is the heterophoria. The opposite of heterophoria, where the eyes are straight when relaxed and not fusing, is called [[orthophoria]].

In contrast, [[fixation disparity]] is a very small deviation of the pointing directions of the eyes that is present while performing binocular fusion.

Heterophoria is usually [[asymptomatic]]. This is when it is said to be "compensated". When fusional reserve is used to compensate for heterophoria, it is known as compensating vergence. In severe cases, when the heterophoria is not overcome by [[fusional vergence]], sign and symptoms appear. This is called decompensated heterophoria.
Heterophoria may lead to squint, also known as [[strabismus]].

==Signs and symptoms==
When the fusional vergence system can no longer hold back heterophoria, the phoria manifests. In this condition, the eyes deviate from the fixating position.

* VH (Vertical Heterophoria) is distinct from other visual conditions due to its ability to manifest as unrelated issues.
* Symptoms include chronic headaches, dizziness, and reading difficulties, even with 20/20 vision using corrective lenses.
* The effort to correct eye misalignment causes eye strain, leading to a range of symptoms that complicate diagnosis and treatment.
* Symptoms can mimic those of chronic fatigue or motion sickness, making VH difficult to recognize and diagnose due to its broad symptom spectrum and lack of widespread recognition.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://eyefitness.fit/what-is-vertical-heterophoria/ | title=What is Vertical Heterophoria: Causes, Symptoms, and 4 Common Treatments - Eye Fitness | date=18 February 2024 }}</ref>
==Cause==
Heterophoria is the misalignment of the visual axis such that one or both eyes are not properly fixated to an object of interest. When the visual axis is misaligned in such a way, it is corrected by the [[Fusional vergence|fusional vergence system.]]

==Diagnosis==
The cross-cover test, or alternating cover test is usually employed to detect heterophoria. One eye is covered, and then the cover is moved immediately over to the other eye. With heterophoria, when the cover is moved to the other eye, the eye that has just been uncovered can be seen to move from a deviated point. The difference between [[heterotropia]] and heterophoria can be easily understood as follows. With heterotropia, a correcting movement of the eye can be detected already by the simple [[cover test]]; with heterophoria, such correcting movement only takes place in the cross-cover test. People with heterophoria are able to create and maintain [[binocular fusion]] through [[vergence]], and the cross-cover test purposely breaks this fusion, making the latent misalignment visible.

Whereas the cross-cover test allows a qualitative assessment to be done, a quantitative assessment of latent eye position disorders can be done using the [[Lancaster red-green test]].

[[Ernest Maddox]] studied different types of phoria extensively throughout his career. He developed the [[Maddox rod]] test and double Maddox rod test which are especially sensitive to deviations of the eye. The tests must be performed in low light conditions, with a dim point light source in an environment absent of specular surfaces. The test came under heavy criticism during WW1 for its lack of accuracy however it was discovered that operators had simply allowed too much light in the test room and had used a light source that was too bright.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://bjo.bmj.com/content/bjophthalmol/4/8/376.full.pdf| author=Dolman, Captain Percival |publisher= Trans. Amer. Ophthal. Soc., Vol. XVII| year=1919 |title=The Maddox Rod Screen Test| journal=British Journal of Ophthalmology | volume=4 | issue=8 | pages=376–389 | doi=10.1136/bjo.4.8.376 }}</ref> Even low levels of light stimulate fusion which is why it is imperative to perform the test with the minimum amount of light in order for the patient to observe a misalignment.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100904090946/http://eyes.cochrane.org/glossary Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group - Glossary]

{{Eye pathology}}
{{Medical resources
|DiseasesDB = |
|ICD10 = {{ICD10|H|50|5|h|49}} |
|ICD9 = {{ICD9|378.40}} |
ICDO = |
}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Disorders of ocular muscles, binocular movement, accommodation and refraction]]

Heterophoria

2024-09-03T13:36:45Z

Robert P. O'Shea: Added cyclophoria to, and copyedited, the introductory paragraph

{{distinguish|Heterophobia}}
{{cleanup|reason=inappropriate tone and lack of proper citation|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox medical condition (new)
| name = Heterophoria
| image =
| caption =
| pronounce =
| field = [[Optometry]] [[Ophthalmology]]
| synonyms =
| symptoms =
| complications =
| onset =
| duration =
| types =
| causes =
| risks =
| diagnosis =
| differential =
| prevention =
| treatment =
| medication =
| prognosis =
| frequency =
| deaths =
}}

'''Heterophoria''' is an [[eye]] condition in which the directions that the eyes are pointing at rest position, when ''not'' performing [[binocular fusion]], are not the same as each other, or, "not straight". This condition can be [[esophoria]], where the eyes tend to cross inward in the absence of fusion; [[exophoria]], in which they diverge; hyperphoria, in which one eye points up or down relative to the other; or [[cyclophoria]], in which one eye is rotated differently around its line of sight from that of the other. Phorias are known as 'latent squint' because the tendency of the eyes to deviate is kept latent by fusion. A person with two normal eyes has single vision (usually) because of the combined use of the sensory and motor systems. The motor system acts to point both eyes at the target of interest; any offset is detected visually (and the motor system corrects it). Heterophoria occurs only during dissociation of the left eye and right eye, when fusion of the eyes is absent. If you cover one eye (e.g., with your hand) you remove the sensory information about the eye's position in the orbit. Without this, there is no stimulus to binocular fusion, and the eye will move to a position of "rest". The difference between this position, and where it would be were the eye uncovered, is the heterophoria. The opposite of heterophoria, where the eyes are straight when relaxed and not fusing, is called [[orthophoria]].

In contrast, [[fixation disparity]] is a very small deviation of the pointing directions of the eyes that is present while performing binocular fusion.

Heterophoria is usually [[asymptomatic]]. This is when it is said to be "compensated". When fusional reserve is used to compensate for heterophoria, it is known as compensating vergence. In severe cases, when the heterophoria is not overcome by [[fusional vergence]], sign and symptoms appear. This is called decompensated heterophoria.
Heterophoria may lead to squint, also known as [[strabismus]].

==Signs and symptoms==
When the fusional vergence system can no longer hold back heterophoria, the phoria manifests. In this condition, the eyes deviate from the fixating position.

* VH (Vertical Heterophoria) is distinct from other visual conditions due to its ability to manifest as unrelated issues.
* Symptoms include chronic headaches, dizziness, and reading difficulties, even with 20/20 vision using corrective lenses.
* The effort to correct eye misalignment causes eye strain, leading to a range of symptoms that complicate diagnosis and treatment.
* Symptoms can mimic those of chronic fatigue or motion sickness, making VH difficult to recognize and diagnose due to its broad symptom spectrum and lack of widespread recognition.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://eyefitness.fit/what-is-vertical-heterophoria/ | title=What is Vertical Heterophoria: Causes, Symptoms, and 4 Common Treatments - Eye Fitness | date=18 February 2024 }}</ref>
==Cause==
Heterophoria is the misalignment of the visual axis such that one or both eyes are not properly fixated to an object of interest. When the visual axis is misaligned in such a way, it is corrected by the [[Fusional vergence|fusional vergence system.]]

==Diagnosis==
The cross-cover test, or alternating cover test is usually employed to detect heterophoria. One eye is covered, and then the cover is moved immediately over to the other eye. With heterophoria, when the cover is moved to the other eye, the eye that has just been uncovered can be seen to move from a deviated point. The difference between [[heterotropia]] and heterophoria can be easily understood as follows. With heterotropia, a correcting movement of the eye can be detected already by the simple [[cover test]]; with heterophoria, such correcting movement only takes place in the cross-cover test. People with heterophoria are able to create and maintain [[binocular fusion]] through [[vergence]], and the cross-cover test purposely breaks this fusion, making the latent misalignment visible.

Whereas the cross-cover test allows a qualitative assessment to be done, a quantitative assessment of latent eye position disorders can be done using the [[Lancaster red-green test]].

[[Ernest Maddox]] studied different types of phoria extensively throughout his career. He developed the [[Maddox rod]] test and double Maddox rod test which are especially sensitive to deviations of the eye. The tests must be performed in low light conditions, with a dim point light source in an environment absent of specular surfaces. The test came under heavy criticism during WW1 for its lack of accuracy however it was discovered that operators had simply allowed too much light in the test room and had used a light source that was too bright.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://bjo.bmj.com/content/bjophthalmol/4/8/376.full.pdf| author=Dolman, Captain Percival |publisher= Trans. Amer. Ophthal. Soc., Vol. XVII| year=1919 |title=The Maddox Rod Screen Test| journal=British Journal of Ophthalmology | volume=4 | issue=8 | pages=376–389 | doi=10.1136/bjo.4.8.376 }}</ref> Even low levels of light stimulate fusion which is why it is imperative to perform the test with the minimum amount of light in order for the patient to observe a misalignment.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100904090946/http://eyes.cochrane.org/glossary Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group - Glossary]

{{Eye pathology}}
{{Medical resources
|DiseasesDB = |
|ICD10 = {{ICD10|H|50|5|h|49}} |
|ICD9 = {{ICD9|378.40}} |
ICDO = |
}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Disorders of ocular muscles, binocular movement, accommodation and refraction]]

Interstellar (film)

2024-08-24T05:11:46Z

Robert P. O'Shea: /* Plot */ Explained tesseract

{{Short description|2014 film by Christopher Nolan}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use list-defined references|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Interstellar
| image = Interstellar film poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| alt = An astronaut on a cold mountain setting with snow falling with another mountain as a ceiling: Four of the actors' names appear on the top, with a headline reading "The End of Earth Will not be the End of Us." Above the film's title, the text reads "A film by Christopher Nolan", and credits are printed on the bottom.
| director = [[Christopher Nolan]]
| producer = {{Plainlist|
* [[Emma Thomas]]
* Christopher Nolan
* [[Lynda Obst]]
}}
| writer = {{Plainlist|
* [[Jonathan Nolan]]
* Christopher Nolan
}}
| starring = {{Plainlist| 
* [[Matthew McConaughey]]
* [[Anne Hathaway]]
* [[Jessica Chastain]]
* [[Bill Irwin]]
* [[Ellen Burstyn]]
* [[Michael Caine]]

}}
| music = [[Hans Zimmer]]
| cinematography = [[Hoyte van Hoytema]]
| editing = [[Lee Smith (film editor)|Lee Smith]]
| production_companies = {{Plainlist|
* [[Paramount Pictures]]
* [[Warner Bros. Pictures]]
* [[Legendary Pictures]]
* [[Syncopy Inc.]]
* [[Lynda Obst Productions]]
}}
| distributor = {{Plainlist|
* Paramount Pictures (North America)
* Warner Bros. Pictures (International)
}}
| released = {{Film date|2014|10|26|[[TCL Chinese Theatre]]|2014|11|5|United States|2014|11|7|United Kingdom}}
| runtime = 169 minutes<ref name="BBFC-Oct2014" />
| country = {{Plainlist|
* United Kingdom<ref name="LUMIERE" />
* United States<ref name="LUMIERE" />
}}
| language = English
| budget = $165 million<ref name="BOM" />
| gross = $705.2 million<ref name="BOM" />
}}

'''''Interstellar''''' is a 2014 [[Epic film|epic]] [[science fiction drama film|science fiction drama]] film directed by [[Christopher Nolan]], who {{nowrap|co-wrote}} the screenplay with his brother [[Jonathan Nolan|Jonathan]]. It stars [[Matthew McConaughey]], [[Anne Hathaway]], [[Jessica Chastain]], [[Bill Irwin]], [[Ellen Burstyn]], [[Matt Damon]], and [[Michael Caine]]. Set in a [[Utopian and dystopian fiction|dystopian]] future where Earth is suffering from catastrophic [[blight]] and famine, the film follows a group of astronauts who travel through a [[wormhole]] near [[Saturn]] in search of a new home for humankind.

The screenplay had its origins in a script Jonathan developed in 2007 and was originally set to be directed by [[Steven Spielberg]]. Theoretical physicist [[Kip Thorne]] was an executive producer and scientific consultant on the film, and wrote the tie-in book ''[[The Science of Interstellar]]''. Cinematographer [[Hoyte van Hoytema]] shot it on [[35 mm movie film]] in the [[Panavision]] [[anamorphic format]] and [[IMAX]] 70 mm. Filming began in late 2013 and took place in [[Alberta]], [[Klaustur]], and [[Los Angeles]]. ''Interstellar'' uses extensive practical and [[miniature effect]]s, and the company [[DNEG]] created additional [[Visual effect|digital effects]].

''Interstellar'' premiered in Los Angeles on October 26, 2014. In the United States, it was first released on [[film stock]], expanding to venues using digital projectors. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $681 million worldwide ($705 million after subsequent re-releases), making it the [[2014 in film#Highest-grossing films|tenth-highest-grossing film of 2014]]. Thorne's [[Computer-generated imagery|computer-generated]] depiction of a [[black hole]] in the film has also received commendation from astronomers and physicists.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://collider.com/10-sci-fi-films-based-on-actual-science/ | title=10 of the Best Sci-Fi Movies Based on Actual Science | website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] | date=September 19, 2022 | access-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206150811/https://collider.com/10-sci-fi-films-based-on-actual-science/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://movieweb.com/interstellar-scientefically-accurate/ | title=Interstellar: How it Was One of the Most Scientifically Accurate Sci-Fi Movies Ever | date=August 31, 2022 | access-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206150812/https://movieweb.com/interstellar-scientefically-accurate/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Thorne |first1=Kip |title=Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium: Kip Thorne – The Physics of the Cult Movie Interstellar |url=https://events.stanford.edu/event/applied_physicsphysics_colloquium_kip_thorne_-_the_physics_of_the_cult_movie_interstellar |website=Stanford University |quote=Christopher Nolan's cult science fiction film Interstellar (2014) sprang from a treatment co-authored by physicist Kip Thorne, and so had real science — both firm and speculative — embedded in it from the outset. |access-date=March 2, 2023 |archive-date=March 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302053611/https://events.stanford.edu/event/applied_physicsphysics_colloquium_kip_thorne_-_the_physics_of_the_cult_movie_interstellar |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Interstellar'' was nominated for five awards at the [[87th Academy Awards]], winning [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects]], and received [[List of accolades received by Interstellar|numerous other accolades]].

== Plot ==
In 2067, humanity faces extinction due to a global [[blight]]. Joseph Cooper, a former [[NASA]] test pilot, along with his son and daughter, Tom and Murph, and father-in-law Donald, toil as farmers. One evening during a [[dust storm]], Cooper and Murph discover mysterious patterns in falling particles. Decoding the patterns using [[binary code]] leads them to a secret NASA facility run by scientist Dr. John Brand. Cooper is enlisted to pilot the spaceship ''Endurance'' through a newly-discovered [[wormhole]] near [[Saturn]], searching for habitable planets. Cooper struggles with leaving his children behind but decides to do it in the hope of saving Tom and Murph's generation from extinction. He promises Murph he will return, but she is distraught. Cooper joins the ''Endurance'' team, consisting of Romilly, Doyle, Brand's daughter Amelia, and the robots TARS and CASE.

After years of travel, the ''Endurance'' crew transits the wormhole, arriving in a distant planetary system circling a [[supermassive black hole]] named Gargantua. Cooper, Brand, and Doyle take a small spacecraft to the first candidate planet, orbiting deep in the black hole's gravity well, only to find that it is an inhospitable [[ocean world]] ravaged by colossal waves. In the ensuing evacuation, Doyle is swept away and killed by a wave, but Cooper and Brand narrowly manage to escape. Due to severe [[time dilation]] in which one hour spent on the planet equals seven years on Earth, 23 years have passed upon their return to the ''Endurance''.

On Earth in 2092, an adult Murph helps Dr. John Brand with his perennially unsolved gravity manipulation equation, which is supposed to help transport humanity en masse to potentially habitable worlds. On his deathbed, Brand confesses that the crew was never supposed to return and that the equation was a charade meant to keep humans from dissolving into [[anarchy]] out of panic for their eventual doom. Murph is frustrated and wonders if Cooper knowingly abandoned her. She decides to continue Brand's work and returns to her childhood home to search for clues.

The ''Endurance'' travels to the second candidate planet, a frigid ice world. They awaken Mann, the surviving NASA explorer in [[Suspended animation in fiction|cryostasis]], who landed decades ago. Mann and Cooper go on a scouting trip, but once alone, Mann confesses that the planet is uninhabitable and that he falsified data to attract rescuers. Mann assaults Cooper and leaves him to die, but Brand rescues him. Romilly is killed in a booby trap set by Mann, and Mann hijacks a lander left by the ''Endurance'' crew and takes off for the orbiting spacecraft. Mann intends to commandeer the ''Endurance'', but a failed docking kills Mann and severely damages the ''Endurance''. After a turbulent docking sequence, Cooper, TARS and Brand regain control of the crippled spaceship.

Charting a [[gravity-assist]] path around Gargantua, Cooper propels the ''Endurance'' towards the third and final planet, losing another 51 years to time dilation. Cooper and TARS secretly agree to sacrifice themselves and detach their spacecraft from the ''Endurance'' during the gravity assist, such that the now-lightened ''Endurance'' will be capable of reaching the third planet, much to the protest of Brand.

Cooper falls into the black hole and finds himself in a four-dimensional [[tesseract]] (a hypercube), where he travels through time and space and finds himself able to manipulate the falling dust grains in his childhood home, allowing him to send the NASA site coordinates to his past self and [[Bootstrap paradox|bootstrap]] his mission. He also deduces that the tesseract itself was constructed by a future generation of humankind to similarly guide their predecessors. He and TARS transmit information from within the black hole by manipulating the hands of Murph's wristwatch. Using the information, Murph solves the gravity manipulation problem and enables humanity to escape extinction and build colonies in outer space.

The tesseract collapses and ejects Cooper and TARS, where they are rescued in 2156 and brought to an [[O'Neill cylinder]] colony around Saturn. Cooper reunites with Murph, now on her deathbed in her advanced age. She tells him not to wait for her to die and to seek out Brand instead. Cooper takes a spacecraft and sets off on another mission with TARS. Meanwhile, on the final candidate planet, Brand removes her helmet, breathing in the air of the new habitable world.

== Cast ==
{{multiple image
| direction = horizontal
| width1 = 128
| width2 = 128
| footer = [[Matthew McConaughey]] and [[Anne Hathaway]] played the protagonists of ''Interstellar''.
| image1 = Matthew McConaughey - Goldene Kamera 2014 - Berlin.jpg
| alt1 = Matthew McConaughey
| image2 = Anne Hathaway 2014 (cropped).jpg
| alt2 = Anne Hathaway
}}

* [[Matthew McConaughey]] as Joseph Cooper,{{efn|Referred to only as "Cooper" or "Coop" in the film}} a widower [[NASA]] pilot who reluctantly becomes a farmer after the agency was closed by the government, and eventually joins the ''Endurance'' mission as the lead pilot
* [[Anne Hathaway]] as Dr. Amelia Brand, Professor Brand's daughter and NASA scientist who, aboard the ''Endurance'' mission, is responsible for conducting planet colonization<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-25 |title=Anne Hathaway says she lost roles because of her haters |url=https://www.avclub.com/anne-hathaway-lost-roles-toxic-identity-backlash-haters-1851362814 |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=The A.V. Club |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Jessica Chastain]] as Murphy "Murph" Cooper, Joseph's daughter, who eventually becomes a NASA scientist working under Professor Brand
** [[Ellen Burstyn]] as elderly Murph
** [[Mackenzie Foy]] as 10 year-old Murph
* [[John Lithgow]] as Donald, Cooper's elderly father-in-law
* [[Michael Caine]] as Professor John Brand, a high-ranking NASA scientist, father of Amelia, former mentor of Cooper, and director of the ''Lazarus'' and ''Endurance'' missions
* [[Casey Affleck]] as Tom Cooper, Joseph's son, who eventually takes charge of his father's farm
** [[Timothée Chalamet]] as 15 year-old Tom
* [[Wes Bentley]] as Doyle, a high-ranking NASA member, and ''Endurance'' crew member
* [[Bill Irwin]] as TARS (voice and puppetry) and CASE (puppetry), robots assigned to assist the crew of the ''Endurance''
* [[Topher Grace]] as Getty, Murph's colleague and love interest
* [[David Gyasi]] as Professor Romilly, a high-ranking NASA member, and ''Endurance'' crew member
* [[Matt Damon]] as Dr. Mann, a NASA astronaut sent to an icy planet during the ''Lazarus'' program

Also appearing are [[Josh Stewart]] as the voice of CASE; [[Leah Cairns]] as Lois, Tom's wife; [[David Oyelowo]] and [[Collette Wolfe]] respectively as school principal and teacher Ms. Hanley; [[Francis X. McCarthy]] as farmer "Boots"; [[William Devane]] as Williams, another NASA member; [[Elyes Gabel]] as Cooper Station Administrator; and [[Jeff Hephner]] as Cooper Station Doctor.

== Production ==
=== Crew ===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Christopher Nolan]] – Director, producer, writer
* [[Jonathan Nolan]] – Writer
* [[Emma Thomas]] – Producer
* [[Lynda Obst]] – Producer
* [[Hoyte van Hoytema]] – Cinematographer
* [[Nathan Crowley]] – Production designer
* [[Mary Zophres]] – Costume designer
* [[Lee Smith (film editor)|Lee Smith]] – Editor
* [[Hans Zimmer]] – Music composer
* [[Paul Franklin (visual effects supervisor)|Paul Franklin]] – Visual effects supervisor
* [[Kip Thorne]] – Consultant, executive producer
*[[Sivamani]]&nabs;-ISRO scientist{{cn|date=August 2024}}
{{Div col end}}

=== Development and financing ===
The premise for ''Interstellar'' was conceived by the producer [[Lynda Obst]] and the theoretical physicist [[Kip Thorne]], who collaborated on the film ''[[Contact (1997 American film)|Contact]]'' (1997), and had known each other since [[Carl Sagan]] set them up on a blind date.<ref name="jolin" /><ref name="wired" /> The two conceived a scenario, based on Thorne's work, about "the most exotic events in the universe suddenly becoming accessible to humans", and attracted [[Steven Spielberg]]'s interest in directing.<ref name="Fernandez-Mar2007" /> The film began development in June 2006, when Spielberg and [[Paramount Pictures]] announced plans for a science-fiction film based on an eight-page treatment written by Obst and Thorne. Obst was attached to produce.<ref name="Fleming-Jun2006" /><ref name="news.sciencemag.org" /> By March 2007, Jonathan Nolan was hired to write a [[screenplay]].<ref name="LATimes-Mar2007" />

After Spielberg moved his production studio, [[DreamWorks Pictures|DreamWorks]], from Paramount to [[Walt Disney Studios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]] in 2009, Paramount needed a new director for ''Interstellar''. Jonathan Nolan recommended his brother Christopher, who joined the project in 2012.<ref name="jensen" /> Christopher Nolan met with Thorne, then attached as executive producer, to discuss the use of [[spacetime]] in the story.<ref name="galloway20141022" /> In January 2013, Paramount and Warner Bros. announced that Christopher Nolan was in negotiations to direct ''Interstellar''.<ref name="Variety-Jan2013" /> Nolan said he wanted to encourage the goal of [[human spaceflight]],<ref name="fritz" /> and intended to merge his brother's screenplay with his own.<ref name="Deadline-Jan2013" /> By the following March, Nolan was confirmed to direct ''Interstellar'', which would be produced under his label [[Syncopy Inc.|Syncopy]] and [[Lynda Obst Productions]].<ref name="HR-Mar2013" /> ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' said Nolan would earn a salary of {{nowrap|$20 million}} against 20% of the total gross.<ref name="HollywoodReporter-Oct2014" /> To research for the film, Nolan visited NASA and the [[Interplanetary Transport System|private space program]] at [[SpaceX]].<ref name="galloway20141022" />

Warner Bros. sought a stake in Nolan's production of ''Interstellar'' from Paramount, despite their traditional rivalry, and agreed to give Paramount its rights to co-finance the next film in the ''[[Friday the 13th (franchise)|Friday the 13th]]'' horror franchise, with a stake in a future film based on the television series ''[[South Park]]''. Warner Bros. also agreed to let Paramount co-finance an indeterminate "A-list" property.<ref name="Kit-Masters-Jun2013" /> In August 2013, [[Legendary Pictures]] finalized an agreement with Warner Bros. to finance approximately 25% of the film's production. Although it failed to renew its eight-year production partnership with Warner Bros., Legendary reportedly agreed to forgo financing ''[[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice]]'' (2016) in exchange for the stake in ''Interstellar''.<ref name="galloway20130814" />

=== Writing and casting ===
[[File:Dust storm approaching Stratford, Texas.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Dust Bowl]] phenomenon of the 1930s, as documented by [[Ken Burns]] in ''[[The Dust Bowl (film)|The Dust Bowl]]'' (2012), served as inspiration for the blight.]]

Jonathan Nolan worked on the script for four years.<ref name="jolin" /> To learn the scientific aspects, he studied [[theory of relativity|relativity]] at the [[California Institute of Technology]].<ref name="OraTV-Apr2014" /> He was pessimistic about the [[Space Shuttle program]] ending and how NASA lacked financing for a [[human mission to Mars]], drawing inspiration from science-fiction films with [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|apocalyptic]] themes, such as ''[[WALL-E]]'' (2008) and ''[[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]]'' (2009). Jeff Jensen of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' said: "He set the story in a dystopian future ravaged by blight, but populated with hardy folk who refuse to bow to despair."<ref name="jensen" /> His brother Christopher had worked on other science fiction scripts but decided to take the ''Interstellar'' script and choose among the vast array of ideas presented by Jonathan and Thorne. He picked what he felt, as director, he could get "across to the audience and hopefully not lose them," before he merged it with a script he had worked on for years on his own.<ref name="galloway20141022" /><ref name="marlow" /> Christopher kept in place Jonathan's conception of the first hour, which is set on a [[resource depletion|resource depleted]] Earth in the near future. The setting was inspired by the [[Dust Bowl]] that took place in the United States during the [[Great Depression]] in the 1930s.<ref name="jolin" /> He revised the rest of the script, where a team travels into space, instead.<ref name="jolin" /> After watching the 2012 documentary ''[[The Dust Bowl (film)|The Dust Bowl]]'' for inspiration, Christopher contacted the director, [[Ken Burns]], and the producer, Dayton Duncan. They granted him permission to use some of their featured interviews in ''Interstellar''.<ref name="burns" />

Christopher Nolan wanted an actor who could bring to life his vision of the main character as an [[everyman]] with whom "the audience could experience the story."<ref name="mcclintock20140326" /> He became interested in casting [[Matthew McConaughey]] after watching him in an early cut of the 2012 film ''[[Mud (2012 film)|Mud]]'',<ref name="mcclintock20140326" /> which he had seen as a friend of one of its producers, Aaron Ryder.<ref name="jolin" /> Nolan went to visit McConaughey while he was filming for the TV series ''[[True Detective]]''.<ref name="td" /> [[Anne Hathaway]] was invited to Nolan's home, where she read the script for ''Interstellar''.<ref name="itzkoff" /> In early 2013, both actors were cast in the starring roles.<ref name="Fleming-Apr2013" /> [[Jessica Chastain]] was contacted while she was working on ''[[Miss Julie (2014 film)|Miss Julie]]'' (2014) in Northern Ireland, and a script was delivered to her.<ref name="itzkoff" /> Originally, [[Irrfan Khan]] was offered the role of Dr. Mann but rejected it due to scheduling conflicts. [[Matt Damon]] was cast as Mann in late August 2013 and completed filming his scenes in Iceland.<ref name="jagernauth" />

=== Principal photography ===
Nolan shot ''Interstellar'' on 35 mm film in the [[Panavision]] [[anamorphic format]] and [[IMAX]] 70 mm photography.<ref name="deadline" /> Cinematographer [[Hoyte van Hoytema]] was hired for ''Interstellar'', as [[Wally Pfister]], Nolan's cinematographer on all of his previous films, was making his directorial debut working on ''[[Transcendence (2014 film)|Transcendence]]'' (2014);<ref name="Jagernauth-Apr2013" /> Pfister would later retire as a cinematographer for films.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/nolan-and-i-have-gone-our-seperate-ways-wally-pfister/story-iKmfuIS0Lm4gpeWBaET9AL.html|title=Nolan and I have gone our {{sic|nolink=yes|seperate}} ways: Wally Pfister|date=July 24, 2015|website=Hindustan Times|access-date=August 4, 2023|archive-date=August 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804101820/https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/nolan-and-i-have-gone-our-seperate-ways-wally-pfister/story-iKmfuIS0Lm4gpeWBaET9AL.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
More IMAX cameras were used for ''Interstellar'' than for any of Nolan's previous films. To minimize the use of [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI), Nolan had practical locations built, such as the interior of a space shuttle.<ref name="mcclintock20140326" /> Van Hoytema retooled an IMAX camera to be [[Hand-held camera|hand-held]] for shooting interior scenes.<ref name="jolin" /> Some of the film's sequences were shot with an IMAX camera installed in the nose cone of a [[Learjet]].<ref name="Learjet" />
Nolan, who is known for keeping details of his productions secret, strove to ensure secrecy for ''Interstellar''. Writing for ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', Ben Fritz stated, "The famously secretive filmmaker has gone to extreme lengths to guard the script to ... ''Interstellar'', just as he did with the blockbuster ''Dark Knight'' trilogy."<ref name="WSJ-Oct2013" /> As one security measure, ''Interstellar'' was filmed under the name ''Flora's Letter'',<ref name="volmers" /> Flora being one of Nolan's four children with producer Emma Thomas.<ref name="galloway20141022" />

[[File:Svínafellsjökull.JPG|thumbnail|right|The Svínafellsjökull glacier in [[Iceland]] was used as a filming location for ''Interstellar'', doubling for Mann's planet.]]

The film's [[principal photography]] was scheduled to last four months.<ref name="jagernauth" /> It began on {{nowrap|August 6}}, 2013, in the province of [[Alberta]], Canada.<ref name="galloway20130814" /> Towns in Alberta where shooting took place included [[Nanton, Alberta|Nanton]], [[Longview, Alberta|Longview]], [[Lethbridge]], [[Fort Macleod]], and [[Okotoks]]. In Okotoks, filming took place at the [[Seaman Stadium]] and the Olde Town Plaza.<ref name="volmers" /> For a cornfield scene, production designer [[Nathan Crowley]] planted {{cvt|500|acre}} of corn that would be destroyed in an apocalyptic [[dust storm]] scene,<ref name="jensen" /> intended to be similar to storms experienced during the Dust Bowl in 1930s America.<ref name="galloway20141022" /> Additional scenes involving the dust storm and McConaughey's character were also shot in [[Fort Macleod]], where the giant dust clouds were created on location using large fans to blow [[Cellulose fiber|cellulose-based]] synthetic dust through the air.<ref name="McTighe-Aug2013" /> Filming in the province lasted until {{nowrap|September 9}}, 2013, and involved hundreds of extras in addition to {{nowrap|130 crew}} members, most of whom were local.<ref name="volmers" />

Shooting also took place in Iceland, where Nolan had previously filmed scenes for ''[[Batman Begins]]'' (2005).<ref name="Verrier-Horn-Apr2014" /> It was chosen to represent two extraterrestrial planets: one covered in ice, and the other in water.<ref name="jolin" /> The crew transported mock spaceships weighing about {{convert|10000|lb|kg}}.<ref name="galloway20141022" /> They spent two weeks shooting there,<ref name="jagernauth" /> during which a crew of about {{nowrap|350 people}}, including {{nowrap|130 locals}}, worked on the film. Locations included the Svínafellsjökull glacier and the town of [[Klaustur]].<ref name="NewsofIceland-Sep2013" /><ref name="IcelandReview-Sep2013" /> While filming a water scene in Iceland, Hathaway almost suffered from [[hypothermia]] because her [[dry suit]] had not been properly secured.<ref name="galloway20141022" />

After the schedule in Iceland was completed, the crew shot in Los Angeles for {{nowrap|54 days}}. Filming locations included the [[Westin Bonaventure Hotel]] and Suites, the [[Los Angeles Convention Center]], a Sony Pictures [[soundstage]] in [[Culver City]], and a private residence in [[Altadena, California]].<ref name="Verrier-Nov2013" /> Principal photography concluded in December 2013.<ref name="Zeitchik-Dec2013" /> Production had a budget of {{nowrap|$165 million}}, {{nowrap|$10 million}} less than was allotted by Paramount, Warner Bros., and Legendary Pictures.<ref name="galloway20141022" />

=== Production design ===
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''Interstellar'' features three spacecraft— the ''Endurance'', a ranger, and a lander. The ''Endurance'', the crew's [[mother ship]], is a circular structure consisting of 12 capsules, laid flat to mimic a clock: Four capsules with planetary settling equipment, four with engines, and four with the permanent functions of cockpit, medical labs, and habitation. Production designer Nathan Crowley said the ''Endurance'' was based on the [[International Space Station]]: "It's a real mish-mash of different kinds of technology. You need analogue stuff, as well as digital stuff, you need backup systems and tangible switches. It's really like a submarine in space. Every inch of space is used, everything has a purpose." The ranger's function is similar to the [[Space Shuttle]]'s, being able to enter and exit planetary atmospheres. Lastly, the lander transports the capsules with settling equipment to planetary surfaces. Crowley compared it to "a heavy Russian helicopter."<ref name="jolin" />

The film features two robots, CASE and TARS, as well as a dismantled third robot, KIPP. Nolan wanted to avoid making the robots [[anthropomorphic]] and chose a {{Cvt|4.9|ft|order=flip}} [[quadrilateral]] design. He said: "It has a very complicated design philosophy. It's based on mathematics. You've got four main blocks and they can be joined in three ways. So, you have three combinations you follow. But then within that, it subdivides into a further three joints. And all the places we see lines—those can subdivide further. So you can unfold a finger, essentially, but it's all proportional." [[Bill Irwin]] voiced and physically controlled both robots, with his image digitally removed, and [[Josh Stewart]] replaced his voicing for CASE.<ref name="jolin" /> The human space habitats resemble [[O'Neill cylinder]]s, a theoretical [[space habitat]] model proposed by physicist [[Gerard K. O'Neill]] in 1976.<ref name="GQ-Oct2014" />

=== Sound design ===
[[Gregg Landaker]] and [[Gary Rizzo]] were the film's [[audio engineer]]s tasked with [[audio mixing]], while sound editor [[Richard King (sound designer)|Richard King]] supervised the process.<ref name="Desowitz-Sep2014" /> Christopher Nolan sought to mix the sound to take maximum advantage of theater equipment<ref name="Hammond-Mar2014" /> and paid close attention to designing the sound mix, like focusing on the sound of buttons being pressed with astronaut suit gloves.<ref name="jensen" /> The studio's website stated that the film was "mixed to maximize the power of the low-end frequencies in the main channels, as well as in the [[subwoofer]] channel."<ref name="InterstellarMovie" /> Nolan deliberately intended some dialogue to seem drowned out by ambient noise or music, causing some theaters to post notices emphasizing that this effect was intentional and not a fault in their equipment.<ref name="McClintock-Nov2014" />

=== Music ===
{{Main|Interstellar (soundtrack)}}
[[Hans Zimmer]], who scored Nolan's ''[[The Dark Knight Trilogy]]'' and ''[[Inception]]'' (2010), returned to score ''Interstellar''. Nolan chose not to provide Zimmer with a script or any plot details but instead gave him a single page that told the story of a father leaving his child for work. It was through this connection that Zimmer created the early stages of the ''Interstellar'' soundtrack. Zimmer and Nolan later decided the 1926 four-manual [[Harrison & Harrison]] organ of the [[Temple Church]], London, would be the primary instrument for the score.<ref name="Lubin-Nov2014" /><ref name="Kilkenny" /> Zimmer conducted 45 scoring sessions for ''Interstellar'', three times more than for ''Inception''. The soundtrack was released on November 18, 2014.<ref name="jensen" />

=== Visual effects ===
The visual effects company [[Double Negative (VFX)|Double Negative]], which worked on ''Inception'', was brought back for ''Interstellar''.<ref name="Giardina-Jun2014" /> According to visual effects supervisor [[Paul Franklin (visual effects supervisor)|Paul Franklin]], the number of effects in the film was not much greater than in Nolan's ''[[The Dark Knight Rises]]'' (2012) or ''Inception''. However, for ''Interstellar'', they created the effects first, allowing digital projectors to display them behind the actors, rather than having the actors perform in front of [[green screens]].<ref name="jolin" /> The film contained 850 visual-effect shots at a resolution of 5600 × 4000 lines: 150 shots that were created in-camera using digital projectors, and another 700 were created in post-production. Of those, 620 were presented in IMAX, while the rest were anamorphic.<ref name="VFXshots" />

The ranger, ''Endurance'', and lander spacecraft were created using [[miniature effect]]s by Nathan Crowley in collaboration with effects company New Deal Studios, as opposed to using computer-generated imagery, as Nolan felt they offered the best way to give the ships a tangible presence in space. [[3D-printed]] and hand-sculpted, the scale models earned the nickname "maxatures" by the crew due to their immense size; the 1/15th-scale miniature of the ''Endurance'' module spanned over {{Cvt|7.6|m}}, while a [[pyrotechnic]] model of part of the craft was built at 1/5th scale. The Ranger and Lander miniatures spanned {{cvt|14|m}} and over {{cvt|15|m}}, respectively, and were large enough for van Hoytema to mount IMAX cameras directly onto the spacecraft, thus mimicking the look of NASA IMAX documentaries. The models were then attached to a six-axis [[gimbal]] on a motion control system that allowed an operator to manipulate their movements, which were filmed against background plates of space using [[VistaVision]] cameras on a smaller motion control rig.<ref name="EmanuelLevy-Oct2014" /> New Deal Studio's miniatures were used in 150 special effects shots.<ref name="VFXshots" />

== Influences ==
Nolan was influenced by what he called "key touchstones" of science fiction cinema, including ''[[Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis]]'' (1927), ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' (1968), ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982),<ref name="EW-Apr2013" /> ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977), and ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' (1979).<ref name="Empire-Oct2014" /> [[Andrei Tarkovsky]]'s ''[[The Mirror (1975 film)|The Mirror]]'' (1975) influenced "elemental things in the story to do with wind and dust and water", according to Nolan,<ref name="Mueller-Oct2014" /> who also compared ''Interstellar'' to ''[[The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)|The Treasure of the Sierra Madre]]'' (1948) as a film about human nature.<ref name="Jensen-Oct2014" /> He sought to emulate films like [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' (1975) and ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' (1977) for being family-friendly but also "as edgy and incisive and challenging as anything else on the blockbuster spectrum". He screened ''[[The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]'' (1983) for the crew before production,<ref name="jolin" /> following in its example by capturing reflections on the ''Interstellar'' astronauts' visors. For further inspiration, Nolan invited former astronaut [[Marsha Ivins]] to the set.<ref name="galloway20141022" /> Nolan and his crew studied the IMAX NASA documentaries of filmmaker [[Toni Myers]] for visual reference of spacefaring missions, and strove to imitate their use of IMAX cameras in the enclosed spaces of spacecraft interiors.<ref name="Space-Nov2014" /> [[Clark Kent]]'s upbringing in ''[[Man of Steel (film)|Man of Steel]]'' (2013) was the inspiration for the farm setting in the Midwest.<ref name="marlow" /> Apart from the films, Nolan drew inspiration from the architecture of [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]].<ref name="galloway20141022" />

== Scientific accuracy ==
[[File:Kip S. Thorne EM1B8790 (24027017497).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Kip Thorne]], a theoretical physicist and Nobel Laureate, served as scientific consultant and executive producer.]]
Regarding the concepts of wormholes and black holes, Kip Thorne said he "worked on the equations that would enable tracing of light rays as they traveled through a wormhole or around a black hole—so what you see is based on [[Einstein]]'s [[general relativity]] [[Einstein field equations|equations]]".<ref name="ThorneWormhole" /> Early in the process, Thorne laid down two guidelines: "First, that nothing would violate established physical laws. Second, that all the wild speculations ... would spring from science and not from the fertile mind of a screenwriter." Nolan accepted these terms as long as they did not get in the way of making the film.<ref name="news.sciencemag.org" /> At one point, Thorne spent two weeks arguing Nolan out of having a character traveling faster than light before Nolan finally gave up.<ref name="NPR-Nov2014" /> According to Thorne, the element that has the highest degree of artistic freedom is the clouds of ice on one of the planets they visit, which are structures that would go beyond the material strength that ice could support.<ref name="news.sciencemag.org" />

The astrobiologist [[David Grinspoon]] criticized the dire "blight" situation on Earth portrayed in the early scenes, pointing out that even with a voracious blight it would have taken millions of years to reduce the atmosphere's oxygen content. He also notes that gravity should have pulled down the ice clouds.<ref name="MotherJones-Nov2014" /> [[Neil deGrasse Tyson]], an [[astrophysicist]], explored the science behind the ending of ''Interstellar'', concluding that it is theoretically possible to interact with the past, and that "we don't really know what's in a black hole, so take it and run with it".<ref name="Gray" /> The theoretical physicist [[Michio Kaku]] praised the film for its scientific accuracy and said ''Interstellar'' "could set the gold standard for science fiction movies for years to come". Timothy Reyes, a former NASA [[software engineer]], said "Thorne's and Nolan's accounting of black holes and wormholes and the use of gravity is excellent".<ref name="Mashable" />

Mathematical Physicist Ikjyot Singh Kohli first published an article on the blog<ref>{{cite web | url=https://relativitydigest.com/2014/11/07/on-the-science-of-interstellar/ | title=On the Science of Interstellar | date=November 7, 2014 }}</ref> defending the physics used in the film. In particular, he provided calculations in which he showed that the time dilation effect caused by the spinning black hole in the movie was indeed accurate. The article was written shortly after the film's release in response to a number of scientific blogs that criticized the film's physics for not being accurate, which were shown by Kohli to be due to several misunderstandings by the authors of the blogs in question.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://slate.com/technology/2014/11/interstellar-science-review-the-movies-black-holes-wormholes-relativity-and-special-effects.html | title=Interstellar Science | journal=Slate | date=November 6, 2014 | last1=Plait | first1=Phil }}</ref>

=== Wormholes and black holes ===
[[File:Black hole Interstellar.png|thumb|227px|left|Miller's planet orbiting Gargantua]]
To create the visual effects for the wormhole and a [[rotating black hole|rotating]], [[supermassive black hole]] (possessing an [[ergosphere]], as opposed to a non-rotating black hole), Thorne collaborated with Franklin and a team of 30 people at [[DNEG|Double Negative]], providing pages of deeply sourced [[Theoretical physics|theoretical equations]] to the engineers, who then wrote new [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] rendering software based on these equations to create accurate simulations of the [[gravitational lensing]] caused by these phenomena. Some individual frames took up to 100 hours to render, totaling 800 [[terabyte]]s of data.<ref name="wired" /> Thorne described the accretion disk of the black hole as "anemic and at low temperature<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lecture 6: Accretion disks|url=http://www.astro.utu.fi/~cflynn/astroII/l6.html|access-date=2020-09-06|website=www.astro.utu.fi|archive-date=October 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024143704/http://www.astro.utu.fi/~cflynn/astroII/l6.html|url-status=live}}</ref>—about the temperature of the surface of the sun," allowing it to emit appreciable light, but not enough [[gamma radiation]] and [[X-ray]]s to threaten nearby astronauts and planets.<ref name="InsideScience-Nov2015" /> The resulting visual effects provided Thorne with new insight into the gravitational lensing and [[accretion disk]]s surrounding black holes, resulting in the publication of three [[scientific papers]].<ref name="IOP-Feb2015" /><ref name="AJP-Jun2015" /><ref name="ACM-Jul2015" />
[[File:Black hole - Messier 87.jpg|thumb|The first image of the event horizon of a black hole, obtained by the [[Event Horizon Telescope]]. The asymmetric brightness of the accretion disk is well visible here.]]
Nolan was initially concerned that a scientifically accurate depiction of a black hole would not be visually comprehensible to an audience, and would require the effects team to unrealistically alter its appearance. The visual representation of the black hole in the film does not account for the [[Doppler effect]] which, when added by the visual effects team, resulted in an asymmetrically lit black and blue-black hole, the purpose of which Nolan thought the audience would not understand. As a result, it was omitted in the finished product.<ref name="NewScientist-Feb2015" /> Nolan found the finished effect to be understandable, as long as he maintained consistent camera perspectives.<ref name="WiredBlackHoleInterview" />

As a reference, the asymmetric brightness of the accretion disk is very well visible in the first image<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration|last2=Akiyama|first2=Kazunori|last3=Alberdi|first3=Antxon|last4=Alef|first4=Walter|last5=Asada|first5=Keiichi|last6=Azulay|first6=Rebecca|last7=Baczko|first7=Anne-Kathrin|last8=Ball|first8=David|last9=Balokovic|first9=Mislav|last10=Barrett|first10=John|last11=Bintley|first11=Dan|date=April 1, 2019|title=First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole|journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters|volume=875|issue=1|page=L1|doi=10.3847/2041-8213/ab0ec7|arxiv=1906.11238|bibcode=2019ApJ...875L...1E|doi-access=free}}</ref> of the event horizon of a black hole obtained by the [[Event Horizon Telescope]] team in 2019. ''Futura-Sciences'' praised the correct depiction of the [[Penrose process]].<ref name="FX-Jan2016" />

According to [[Space.com]], the portrayal of what a wormhole would look like is scientifically correct. Rather than a two-dimensional hole in space, it is depicted as a sphere, showing a distorted view of the target galaxy.<ref name="Wall-Nov2014" />

== Marketing ==
The teaser trailer for ''Interstellar'' debuted {{nowrap|December 13}}, 2013, and featured clips related to [[space exploration]], accompanied by a voiceover by Matthew McConaughey's character, Cooper.<ref name="McIntyre-Dec2013" /> The theatrical trailer debuted {{nowrap|May 5}}, 2014, at the [[Lockheed Martin]] IMAX Theater in [[Washington, D.C.]], and was made available online later that month. For the week ending on {{nowrap|May 19}}, it was the most-viewed film trailer, with over {{nowrap|19.5 million}} views on [[YouTube]].<ref name="TheHollywoodReporter-May2014" />

Christopher Nolan and McConaughey made their first appearances at [[San Diego Comic-Con]] in July 2014 to promote ''Interstellar''. That same month, Paramount Pictures launched an interactive website, on which users uncovered a [[star chart]] related to the [[Apollo 11]] Moon landing.<ref name="McMillan-Jul2014" />

In October 2014, Paramount partnered with [[Google]] to promote ''Interstellar'' across multiple platforms.<ref name="sneider" /> The film's website was relaunched as a digital hub hosted on a Google domain,<ref name="jarvey" /> which collected feedback from film audiences, and linked to a mobile app.<ref name="jarvey" /> It featured a game in which players could build [[Solar System]] models and use a [[flight simulator]] for space travel.<ref name="Wired-Sep2014" /> The Paramount–Google partnership also included a virtual [[time capsule]] compiled with user-generated content, made available in 2015.<ref name="interstellar.withgoogle" /> The initiative Google for Education used the film as a basis for promoting math and science lesson plans in schools.<ref name="sneider" /><ref name="googleforeducation" />

Paramount provided a [[virtual reality]] walkthrough of the ''Endurance'' spacecraft using [[Oculus Rift]] technology. It hosted the walkthrough sequentially in New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., from {{nowrap|October 6}} through {{nowrap|November 19}}, 2014.<ref name="/Film-Oct2014" /><ref name="InterstellarMovie.com" /> The publisher [[Running Press]] released ''Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space'', a book by [[Mark Cotta Vaz]] about the making of the film, on {{nowrap|November 11}}.<ref name="Space-May2014" /> [[W. W. Norton & Company]] released ''[[The Science of Interstellar]]'', a book by Thorne;<ref name="Yahoo-Sep2014" /> [[Titan Books]] released the official novelization, written by [[Greg Keyes]];<ref name="Keyes-Nov2014" /> and ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' magazine released a tie-in [[online comic]], ''Absolute Zero'', written by Christopher Nolan and drawn by [[Sean Gordon Murphy]]. The comic is a [[prequel]] to the film, with Mann as the protagonist.<ref name="Nolan-Murphy-Nov2014" />

== Release ==
=== Theatrical ===
Before ''Interstellar''{{'}}s public release, Paramount CEO [[Brad Grey]] hosted a private screening on {{nowrap|October 19}}, 2014, at the AMC Lincoln Square 13 IMAX theater in [[Manhattan|Manhattan, New York]].<ref name="PrivateScreening" /><ref name="PrivateScreeningNotes" /> Paramount then showed ''Interstellar'' to some of the industry's filmmakers and actors in a first-look screening at the [[California Science Center]] on {{nowrap|October 22}}.<ref name="waxman" /> On the following day, the film was screened at the [[TCL Chinese Theatre]] in [[Los Angeles]], California for over {{nowrap|900 members}} of the [[Screen Actors Guild]].<ref name="Whipp-Oct2014" /> The film premiered on {{nowrap|October 26}} at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles,<ref name="ford" /> and in Europe on {{nowrap|October 29}} at the [[Odeon Leicester Square]] in London.<ref name="theguardian" /><ref name="Jessica Chastain Steals The Show At Interstellar European Premiere" />

''Interstellar'' was released early on November 4 in various {{nowrap|[[70 mm]]}} IMAX film, 70 mm film and {{nowrap|[[35mm movie film|35 mm]]}} film theaters, and had a limited release in [[North America]] on {{nowrap|November 5}}, with a wide release on {{nowrap|November 7}}.<ref name="Vlessing-Oct2014" /> The film was released in Belgium, France, and Switzerland on {{nowrap|November 5}}, the UK on {{nowrap|November 7}} and in additional territories in the following days.<ref name="WB" /> For the limited North American release, ''Interstellar'' was projected from 70 mm and 35 mm film in {{nowrap|249 theaters}} that still supported those formats, including at least {{nowrap|forty-one 70 mm IMAX}} theaters. A {{nowrap|70 mm}} IMAX projector was installed at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles to display the format. The film's wide release expanded to theaters that showed it digitally.<ref name="mcclintock20141001" /> Paramount Pictures distributed the film in North America, and Warner Bros. distributed it in the remaining territories.<ref name="deadline" /> The film was released in over 770 IMAX screens worldwide, which was the largest global release in IMAX cinemas,<ref name="Guardian-Oct2014" /><ref name="HR-Oct2014" /> until surpassed by [[Universal Pictures]]' ''[[Furious 7]]'' (2015) with 810 IMAX theaters.<ref name="Sommerlath" />

''Interstellar'' was an exception to Paramount Pictures' goal to stop releasing films on [[film stock]] and to distribute them only in digital format.<ref name="LATimes-Jan2014" /> According to Pamela McClintock of ''The Hollywood Reporter'', the initiative to project ''Interstellar'' on film stock would help preserve an endangered format,<ref name="mcclintock20141001" /> which was supported by Christopher Nolan, [[J. J. Abrams]], [[Quentin Tarantino]], [[Judd Apatow]], [[Paul Thomas Anderson]], and other filmmakers.<ref name="McNary-Lang-Oct2014" /> McClintock reported that theatre owners saw this as "backward," as nearly all theatres in the US had been converted to digital projection.<ref name="McClintock-Oct2014" />

''Interstellar'' will be re-released in theaters on December 6, 2024 for its 10th anniversary, showing in 70 mm IMAX and digital formats.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rubin |first=Rebecca |date=August 7, 2024 |title=Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ 10th Anniversary Re-Release Moves to December (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/christopher-nolan-interstellar-10th-anniversary-rerelease-delayed-70mm-prints-1236098730/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Home media ===
''Interstellar'' was released on [[home video]] on March 31, 2015, in both the United Kingdom and United States.<ref name="Space.com-Feb2015" /> It topped the home video sales chart for a total of two weeks.<ref name="Variety-Apr2015" /><ref name="Arnold-Apr2015" /> It was reported that ''Interstellar'' was the most pirated film of 2015, with an estimated 46.7 million downloads on [[BitTorrent]].<ref name="ABC-Dec2015" /> It was released in the [[Ultra HD Blu-ray]] format on December 19, 2017.<ref>{{Citation|title=Interstellar 4K Blu-ray Release Date December 19, 2017|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Interstellar-4K-Blu-ray/187908/|access-date=May 5, 2021|archive-date=May 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512164622/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Interstellar-4K-Blu-ray/187908/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
''Interstellar'' grossed $188 million in the US and Canada, and $493 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $681 million on original release, against a production budget of $165 million.<ref name="BOM" /> ''[[Deadline Hollywood]]'' calculated net profit to be $47 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs, with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from home media, placing it 20th on their list of 2014's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".<ref name="Deadline.com-Mar2015" /> It sold an estimated 22 million tickets domestically.<ref name="BoxOfficeMojo-B" />

The film set an IMAX opening record worldwide with $20.5 million from 574 IMAX theaters, surpassing the $17 million record held by ''[[The Hunger Games: Catching Fire]]'' (2013), and is the best opening for an IMAX 2D, non-sequel, and November IMAX release.<ref name="IMAX" /> It had a worldwide opening of $133 million, which was the tenth-largest opening of 2014,<ref name="BoxOfficeMojo" /> and became the [[2014 in film#Highest-grossing films|tenth-highest-grossing film of 2014]].<ref name="BoxOfficeMojo.com" /> ''Interstellar'' is the fourth film to gross over $100 million worldwide from IMAX ticket sales.<ref name="THR-Dec2015" /><ref name="DaveMcNary" /><ref name="Forbes-Jul2014" /> It was released in the UK, Ireland and Malta on November 6, 2014, and debuted at number one earning £5.5 million ($8.6 million) in its opening weekend, which was lower than the openings of ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (£14.4 million), ''Gravity'' (£6.2 million), and ''Inception'' (£5.9 million).<ref name="TheGuardian-Nov2014" /> The film was released in 35 markets on the same day, including major markets like Germany, Russia, Australia, and Brazil earning $8.7 million in total.<ref name="Anita Busch" /> Through Sunday, it earned an opening weekend total of $83 million from 11.1 million admissions from over 14,800 screens in 62 markets.<ref name="D'Alessandro-Tartaglione" /> It earned $7.3 million from 206 IMAX screens, at an average of 35,400 viewers per theater.<ref name="VarietyIMAX" /> It went to number one in South Korea ($14.4 million),<ref name="Shoard-Nov2014" /> Russia ($8.9 million), and France ($5.3 million). Other strong openings occurred in Germany ($4.6 million), India ($4.3 million), Italy ($3.7 million), Australia ($3.7 million), Spain ($2.7 million), Mexico ($3.1 million), and Brazil ($1.9 million).<ref name="Subers-Nov2014" /> ''Interstellar'' was released in China on November 12 and earned $5.4 million on its opening day on Wednesday, which is Nolan's biggest opening in China after surpassing the $4.61 million opening record of ''The Dark Knight Rises''.<ref name="TheHollywoodReporter.com" /><ref name="Tartaglione-Nov2014" /> It went on to earn $41.7 million in its opening weekend, accounting for 55% of the market share.<ref name="Frater" /><ref name="Deadline1" /> It is Nolan's biggest opening in China, Warner Bros.' biggest 2D opening,<ref name="1China" /> and the studio's third-biggest opening of all time, behind 2014's ''[[The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies]]'' ($49.5 million)<ref name="China" /> and 2013's ''[[Pacific Rim (film)|Pacific Rim]]'' ($45 million).<ref name="PacificRim" /><ref name="McClintock" />{{Update inline|date=August 2023|?=yes|reason=Does this still hold after so many years?}}

It topped the box office outside North America for two consecutive weekends before being overtaken by ''[[The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1]]'' (2014) in its third weekend.<ref name="1China" /> Just 31 days after its release, the film became the [[List of highest-grossing films in South Korea|13th-most-successful film and 3rd-most-successful foreign film in South Korea]] with 9.1 million admissions trailing only ''Avatar'' (13.3 million admissions), and 2013's ''[[Frozen (2013 film)|Frozen]]'' (10.3 million admissions).<ref name="Hyo-won" /> The film closed down its theatrical run in China on December 12, with total revenue of $122.6 million.<ref name="Brent Lang" /><ref name="Deadline" /> In total earnings, its largest markets outside North America and China were South Korea ($73.4 million), the UK, Ireland and Malta ($31.3 million), and Russia and the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS) ($19 million).<ref name="BOM.com" /> ''Interstellar'' and ''[[Big Hero 6 (film)|Big Hero 6]]'' opened the same weekend ({{nowrap|November 7–9}}, 2014) in the US and Canada. Both were forecast to earn between {{nowrap|$55 million}} and {{nowrap|$60 million}}.<ref name="Forbes.com" /> In North America, the film is the seventh-highest-grossing film to not hit No. 1, with a top rank of No. 2 on its opening weekend.<ref name="BOM1" /> ''Interstellar'' had an early limited release in the US and Canada in selected theaters on November 4 at 8:00 pm, coinciding with the [[2014 United States elections|2014 US midterm elections]].<ref name="WB." /> It topped the box office the following day, earning $1.35 million from 249 theaters (42 of which were IMAX screens); IMAX accounted for 62% of its total gross.<ref name="Nov2014-Deadline" /> Two hundred and forty of those theaters played in 35 mm, 70 mm, and IMAX 70 mm film formats.<ref name="Busch" /> It earned $3.6 million from late-night shows for a previews total of $4.9 million.<ref name="AnitaBusch-Deadline" /><ref name="Forbes-Mendelson" /><ref name="VarietyMagazine" /> The film was [[widely released]] on November 7 and topped the box office on its opening day, earning $17 million ahead of ''[[Big Hero 6 (film)|Big Hero 6]]'' ($15.8 million).<ref name="VarietyMag" /> On its opening weekend, the film earned $47.5 million{{Efn|In total the film earned $2.2 million from the two late-night showings which would bring its opening weekend gross to $49.7 million.<ref name="Bowles-Busch" />}} from 3,561 theaters, debuting in second place after a neck-and-neck competition with [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]]'s ''Big Hero 6'' ($56.2 million).<ref name="BOX" /> IMAX comprised $13.2 million (28%) of its opening weekend gross,<ref name="BOX" /> while other premium large-format screens comprised $5.3 million (10.5%) of the gross.<ref name="Mendelson-Nov2014" /><ref name="PamelaMcClintock" /> In its second weekend, the film fell to No. 3 behind ''Big Hero 6'' and newcomer ''[[Dumb and Dumber To]]'' (2014), and dropped 39% earning $29 million for a two-weekend total of $98 million.<ref name="ScottMendelson-Nov2014" /><ref name="Pamela" /> It earned $7.4 million from IMAX theaters from 368 screens in its second weekend.<ref name="LangBrent-Variety" /><ref name="Deadline-ScottBowles" /> In its third week, the film earned $15 million and remained at No. 3, below newcomer ''The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'' and ''Big Hero 6''.<ref name="BrentMagazine" />

=== Critical response ===
On [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]], 73% of 378 critic reviews are positive, with an average of 7.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "''Interstellar'' represents more of the thrilling, thought-provoking, and visually resplendent filmmaking moviegoers have come to expect from writer-director Christopher Nolan, even if its intellectual reach somewhat exceeds its grasp."<ref name="RT" /> [[Metacritic]] assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref name="MC" /> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave it an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="CS" />

Scott Foundas, chief film critic at ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', said that ''Interstellar'' is "as visually and conceptually audacious as anything Nolan has yet done" and considered the film "more personal" than Nolan's previous films.<ref name="Varietyrev" /> Claudia Puig of ''[[USA Today]]'' praised the visual spectacle and powerful themes, while criticizing the "dull" dialogue and "tedious patches inside the space vessel."<ref name="USAToday" /> [[David Stratton]] of ''[[At the Movies (Australian TV program)|At the Movies]]'' rated the film four-and-a-half stars out of five, commending its ambition, effects, and 70 mm IMAX presentation, though criticizing the sound for "being so loud" as to make some of the dialogue "inaudible". Conversely, co-host [[Margaret Pomeranz]] rated the film three out of five, as she felt the human drama got lost among the film's scientific concepts.<ref name="ABC.net.au" /> Henry Barnes of ''[[The Guardian]]'' scored the film three out of five stars, calling it "a glorious spectacle, but a slight drama, with few characters and too-rare flashes of humour."<ref name="Barnes-Oct2014" /> [[James Berardinelli]] called ''Interstellar'' "an amazing achievement" and "simultaneously a big-budget science fiction endeavor and a very simple tale of love and sacrifice. It is by turns edgy, breathtaking, hopeful, and heartbreaking."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/interstellar|title=Interstellar (United States/United Kingdom, 2014) November 04, 2014: A movie review by James Berardinelli|last=Berardinelli|first=James|date=March 7, 2020|website=Reelviews.net|access-date=March 17, 2020|archive-date=April 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414210251/https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/interstellar|url-status=live}}</ref> He named it the best film of 2014,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reelviews.net/reelthoughts/the-2014-top-10|title=The 2014 Top 10|last=Berardinelli|first=James|date=March 7, 2020|website=Reelviews.net|access-date=March 17, 2020|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801215143/https://www.reelviews.net/reelthoughts/the-2014-top-10|url-status=live}}</ref> and the second-best movie of the decade, deeming it a "''real'' science fiction rather than the crowd-pleasing, watered-down version Hollywood typically offers".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reelviews.net/reelthoughts/reelthought_1577378280|title=A look back at the 2010s|last=Berardinelli|first=James|date=March 7, 2020|website=Reelviews.net|access-date=March 17, 2020|archive-date=February 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200210052159/http://www.reelviews.net/reelthoughts/reelthought_1577378280|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{quote box|align=right|width=246px|quote="It's been a while since somebody has come out with such a big vision to things ... Even the elements, the fact that dust is everywhere, and they're living in this dust bowl that is just completely enveloping this area of the world. That's almost something you expect from [[Tarkovsky]] or [[Terrence Malick|Malick]], not a science fiction adventure movie.<ref name="TomShone14" />|source=—[[Quentin Tarantino]] on ''Interstellar''.}}

Oliver Gettell of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that "film critics largely agree that ''Interstellar'' is an entertaining, emotional, and thought-provoking sci-fi saga, even if it can also be clunky and sentimental at times."<ref name="Gettell" /> James Dyer of ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' awarded the film a full five stars, describing it as "brainy, barmy, and beautiful to behold ... a mind-bending opera of space and time with a soul wrapped up in all the science."<ref name="Dyer" /> Dave Calhoun of ''[[Time Out London]]'' also granted the film a maximum score of five stars, stating that it is "a bold, beautiful cosmic adventure story with a touch of the surreal and the dreamlike."<ref name="Calhoun" /> [[Richard Roeper]] of ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' awarded the film a full four stars and wrote, "This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen—in terms of its visuals, and its overriding message about the powerful forces of the one thing we all know but can't measure in scientific terms. Love."<ref name="Roeper" />

Describing Nolan as a "merchant of awe," Tim Robey of ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' thought that ''Interstellar'' was "agonisingly" close to a masterpiece, highlighting the conceptual boldness and "deep-digging intelligence" of the film.<ref name="Robey-Oct2014" /> [[Todd McCarthy]] of ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' wrote, "This grandly conceived and executed epic tries to give equal weight to intimate human emotions and speculation about the cosmos, with mixed results, but is never less than engrossing, and sometimes more than that."<ref name="McCarthy" /> In his review for the [[Associated Press]], Jake Coyle praised the film for its "big-screen grandeur," while finding some of the dialogue "clunky." He described it further as "an absurd endeavor" and "one of the most sublime movies of the decade."<ref name="Coyle" /> Scott Mendelson of ''[[Forbes]]'' listed ''Interstellar'' as one of the most disappointing films of 2014, stating that the film "has a lack of flow, loss of momentum following the climax, clumsy sound mixing," and "thin characters" despite seeing the film twice in order to "give it a second chance." He wrote that ''Interstellar'' "ends up as a stripped-down and somewhat muted variation on any number of 'go into space to save the world' movies."<ref name="ForbesReview" /> [[Matt Zoller Seitz]] of [[RogerEbert.com]] gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, saying that despite his usual quibbles regarding Nolan's excessive dialogue and its lack of a sense of composition, "[''Interstellar''] is still an impressive, at times astonishing movie that overwhelmed me to the point where my usual objections to Nolan's work melted away ... At times, the movie's one-stop-shopping storytelling evokes the tough-tender spirit of a [[John Ford]] picture ... a movie that would rather try to be eight or nine things than just one."<ref name="Seitz-Nov2014" />

''[[New York Times]]'' columnist [[David Brooks (commentator)|David Brooks]] concludes that ''Interstellar'' explores the relationships among "science and faith and science and the humanities" and "illustrates the real symbiosis between these realms."<ref name="Brooks-NYT" /> Mark Steyn commented on the technological future and the focus on the father-daughter relationship.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.steynonline.com/13906/interstellar-with-dr-mann-super-villain | title=Interstellar with Dr Mann Super Villain | date=November 4, 2023 }}</ref> [[Wai Chee Dimock]], in the ''[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]'', wrote that Nolan's films are "rotatable at 90, 180, and 360 degrees," and that "although there is considerable magical thinking here, making it almost an anti-sci-fi film, holding out hope that the end of the planet is not the end of everything, it reverses itself, however, when that magic falls short when the poetic license is naked and plain for all to see."<ref name="la review of books" /> Author [[George R. R. Martin]] called ''Interstellar'' "the most ambitious and challenging [[science fiction]] film since [[Stanley Kubrick|Kubrick]]'s ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey|2001]]''."<ref name="RRMartin" /> In 2020, ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine ranked it as one of the best films of the 21st century.<ref name="Empire2020" />

=== Accolades ===
{{Main|List of accolades received by Interstellar}}
At the [[87th Academy Awards]], ''Interstellar'' received nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]], [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Production Design]], [[Academy Award for Best Sound Editing|Best Sound Editing]], and [[Best Sound Mixing]], and won [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects]].<ref name="Oscar" />

== See also ==
{{Portal|Film|Speculative fiction}}
{{Div col|colwidth=23em}}
* [[Black holes in fiction]]
* [[Blanet]] – planet orbiting a black hole
* [[Causal loop]]
* [[Interstellar travel]]
* [[List of American films of 2014]]
* [[List of British films of 2014]]
* [[List of films featuring drones]]
* [[List of films featuring space stations]]
* [[List of time travel works of fiction]]
* [[Starship]]
* [[Wormholes in fiction]]
{{Div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="BBFC-Oct2014">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/interstellar-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zode4nzi |title=Interstellar |publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]] |date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=October 20, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020205535/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/interstellar-film |archive-date=October 20, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="BOM">{{Cite Box Office Mojo |id=tt0816692 |title=Interstellar |access-date=November 4, 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="LUMIERE">{{cite web |url=http://lumiere.obs.coe.int/web/film_info/?id=46809 |title=Film: Interstellar |website=[[Lumiere (database)|Lumiere]] |access-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623221030/http://lumiere.obs.coe.int/web/film_info/?id=46809 |archive-date=June 23, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="jolin">{{cite journal | last=Jolin | first=Dan | url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/interstellar-how-christopher-nolan-space-movie-achieved-lift-off/ | title=The Ultimate Trip | journal=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] | date=November 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="wired">{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/10/astrophysics-interstellar-black-hole/|title=Wrinkles In Spacetime: The Warped Astrophysics of Interstellar|first=Adam|last=Rogers|date=October 23, 2014|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025002411/http://www.wired.com/2014/10/astrophysics-interstellar-black-hole/|archive-date=October 25, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Fernandez-Mar2007">{{cite news | last=Fernandez | first=Jay A. | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-28-et-scriptland28-story.html | title=Writer with real stars in his eyes | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 28, 2007|access-date=May 14, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514094503/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/28/entertainment/et-scriptland28|archive-date=May 14, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Fleming-Jun2006">{{cite journal | last=Fleming | first=Michael | url=https://variety.com/2006/film/news/space-chase-pic-on-par-launch-pad-1200337693/ | title=Space chase pic on Par launch pad | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=June 14, 2006 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030062353/http://variety.com/2006/film/news/space-chase-pic-on-par-launch-pad-1200337693/ | archive-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="news.sciencemag.org">{{cite web|url=http://news.sciencemag.org/people-events/2014/11/physicist-who-inspired-interstellar-spills-backstory-and-scene-makes-him|title=Physicist who inspired Interstellar spills the backstory—and the scene that makes him cringe |website=sciencemag.org |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |first=Daniel|last=Clery|date=November 6, 2014|access-date=December 31, 2015 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026153855/http://news.sciencemag.org/people-events/2014/11/physicist-who-inspired-interstellar-spills-backstory-and-scene-makes-him|archive-date=October 26, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="LATimes-Mar2007">{{cite news | last=Fernandez | first=Jay | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-24-et-quick24.6-story.html | title=Spielberg, Nolan plan sci-fi project | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=March 24, 2007 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007014434/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/24/entertainment/et-quick24.6 | archive-date=October 7, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Variety-Jan2013">{{cite journal | last=Sneider | first=Jonathan | url=https://variety.com/2013/film/news/nolan-in-talks-for-interstellar-1118064459/ | title=Nolan in talks for 'Interstellar' | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=January 9, 2013 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007223421/http://variety.com/2013/film/news/nolan-in-talks-for-interstellar-1118064459/ | archive-date=October 7, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="fritz">{{cite news | last=Fritz | first=Ben | url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/07/24/director-christopher-nolan-causes-a-stir-while-promoting-interstellar-at-comic-con/ | title=Director Christopher Nolan Causes Stir While Promoting 'Interstellar' at Comic-Con | url-access=subscription | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | date=July 24, 2014 | access-date=July 25, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726220236/http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/07/24/director-christopher-nolan-causes-a-stir-while-promoting-interstellar-at-comic-con/ | archive-date=July 26, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Deadline-Jan2013">{{cite web | last=Fleming | first=Mike | url=https://www.deadline.com/2013/01/the-migratory-habits-of-800-pound-gorilla-oscar-directors-and-the-films-they-make/ | title=The Migratory Habits Of 800-Pound Gorilla Oscar Directors And The Films They Make | website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] | date=January 10, 2013 | access-date=August 14, 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901175052/http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/the-migratory-habits-of-800-pound-gorilla-oscar-directors-and-the-films-they-make/ | archive-date=September 1, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="HR-Mar2013">{{cite journal | last=Hayden | first=Erik | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/official-christopher-nolans-interstellar-be-426889 | title=It's Official: Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' to be Warner Bros., Paramount Co-Production | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=March 8, 2013 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012163821/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/official-christopher-nolans-interstellar-be-426889 | archive-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="HollywoodReporter-Oct2014">{{cite journal | author=Staff | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-salaries-revealed-movie-stars-737321 | title=Hollywood Salaries Revealed, From Movie Stars to Agents (and Even Their Assistants) | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=October 2, 2014 | access-date=October 24, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026034254/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-salaries-revealed-movie-stars-737321 | archive-date=October 26, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Kit-Masters-Jun2013">{{cite journal | last1=Kit | first1=Borys | last2=Masters | first2=Kim | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/christopher-nolans-interstellar-warner-bros-562879 | title=Warner Bros. Gives Up 'Friday the 13th' Rights to Board Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=June 5, 2013 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012174834/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/christopher-nolans-interstellar-warner-bros-562879 | archive-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="galloway20130814">{{cite journal | last1=Siegel | first1=Tatiana | last2=Galloway | first2=Stephen | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/legendary-scores-christopher-nolans-interstellar-605010 | title=Legendary Scores Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' in Warner Bros. Divorce | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=August 14, 2013 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012174023/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/legendary-scores-christopher-nolans-interstellar-605010 | archive-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="OraTV-Apr2014">{{cite AV media | series = [[Larry King Now]] | publisher = [[Ora TV]] | title = What Does A Showrunner Bring To A Deserted Island? | medium = Television production | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD1Bj1egE3U | date = April 15, 2014 | access-date = May 27, 2014 | time = 3:48 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150720092906/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD1Bj1egE3U | archive-date = July 20, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="jensen">{{cite magazine | last=Jensen | first=Jeff | url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/10/16/interstellar-christopher-nolan-anne-hathaway/ | title=Inside 'Interstellar,' Christopher Nolan's emotional space odyssey | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | date=October 16, 2014 | access-date=October 16, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017144424/http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/10/16/interstellar-christopher-nolan-anne-hathaway/ | archive-date=October 17, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="marlow">{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/10/christopher-nolan-uncut-on-interstellar-ben-affleck-s-batman-and-the-future-of-mankind.html|title=Christopher Nolan Uncut: On 'Interstellar,' Ben Affleck's Batman, and the Future of Mankind|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|first=Marlow|last=Stern|date=October 11, 2014|access-date=December 31, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818131933/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/10/christopher-nolan-uncut-on-interstellar-ben-affleck-s-batman-and-the-future-of-mankind.html|archive-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="burns">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/11/06/how-ken-burns-surprise-role-in-interstellar-explains-the-movie/|title=How Ken Burns' surprise role in 'Interstellar' explains the movie|url-access=limited|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Alyssa|last=Rosenberg|date=November 6, 2014|access-date=November 8, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108023023/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/11/06/how-ken-burns-surprise-role-in-interstellar-explains-the-movie/|archive-date=November 8, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="mcclintock20140326">{{cite journal | last=McClintock | first=Pamela | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinemacon-christopher-nolan-talks-interstellar-691456 | title=CinemaCon: Christopher Nolan Talks 'Interstellar,' Plugs Film Over Digital in Hollywood Reporter Q&A | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=March 26, 2014 | access-date=March 27, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327015839/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinemacon-christopher-nolan-talks-interstellar-691456 | archive-date=March 27, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="td">{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/christopher-nolan-opens-up-at-tribeca.html|title=Christopher Nolan on His Gradual Ascent: Young Filmmakers, Stop Rushing|first=Bilge|last=Ebiri|date=April 21, 2015|url-access=limited|work=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]] |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804044851/http://www.vulture.com/2015/04/christopher-nolan-opens-up-at-tribeca.html|archive-date=August 4, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="itzkoff">{{cite news | last=Itzkoff | first=Dave |author-link=Dave Itzkoff | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/arts/mcconaughey-hathaway-and-chastain-on-interstellar.html | title=Flight Club: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain on 'Interstellar' | url-access=limited | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=October 22, 2014 | access-date=October 24, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024041145/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/arts/mcconaughey-hathaway-and-chastain-on-interstellar.html | archive-date=October 24, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Fleming-Apr2013">{{cite web | last=Fleming | first=Mike | url=https://www.deadline.com/2013/04/anne-hathaway-to-star-with-matthew-mcconaughey-in-christopher-nolans-interstellar/ | title=Anne Hathaway To Star With Matthew McConaughey in Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' | website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] | date=April 9, 2013 | access-date=August 14, 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818025834/http://www.deadline.com/2013/04/anne-hathaway-to-star-with-matthew-mcconaughey-in-christopher-nolans-interstellar/ | archive-date=August 18, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="deadline">{{cite web | last=Fleming | first=Mike | url=https://www.deadline.com/2013/08/christopher-nolan-starts-interstellar/ | title=Christopher Nolan Starts 'Interstellar' | website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] | date=August 13, 2013 | access-date=August 13, 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815193642/http://www.deadline.com/2013/08/christopher-nolan-starts-interstellar/ | archive-date=August 15, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Jagernauth-Apr2013">{{cite news | last=Jagernauth | first=Keith | url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-fighter-dop-hoyte-van-hoytema-reportedly-wally-pfisters-replacement-on-christopher-nolans-interstellar-20130423 | title='The Fighter' DoP Hoyte Van Hoytema Is Wally Pfister's Replacement On Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' | work=The Playlist | publisher=[[IndieWire]] | date=April 23, 2013 | access-date=August 14, 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016223545/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-fighter-dop-hoyte-van-hoytema-reportedly-wally-pfisters-replacement-on-christopher-nolans-interstellar-20130423 | archive-date=October 16, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Learjet">{{cite web | last=Lussier | first=Germain | url=https://www.slashfilm.com/christopher-nolan-installed-an-imax-camera-on-a-lear-jet-for-interstellar | title=Christopher Nolan Installed an IMAX Camera on a Learjet for 'Interstellar' | website=[[/Film]] | date=November 18, 2013 | access-date=April 10, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321003227/http://www.slashfilm.com/christopher-nolan-installed-an-imax-camera-on-a-lear-jet-for-interstellar/ | archive-date=March 21, 2014 | url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="WSJ-Oct2013">{{cite news | last=Fritz | first=Ben | url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304500404579126364005185556 | title=Hollywood Steps Up Security to Keep Scripts Secret | url-access=subscription | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | date=October 13, 2013 | access-date=December 31, 2015 | archive-date=November 18, 2013 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20131118170652/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304500404579126364005185556 }}</ref>

<ref name="volmers">{{cite news | last=Volmers | first=Eric | url=http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Matthew+McConaughey+John+Lithgow+Okotoks+Christopher+Nolan+Interstellar/8821736/story.html | title=Matthew McConaughey, John Lithgow on Okotoks set of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar | work=[[Calgary Herald]] | date=August 22, 2013 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072139/http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Matthew+McConaughey+John+Lithgow+Okotoks+Christopher+Nolan+Interstellar/8821736/story.html | archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="jagernauth">{{cite news | last=Jagernauth | first=Keith | url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-matt-damon-joins-christopher-nolans-interstellar-lines-up-directorial-debut-a-murder-foretold-20130828 | title=Exclusive: Matt Damon Joins Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar,' Lines Up Directorial Debut 'The Foreigner' | work=The Playlist | publisher=[[IndieWire]] | date=August 28, 2013 | access-date=November 18, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114014551/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-matt-damon-joins-christopher-nolans-interstellar-lines-up-directorial-debut-a-murder-foretold-20130828 | archive-date=November 14, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="McTighe-Aug2013">{{cite news | last=McTighe | first=Frank | url=http://www.fortmacleodgazette.com/2013/hollywood-star-matthew-mcconaghey-in-fort-macleod/ | title=Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey in Fort Macleod to film scene from 'Interstellar' | work=[[Fort Macleod Gazette]] | date=August 28, 2013 | access-date=September 16, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006104957/http://www.fortmacleodgazette.com/2013/hollywood-star-matthew-mcconaghey-in-fort-macleod/ | archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Verrier-Horn-Apr2014">{{cite news | last1=Verrier | first1=Richard | last2=Horn | first2=John | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-on-location-hollywood-iceland-20140402,0,1509067.story | title=Hollywood is hot for Iceland | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=April 2, 2014 | access-date=April 10, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410201012/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-on-location-hollywood-iceland-20140402,0,1509067.story | archive-date=April 10, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="NewsofIceland-Sep2013">{{cite news|author= |url=http://www.newsoficeland.com/home/entertainment-leisure/motion-picture/item/2292-interstellar-shots-finished-in-iceland |title=Interstellar shots finished in Iceland |work=News of Iceland |date=September 21, 2013 |access-date=November 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204073444/http://www.newsoficeland.com/home/entertainment-leisure/motion-picture/item/2292-interstellar-shots-finished-in-iceland |archive-date=December 4, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="IcelandReview-Sep2013">{{cite news|author= |url=http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/search/news/Default.asp?ew_0_a_id=402793 |title=Hiking Paths to be Closed for Nolan Film Shoot |work=IcelandReview |date=September 9, 2013 |access-date=November 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917084144/http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/search/news/Default.asp?ew_0_a_id=402793 |archive-date=September 17, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Verrier-Nov2013">{{cite news | last=Verrier | first=Richard | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-onlocation-interstellar-westin-bonaventure-hotel-20131127,0,74132.story | title=Westin Bonaventure Hotel hosts 'Interstellar' movie filming | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=November 27, 2013 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404060042/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-onlocation-interstellar-westin-bonaventure-hotel-20131127,0,74132.story | archive-date=April 4, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Zeitchik-Dec2013">{{cite news | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-interstellar-trailer-mcconaughey-nolan-20131219,0,5274011.story | title=Star of Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' notes film's 'major scope' | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=December 19, 2013 | access-date=December 20, 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221074355/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-interstellar-trailer-mcconaughey-nolan-20131219,0,5274011.story | archive-date=December 21, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="galloway20141022">{{cite journal | last=Galloway | first=Stephen | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/interstellars-christopher-nolan-stars-gather-742727 | title='Interstellar's' Christopher Nolan, Stars Gather to Reveal Secrets of the Year's Most Mysterious Film | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=October 22, 2014 | access-date=October 22, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107124756/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/interstellars-christopher-nolan-stars-gather-742727 | archive-date=November 7, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="GQ-Oct2014">{{cite web | url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2014-10/30/interstellar-science-guide-relativity-time-dilation-black-hole-gargantua | title=A guide to the science behind Interstellar | first=Conrad | last=Quilty-Harper | work=[[GQ]] | date=October 30, 2014 | access-date=June 10, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626180302/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2014-10/30/interstellar-science-guide-relativity-time-dilation-black-hole-gargantua | archive-date=June 26, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Desowitz-Sep2014">{{cite web | last=Desowitz | first=Bill | url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-watch-three-movies-will-dominate-the-crafts-awards-20140912 | title=Oscar Watch: Three Movies Will Dominate the Crafts Awards | series=Thompson on Hollywood | website=[[IndieWire]] | date=September 12, 2014 | access-date=October 7, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012183740/http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-watch-three-movies-will-dominate-the-crafts-awards-20140912 | archive-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Hammond-Mar2014">{{cite web | last=Hammond | first=Pete | url=https://deadline.com/2014/03/cinemacon-christopher-nolan-warns-theatre-owners-how-interstellar-is-presented-will-be-more-important-than-any-film-hes-done-before-704897/ | title=CinemaCon: Christopher Nolan Warns Theatre Owners: How 'Interstellar' Is Presented Will Be More Important Than Any Film He's Done Before | website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] | date=March 26, 2014 | access-date=October 7, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006125938/http://deadline.com/2014/03/cinemacon-christopher-nolan-warns-theatre-owners-how-interstellar-is-presented-will-be-more-important-than-any-film-hes-done-before-704897/ | archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="InterstellarMovie">{{cite web | url=http://www.interstellarmovie.com/formats/ | title=Interstellar Technical Specifications | work=interstellarmovie.com | publisher=[[Paramount Pictures]] | access-date=October 7, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004024942/http://www.interstellarmovie.com/formats/ | archive-date=October 4, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="McClintock-Nov2014">{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/movie-theater-blames-christopher-nolan-748866|title=Movie Theater on 'Interstellar' Sound Complaints: Take It Up With Christopher Nolan|first=Pamela|last=McClintock|date=November 13, 2014|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|archive-date=February 2, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180202022243/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/movie-theater-blames-christopher-nolan-748866|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Kilkenny">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/why-interstellars-organ-needs-to-be-so-loud/382619/|title=Why Interstellar's Organ Needs to Be So Loud|last=Kilkenny|first=Katie|date=November 11, 2014|work=[[The Atlantic]]|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201043509/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/why-interstellars-organ-needs-to-be-so-loud/382619/|archive-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Giardina-Jun2014">{{cite journal | last=Giardina | first=Carolyn | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/vfx-shakeup-prime-focus-world-714852 | title=VFX Shakeup: Prime Focus World, Double Negative to Merge | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=June 25, 2014 | access-date=June 26, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704080415/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/vfx-shakeup-prime-focus-world-714852 | archive-date=July 4, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="VFXshots">{{cite web | url=http://www.studiodaily.com/2015/02/oscar-nominated-vfx-supervisor-paul-j-franklin-interstellar/ | title=Oscar-Nominated VFX Supervisor Paul J. Franklin on Interstellar | first=Barbara | last=Robertson | work=Studio Daily | date=February 11, 2015 | access-date=February 12, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212084201/http://www.studiodaily.com/2015/02/oscar-nominated-vfx-supervisor-paul-j-franklin-interstellar/ | archive-date=February 12, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="EmanuelLevy-Oct2014">{{cite web | url=http://emanuellevy.com/comment/interstellar-creating-the-various-aircrafts/ | title=Interstellar: Creating the Various {{sic|nolink=y|Aircrafts}} | work=Emanuellevy.com | first=Emanuel | last=Levy | date=October 27, 2014 | access-date=November 5, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105025215/http://emanuellevy.com/comment/interstellar-creating-the-various-aircrafts/ | archive-date=November 5, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="EW-Apr2013">{{cite magazine | last=Jensen | first=Jeff | url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/04/06/room-237-stanley-kubrick-shining-influence/ | title=To 'Room 237' and Beyond: Exploring Stanley Kubrick's 'Shining' influence with Christopher Nolan, Edgar Wright, more | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | date=April 6, 2013 | access-date=October 16, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020223634/http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/04/06/room-237-stanley-kubrick-shining-influence/ | archive-date=October 20, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Empire-Oct2014">{{cite journal | last=Jolin | first=Dan | url=https://www.empireonline.com/features/five-films-to-watch-before-interstellar/ | title=Five Films You Should See Before Interstellar | journal=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] | date=October 9, 2014 | access-date=October 16, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017140932/http://www.empireonline.com/features/five-films-to-watch-before-interstellar | archive-date=October 17, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Mueller-Oct2014">{{cite web | last=Mueller | first=Matt | url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/interstellar-q-a-nolan-set-out-to-make-modern-day-close-encounters-20141029 | title='Interstellar' Q & A: Nolan Set Out To Make Modern-Day 'Close Encounters' | series=Thompson on Hollywood | website=[[IndieWire]] | date=October 29, 2014 | access-date=October 31, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031170404/http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/interstellar-q-a-nolan-set-out-to-make-modern-day-close-encounters-20141029 | archive-date=October 31, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Jensen-Oct2014">{{cite magazine | last=Jensen | first=Jeff | url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/10/15/this-weeks-cover-your-exclusive-all-access-pass-to-christopher-nolans-interstellar/ | title=This week's cover: Your exclusive all-access pass to Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | date=October 15, 2014 | access-date=October 19, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019142018/http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/10/15/this-weeks-cover-your-exclusive-all-access-pass-to-christopher-nolans-interstellar/ | archive-date=October 19, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Space-Nov2014">{{cite web | url=http://www.space.com/27742-interstellar-imax-featurette-exclusive.html | title='Interstellar' in IMAX: Christopher Nolan's Lessons on Space Film-making (Exclusive) | website=[[Space.com]] | first=Calla | last=Cofield | date=November 12, 2014 | access-date=January 22, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119100705/http://www.space.com/27742-interstellar-imax-featurette-exclusive.html | archive-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="ThorneWormhole">{{cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/final-interstellar-trailer/|title=New 'Interstellar' Trailer Goes Deep; Plus Kip Thorne Featurette|first=Russ|last=Fischer|date=October 1, 2014|website=[[/Film]]|access-date=October 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005045759/http://www.slashfilm.com/final-interstellar-trailer/|archive-date=October 5, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="NPR-Nov2014">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/11/07/362351960/christopher-nolan-on-blending-reality-into-fantasy-in-interstellar|title=For Christopher Nolan, Making 'Interstellar' Was A Childhood Dream |publisher=[[NPR]]|date=November 7, 2014|access-date=December 31, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221123402/http://www.npr.org/2014/11/07/362351960/christopher-nolan-on-blending-reality-into-fantasy-in-interstellar|archive-date=February 21, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="MotherJones-Nov2014">{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/11/interstellar-movie-science-david-grinspoon-inquiring-minds |title=What's Wrong With the Science of "Interstellar"? |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=November 12, 2014 |first=David |last=Corn |access-date=November 18, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141118033640/https://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/11/interstellar-movie-science-david-grinspoon-inquiring-minds |archive-date=November 18, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Gray">{{cite web|last1=Gray|first1=Sarah|title=Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the science behind the ending of "Interstellar."|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/neil_degrasse_tyson_explain_the_science_behind_the_ending_of_interstellar/|website=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|date=November 19, 2014|access-date=December 13, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215115903/http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/neil_degrasse_tyson_explain_the_science_behind_the_ending_of_interstellar/|archive-date=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Mashable">{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2014/11/08/science-of-interstellar/|title=Why scientists are in a love-hate relationship with 'Interstellar'|website=[[Mashable]]|first=Christina|last=Warren|date=November 9, 2014|access-date=December 31, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227151929/http://mashable.com/2014/11/08/science-of-interstellar/|archive-date=December 27, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="IOP-Feb2015">{{cite journal |last1=James |first1=Oliver |last2=von Tunzelmann |first2=Eugénie |last3=Franklin |first3=Paul |last4=Thorne |first4=Kip S |date=February 13, 2015 |title=Gravitational lensing by spinning black holes in astrophysics, and in the movie ''Interstellar'' |journal=Classical and Quantum Gravity |volume=32 |issue=6 |page=47 |doi=10.1088/0264-9381/32/6/065001 |arxiv=1502.03808 |bibcode=2015CQGra..32f5001J |s2cid=3415942}}</ref>

<ref name="AJP-Jun2015">{{cite journal | last1 = James | first1 = Oliver | last2 = von Tunzelmann | first2 = Eugénie | last3 = Franklin | first3 = Paul | last4 = Thorne | first4 = Kip S | date = June 2015 | title = Visualizing ''Interstellar''{{'}}s Wormhole | journal = American Journal of Physics | publisher = AIP Publishing | volume = 83 | issue = 6 | page = 486 | bibcode = 2015AmJPh..83..486J | doi = 10.1119/1.4916949 | arxiv = 1502.03809 | s2cid = 37645924}}</ref>

<ref name="ACM-Jul2015">{{cite conference |url=http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2792510 |title=Building Interstellar's black hole: the gravitational renderer |first1=Oliver |last1=James |first2=Sylvan |last2=Dieckmann |first3=Simon |last3=Pabst |first4=Paul-George H. |last4=Roberts |first5=Kip S. |last5=Thorne |date=July 31, 2015 |conference=SIGGRAPH |conference-url=http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2775280&picked=prox&CFID=668123571&CFTOKEN=37188720 |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |doi=10.1145/2775280.2792510 |access-date=May 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119062519/https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2792510 |archive-date=November 19, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="NewScientist-Feb2015">{{cite news|last1=Aron|first1=Jacob|title=Interstellar's true black hole too confusing|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26966-interstellars-true-black-hole-too-confusing/|access-date=August 1, 2015|work=[[New Scientist]]|date=February 13, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823085757/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26966-interstellars-true-black-hole-too-confusing|archive-date=August 23, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Wall-Nov2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/27701-interstellar-movie-science-black-holes.html|title=The Science of 'Interstellar': Black Holes, Wormholes and Space Travel|website=[[Space.com]]|first=Mike|last=Wall|date=November 10, 2014|access-date=December 31, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110154219/http://www.space.com/27701-interstellar-movie-science-black-holes.html|archive-date=January 10, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="InsideScience-Nov2015">{{cite web|url=http://www.insidescience.org/blog/2014/11/14/were-online-critics-too-harsh-interstellars-science|title=Were Online Critics Too Harsh With Interstellar's Science?|work=Inside Science|first=Ben|last=P. Stein|date=November 14, 2015|access-date=December 31, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116205945/https://www.insidescience.org/blog/2014/11/14/were-online-critics-too-harsh-interstellars-science|archive-date=January 16, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="FX-Jan2016">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.futura-sciences.com/e-luminet/2016/01/16/warped-science-interstellar-46-time-dilation-penrose-process/|title=The Warped Science of Interstellar (4/6): Time dilation and Penrose process|first=Jean-Pierre|last=Luminet|date=January 16, 2016 |website=Futura-Sciences.com |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501224716/http://blogs.futura-sciences.com/e-luminet/2016/01/16/warped-science-interstellar-46-time-dilation-penrose-process/|archive-date=May 1, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="McIntyre-Dec2013">{{cite news | last=McIntyre | first=Gina | url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/interstellar-trailer-mcconaughey-ponders-space-travel-human-spirit/ | title='Interstellar' trailer: McConaughey ponders space travel, human spirit | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=December 14, 2013 | access-date=May 27, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520184540/http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/interstellar-trailer-mcconaughey-ponders-space-travel-human-spirit/ | archive-date=May 20, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="TheHollywoodReporter-May2014">{{cite journal | last=Lewis | first=Andy | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/trailer-report-interstellar-soars-195-706682 | title=Trailer Report: 'Interstellar' Soars With 19.5 Million Views in First Week | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=May 23, 2014 | access-date=May 27, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525225325/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/trailer-report-interstellar-soars-195-706682 | archive-date=May 25, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="McMillan-Jul2014">{{cite journal | last=McMillan | first=Graeme | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/interstellar-website-invites-users-look-722316 | title='Interstellar' Website Invites Users to Look Around and Find Answers | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=July 30, 2014 | access-date=July 30, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802204542/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/interstellar-website-invites-users-look-722316 | archive-date=August 2, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="sneider">{{cite news | last=Sneider | first=Jeff | url=https://www.thewrap.com/christopher-nolans-interstellar-at-center-of-unique-google-deal/ | title=Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' at Center of Unique Google Deal | work=[[TheWrap]] | date=October 3, 2014 | access-date=October 24, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105160134/http://www.thewrap.com/christopher-nolans-interstellar-at-center-of-unique-google-deal/ | archive-date=November 5, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="jarvey">{{cite journal | last=Jarvey | first=Natalie | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/google-promotes-christopher-nolans-interstellar-738067 | title=Google Promotes Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' With Interactive Digital Hub | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=October 3, 2014 | access-date=October 4, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006034334/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/google-promotes-christopher-nolans-interstellar-738067 | archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Wired-Sep2014">{{cite news | last=Watercutter | first=Angela | url=https://www.wired.com/2014/09/interstellar-app/ | title=Explore Black Holes and Destroy Planets in the Awesome New ''Interstellar'' Game | magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | date=September 18, 2014 | access-date=September 19, 2014 | url-access=limited | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921002906/http://www.wired.com/2014/09/interstellar-app | archive-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="/Film-Oct2014">{{cite web | last=Lussier | first=Germain | url=https://www.slashfilm.com/interstellar-oculus-rift-experience-coming-select-theaters/ | title='Interstellar' Oculus Rift Experience Coming To Select Theaters | website=[[/Film]] | date=October 3, 2014 | access-date=October 4, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005050640/http://www.slashfilm.com/interstellar-oculus-rift-experience-coming-select-theaters/ | archive-date=October 5, 2014 | url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="InterstellarMovie.com">{{cite web | url=http://www.interstellarmovie.com/vrexperience/ | title=Interstellar: Oculus Rift Immersive Experience | work=interstellarmovie.com | publisher=[[Paramount Pictures]] | access-date=October 24, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023162556/http://www.interstellarmovie.com/vrexperience/ | archive-date=October 23, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Space-May2014">{{cite web | last=Kramer | first=Miriam | url=http://www.space.com/25855-interstellar-movie-book-behind-scenes.html | title=New 'Interstellar' Book Will Go Behind the Scenes of Sci-Fi Film | website=[[Space.com]] | date=May 13, 2014 | access-date=July 11, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714125439/http://www.space.com/25855-interstellar-movie-book-behind-scenes.html | archive-date=July 14, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Yahoo-Sep2014">{{cite news | author=Staff | url=https://news.yahoo.com/science-adviser-interstellar-writing-book-211122545.html | title=Science adviser to 'Interstellar' writing book | work=[[Yahoo! News]] | agency=[[Associated Press]] | date=September 17, 2014 | access-date=September 29, 2014 | archive-date=September 29, 2014 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20140929195256/https://news.yahoo.com/science-adviser-interstellar-writing-book-211122545.html }}</ref>

<ref name="Keyes-Nov2014">{{cite book|last=Keyes|first=Greg|date=November 11, 2014|title=Interstellar: The Official Movie Novelization|publisher=[[Titan Books]]|isbn=978-1-78329-369-8}}</ref>

<ref name="Nolan-Murphy-Nov2014">{{cite magazine|last1=Nolan|first1=Christopher|first2=Sean Gordon|last2=Murphy|date=November 18, 2014|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/11/absolute-zero/|title=Revealed: The Lost Chapter of Interstellar|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|access-date=November 18, 2014|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141118180030/http://www.wired.com/2014/11/absolute-zero/|archive-date=November 18, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="PrivateScreening">{{cite web|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/christopher-nolans-interstellar-gets-two-big-endorsements|title=Christopher Nolan's Interstellar gets two big endorsements|date=October 21, 2014|first=Don|last=Kaye|website=Syfy Wire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022639/http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/christopher-nolans-interstellar-gets-two-big-endorsements|archive-date=November 12, 2020|url-status=live|access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref>

<ref name="PrivateScreeningNotes">{{cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a33637413/watching-christopher-nolan-interstellar-in-movie-theaters/|url-access=limited|title=Watching ''Interstellar'' Was the Greatest Movie Theater Experience of My Life|date=August 19, 2020|first=Dom|last=Nero|website=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304175424/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a33637413/watching-christopher-nolan-interstellar-in-movie-theaters/|archive-date=March 4, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref>

<ref name="waxman">{{cite news | last=Waxman | first=Sharon | url=https://www.thewrap.com/christopher-nolans-interstellar-explodes-at-intimate-first-look-screening/ | title=Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Explodes at Intimate, First-Look Screening | work=[[TheWrap]] | date=October 23, 2014 | access-date=October 24, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023153129/http://www.thewrap.com/christopher-nolans-interstellar-explodes-at-intimate-first-look-screening/ | archive-date=October 23, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Whipp-Oct2014">{{cite news | last=Whipp | first=Glenn | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/goldstandard/la-et-mn-interstellar-first-screening-20141023-column.html | title='Interstellar' makes some noise at Hollywood coming-out party | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=October 24, 2014 | access-date=October 24, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026060821/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/goldstandard/la-et-mn-interstellar-first-screening-20141023-column.html | archive-date=October 26, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="ford">{{cite journal | last=Ford | first=Rebecca | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/interstellar-premiere-christopher-nolans-love-744070 | title='Interstellar' Premiere: Christopher Nolan's 'Love Letter' Takes Flight | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=October 26, 2014 | access-date=October 27, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029003038/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/interstellar-premiere-christopher-nolans-love-744070 | archive-date=October 29, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Vlessing-Oct2014">{{cite journal | last=Vlessing | first=Etan | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/christopher-nolans-interstellar-gets-advance-737166 | title=Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Gets Advance Screenings in Film Formats | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=October 1, 2014 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007104652/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/christopher-nolans-interstellar-gets-advance-737166 | archive-date=October 7, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="WB">{{cite web | url=http://wwws.ww.warnerbros.com/interstellar/releasedates/ | title=Interstellar Movie 2014 – Worldwide Release Dates |website=warnerbros.com | publisher=[[Warner Bros. Pictures]] | access-date=September 11, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016191339/http://wwws.ww.warnerbros.com/interstellar/releasedates/ | archive-date=October 16, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="mcclintock20141001">{{cite journal | last=McClintock | first=Pamela | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-christopher-nolans-crusade-save-737191 | title=How Christopher Nolan's Crusade to Save Film is Working | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=October 1, 2014 | access-date=October 1, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004033018/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-christopher-nolans-crusade-save-737191 | archive-date=October 4, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Guardian-Oct2014">{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/24/interstellar-christopher-nolan-imax-rollout-anticipated | title = Interstellar wins celebrity raves as widest-ever IMAX rollout anticipated | first = Ben | last = Child | work = [[The Guardian]] | date = October 24, 2014 | access-date = October 24, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141024103513/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/24/interstellar-christopher-nolan-imax-rollout-anticipated | archive-date = October 24, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="HR-Oct2014">{{cite journal | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/786501 | title = Imax Plans Biggest-Ever Theatrical Release For Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' | first = Etan | last = Vlessing | journal = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = October 23, 2014 | access-date = October 24, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Sommerlath">{{cite web|url=https://www.imax.com/corporate/press-releases/ |title=Universal Pictures' Furious 7 Poised To Ignite Worldwide Box Office With Widest-Ever Global IMAX® Release Beginning April 1 (Press Release) |first=Ann |last=Sommerlath |website=imax.com |publisher=[[IMAX Corporation]] |access-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317210910/https://www.imax.com/corporate/press-releases/ |archive-date=March 17, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="LATimes-Jan2014">{{cite news | last=Verrier | first=Richard | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-paramount-pictures-digital-20140128,0,276668.story | title=Paramount Pictures to make some exceptions to all-digital policy | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=January 28, 2014 | access-date=January 28, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128201747/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-paramount-pictures-digital-20140128,0,276668.story | archive-date=January 28, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="McNary-Lang-Oct2014">{{cite journal | last1=McNary | first1=Dave | last2=Lang | first2=Brent | author-link1=Dave McNary | url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/christopher-nolans-interstellar-imax-nov-5-1201318411/ | title=Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Launching Early in Imax | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=October 1, 2014 | access-date=October 2, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003145948/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/christopher-nolans-interstellar-imax-nov-5-1201318411/ | archive-date=October 3, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="McClintock-Oct2014">{{cite journal | last=McClintock | first=Pamela | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-theater-owners-arent-happy-737661 | title=Why Theater Owners Aren't Happy About Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Film Initiative | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=October 2, 2014 | access-date=October 2, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002221144/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-theater-owners-arent-happy-737661 | archive-date=October 2, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Space.com-Feb2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/28454-interstellar-blu-ray-release-date.html |title=Epic ''Interstellar'' Blu-Ray Edition Launches Into Stores March 31 |website=[[Space.com]] |first=Mike |last=Wall |date=February 4, 2015 |access-date=February 10, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210172012/http://www.space.com/28454-interstellar-blu-ray-release-date.html |archive-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Variety-Apr2015">{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2015/digital/news/interstellar-space-thriller-tops-home-video-charts-1201469624/|title='Interstellar' Space Thriller Tops Home-Video Charts|first=John|last=Latchem|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 9, 2015|access-date=April 10, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412220701/http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/interstellar-space-thriller-tops-home-video-charts-1201469624/|archive-date=April 12, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Arnold-Apr2015">{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/holdovers-interstellar-the-hobbit-top-slow-home-video-sales-chart-1201473462/|title=Holdovers 'Interstellar,' 'The Hobbit' Top Slow Home Video Sales Chart|first=Thomas K.|last=Arnold|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 15, 2015|access-date=April 16, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419023517/http://variety.com/2015/film/news/holdovers-interstellar-the-hobbit-top-slow-home-video-sales-chart-1201473462/|archive-date=April 19, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="ABC-Dec2015">{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-29/interstellar-the-most-pirated-movie-of-2015/7057848|title=Interstellar takes out most pirated movie of 2015, downloaded nearly 47 million times|work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|access-date=February 16, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202021838/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-29/interstellar-the-most-pirated-movie-of-2015/7057848|archive-date=February 2, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="Deadline.com-Mar2015">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/03/interstellar-profit-box-office-2014-1201389442/|title=No. 20 'Interstellar' – 2014 Most Valuable Movie Blockbuster Tournament|last=Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=March 10, 2015|access-date=March 21, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321172755/http://deadline.com/2015/03/interstellar-profit-box-office-2014-1201389442/|archive-date=March 21, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="IMAX">{{cite web|url=https://www.imax.com/corporate/press-releases/ |title=Interstellar Scores Record Global Launch In IMAX® With $20.5 Million Opening Weekend (Press Release) |website=imax.com |publisher=[[IMAX Corporation]] |access-date=January 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007232315/https://www.imax.com/corporate/press-releases/ |archive-date=October 7, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="BoxOfficeMojo">{{cite web | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/worldwideopenings.htm | title = Worldwide Openings | website= [[Box Office Mojo]] | access-date = November 27, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110623165250/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/worldwideopenings.htm|archive-date=June 23, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="BoxOfficeMojo.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2014|title=2014 Worldwide Grosses|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=December 1, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125172304/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2014|archive-date=November 25, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="THR-Dec2015">{{cite news | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-interstellar-rockets-past-758054 | title = Box Office: 'Interstellar' Rockets Past $100 Million Worldwide in Imax Theaters | first = Rebecca | last = Ford | work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = December 15, 2014 | access-date = December 16, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150205184719/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-interstellar-rockets-past-758054 | archive-date = February 5, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="DaveMcNary">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/interstellar-imax-box-office-100-million-1201380205/ | title = 'Interstellar' Tops $100 Million in Imax Box Office | first = Dave | last = McNary | author-link= Dave McNary | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = December 15, 2014 | access-date = December 16, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141216040254/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/interstellar-imax-box-office-100-million-1201380205/ | archive-date = December 16, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Forbes-Jul2014">{{cite news | url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/02/07/gravity-passes-100m-worldwide-in-imax/ | title = 'Gravity' Passes $100M In IMAX | first = Scott | last = Mendelson | work = [[Forbes]] | date = July 2, 2014 | access-date = December 16, 2014 | url-access=limited | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141216170439/http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/02/07/gravity-passes-100m-worldwide-in-imax/ | archive-date = December 16, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="TheGuardian-Nov2014">{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/nov/11/interstellar-uk-box-office-christopher-nolan-mr-turner | title = Interstellar goes into orbit at UK box office with Mr Turner rising fast | first = Charles | last = Gant | work = [[The Guardian]] | date = November 11, 2014 | access-date = November 12, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160911183443/https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/nov/11/interstellar-uk-box-office-christopher-nolan-mr-turner | archive-date = September 11, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="Anita Busch">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-international-box-office-results-1201277313/ | title = 'Interstellar' Ahead Of 'Gravity' In Opening Bow – International B.O. | first = Anita | last = Busch | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 7, 2014 | access-date = November 8, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141108014330/http://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-international-box-office-results-1201277313/ | archive-date = November 8, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="D'Alessandro-Tartaglione">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellars-80m-overseas-opening-is-alright-alright-alright-international-b-o-1201279558/ | title = 'Interstellar' Lifts Off With $82.9M Overseas Open: International B.O. Final | first1 = Anthony | last1 = D'Alessandro | first2 = Nancy | last2 = Tartaglione | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 10, 2014 | access-date = November 11, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111010823/http://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellars-80m-overseas-opening-is-alright-alright-alright-international-b-o-1201279558/ | archive-date = November 11, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="VarietyIMAX">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/interstellar-global-box-office-1201351875/ | title = 'Interstellar' Tops Global Box Office with $132 Million Haul | first = Brent | last = Lang | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = November 9, 2014 | access-date = November 10, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141110131559/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/interstellar-global-box-office-1201351875/ | archive-date = November 10, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Shoard-Nov2014">{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/10/interstellar-box-office-big-hero-6 | title = Interstellar dominates global box office but Big Hero 6 wins in US | first = Catherine | last = Shoard | work = [[The Guardian]] | date = November 10, 2014 | access-date = November 11, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111021351/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/10/interstellar-box-office-big-hero-6 | archive-date = November 11, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Subers-Nov2014">{{cite news | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3957&p=.htm | title = Around-the-World Roundup: 'Interstellar' Opens to $82.9 Million Overseas | first = Ray | last = Subers | website= [[Box Office Mojo]] | date = November 9, 2014 | access-date = November 11, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111005354/http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3957&p=.htm | archive-date = November 11, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="TheHollywoodReporter.com">{{cite news | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/837368 | title = Global Box Office: Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Breaks Records in China | first = Pamela | last = McClintock | work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = November 12, 2014 | access-date = November 14, 2014 | archive-date = January 14, 2016 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20160114230159/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/837368 | url-status = live }}</ref>

<ref name="Tartaglione-Nov2014">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-china-record-christopher-nolan-international-box-office-1201284038/ | title = 'Interstellar' Blasts Off Hot In China As 'Penguins' Rev Engines: Int'l Box Office | first = Nancy | last = Tartaglione | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 13, 2014 | access-date = November 14, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141117014450/http://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-china-record-christopher-nolan-international-box-office-1201284038/ | archive-date = November 17, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Frater">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/china-box-office-interstellar-on-fast-track-1201358955/ | title = China Box Office: 'Interstellar' on Fast Track | first = Patrick | last = Frater | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = November 17, 2014 | access-date = November 19, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141121112939/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/china-box-office-interstellar-on-fast-track-1201358955/ | archive-date = November 21, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Deadline1">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/international-box-office-mockingjay-part-1-interstellar-first-weekend-results-1201293926/ | title = Katniss Hot With $154.3M, 'Interstellar' Logs $330.6M: Int'l B.O. – Update | first = Nancy | last = Tartaglione | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 24, 2014 | access-date = November 27, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141126065720/http://deadline.com/2014/11/international-box-office-mockingjay-part-1-interstellar-first-weekend-results-1201293926/ | archive-date = November 26, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="1China">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/international-box-office-interstellar-penguins-of-madagascar-china-dumb-and-dumber-to-big-hero-6-1201286020/ | title = 'Interstellar' Blasts Past $200M With $42M China Lift-Off: International Box Office | first = Nancy | last = Tartaglione | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 16, 2014 | access-date = November 17, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141118012711/http://deadline.com/2014/11/international-box-office-interstellar-penguins-of-madagascar-china-dumb-and-dumber-to-big-hero-6-1201286020/ | archive-date = November 18, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="China">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2015/01/international-box-office-hobbit-five-armies-china-american-sniper-record-eastwood-mortdecai-boy-next-door-results-1201358036/ | title = 'Hobbit' Storms China; 'Sniper' Takes Out More Records: International Box Office | first = Nancy | last = Tartaglione | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = January 25, 2015 | access-date = January 26, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150127193802/http://deadline.com/2015/01/international-box-office-hobbit-five-armies-china-american-sniper-record-eastwood-mortdecai-boy-next-door-results-1201358036/ | archive-date = January 27, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="PacificRim">{{cite news | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/826175 | title = Global Box Office: 'Interstellar' Rockets Past $300M Worldwide | first = Pamela | last = McClintock | work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = November 16, 2014 | access-date = November 17, 2014 | archive-date = January 14, 2016 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20160114230201/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/826175 | url-status = live }}</ref>

<ref name="McClintock">{{cite news | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/88910 | title = 'Pacific Rim' Scores Massive $45.2 Million China Debut | first = Pamela | last = McClintock | work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = August 4, 2013 | access-date = November 17, 2014 | archive-date = January 14, 2016 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20160114230200/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/88910 | url-status = live }}</ref>

<ref name="Hyo-won">{{cite news | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/874647 | title = South Korean Box Office: 'Exodus' Debuts in First, 'Interstellar' Becomes Third Best Foreign Film Ever | first = Lee | last = Hyo-won | work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = December 8, 2014 | access-date = December 9, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Brent Lang">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/hobbit-battle-of-five-armies-rules-foreign-box-office-with-117-6-million-1201379265/ | title = 'Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies' Rules Foreign Box Office With $117.6 Million | first = Brent | last = Lang | journal = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = December 14, 2014 | access-date = December 15, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141216035637/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/hobbit-battle-of-five-armies-rules-foreign-box-office-with-117-6-million-1201379265/ | archive-date = December 16, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Deadline">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/12/international-box-office-hobbit-battle-of-the-five-armies-debut-imax-record-exodus-results-1201324558/ | title = Footloose 'Hobbit' Grows; 'Mockingjay' Tempers 'Fire': Intl Box Office Final | first = Nancy | last = Tartaglione | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = December 14, 2014 | access-date = December 15, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141215032727/http://deadline.com/2014/12/international-box-office-hobbit-battle-of-the-five-armies-debut-imax-record-exodus-results-1201324558/ | archive-date = December 15, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="BOM.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=interstellar.htm|title=Interstellar (2014) — International Box Office|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=March 30, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329030507/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=interstellar.htm|archive-date=March 29, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Forbes.com">{{cite news | url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/10/27/review-interstellar-gets-lost-in-space/ | title = Review: 'Interstellar' Gets Lost In Space | first = Scott | last = Mendelson | work = [[Forbes]] | date = October 27, 2014 | access-date = October 27, 2014 | url-access=limited | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141027191040/http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/10/27/review-interstellar-gets-lost-in-space/ | archive-date = October 27, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="BOM1">{{cite web | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic/never1.htm | title = Top Grossing Movies That Never Hit #1, The Top 5 Or Top 10*(1982–Present) | website= [[Box Office Mojo]] | access-date = December 31, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141231172840/http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic/never1.htm | archive-date = December 31, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="WB.">{{cite web | url = http://wwws.ww.warnerbros.com/interstellar/releasedates/ | title = Worldwide Release Dates |website=warnerbros.com | publisher= [[Warner Bros.]] | access-date = November 7, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141016191339/http://wwws.ww.warnerbros.com/interstellar/releasedates/ | archive-date = October 16, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Nov2014-Deadline">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-big-hero-6-box-office-1201274335/ | title = 'Interstellar' Reports Grosses Before Weekend Showdown Against 'Big Hero 6' | first = Anita | last = Busch | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 6, 2014 | access-date = November 7, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141106065800/http://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-big-hero-6-box-office-1201274335/ | archive-date = November 6, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Busch">{{cite news | url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/06/wednesday-box-office-chris-nolans-interstellar-earns-1-4m-in-limited-release/ | title = Box Office: Chris Nolan's 'Interstellar' Earns $1.35M Wednesday | first = Scott | last = Mendelson | work = [[Forbes]] | date = November 6, 2014 | access-date = November 7, 2014 | url-access=limited | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141107081050/http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/06/wednesday-box-office-chris-nolans-interstellar-earns-1-4m-in-limited-release/ | archive-date = November 7, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="AnitaBusch-Deadline">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-big-hero-6-box-office-1201274335/b | title = 'Interstellar' & 'Big Hero 6' Off To Strong Box Office Starts – Thursday B.O. | first = Anita | last = Busch | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 7, 2014 | access-date = November 8, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141108023444/http://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-big-hero-6-box-office-1201274335/b/ | archive-date = November 8, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Forbes-Mendelson">{{cite news | url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/07/box-office-interstellar-nabs-3-5m-thursday/ | title = Box Office: 'Interstellar' Nabs $3.5M Thursday, Has $4.9M Heading Into Weekend | first = Scott | last = Mendelson | work = [[Forbes]] | date = November 7, 2014 | access-date = November 8, 2014 | url-access=limited | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141107220446/http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/07/box-office-interstellar-nabs-3-5m-thursday/ | archive-date = November 7, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="VarietyMagazine">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-big-hero-6-1-4-million-thursday-previews-1201350585/ | title = Box Office: 'Interstellar,' 'Big Hero 6' Soar in Thursday Previews | first = Dave | last = MacNary | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = November 7, 2014 | access-date = November 8, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141110013013/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-big-hero-6-1-4-million-thursday-previews-1201350585/ | archive-date = November 10, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="VarietyMag">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/interstellar-tops-friday-box-office-big-hero-6-weekend-win-1201351282/ | title = 'Interstellar' Tops Friday Box Office, 'Big Hero 6' Skyrocketing to Weekend Win of $56 Million | first = Maane | last = Khatchatourian | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = November 8, 2014 | access-date = November 9, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141110131629/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/interstellar-tops-friday-box-office-big-hero-6-weekend-win-1201351282/ | archive-date = November 10, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Bowles-Busch">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-big-hero-6-box-office-1201274335/ | title = 'Big Hero 6' Wins B.O. As 'Interstellar' Takes Second; Monday Returns | first1 = Scott | last1 = Bowles | first2 = Anita | last2 = Busch | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 10, 2014 | access-date = November 13, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111005549/http://deadline.com/2014/11/interstellar-big-hero-6-box-office-1201274335/ | archive-date = November 11, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="BOX">{{cite news | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3956&p=.htm | title = Weekend Report: Disney's 'Big Hero 6' Eclipses Nolan's 'Interstellar' | first = Ray | last = Subers | website= [[Box Office Mojo]] | date = November 9, 2014 | access-date = November 11, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160609172651/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3956&p=.htm | archive-date = June 9, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="Mendelson-Nov2014">{{cite news | url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/09/box-office-big-hero-6-tops-interstellar-with-56-2m-weekend/ | title = Box Office: 'Big Hero 6' Tops 'Interstellar' With $56.2M Weekend | first = Scott | last = Mendelson | work = [[Forbes]] | date = November 9, 2014 | access-date = November 10, 2014 | url-access=limited | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141110054931/http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/09/box-office-big-hero-6-tops-interstellar-with-56-2m-weekend/ | archive-date = November 10, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="PamelaMcClintock">{{cite news | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/822558 | title = Final Box Office: 'Interstellar' Falls Short of $50M Launch Hollywood Reporter | first = Pamela | last = McClintock | work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = November 10, 2014 | access-date = November 11, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="ScottMendelson-Nov2014">{{cite news | url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/16/box-office-dumb-and-dumber-to-scores-38-1m-weekend/ | title = Box Office: 'Dumb And Dumber To' Scores $38.1M Weekend, 'Interstellar' Tops $320M Global | first = Scott | last = Mendelson | work = [[Forbes]] | date = November 16, 2014 | access-date = November 17, 2014 | url-access=limited | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141117032951/http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/11/16/box-office-dumb-and-dumber-to-scores-38-1m-weekend/ | archive-date = November 17, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Pamela">{{cite news | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/845630 | title = Box Office: 'Dumb and Dumber To' Laughs Past 'Big Hero 6' With $38.1M | first = Pamela | last = McClintock | work = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date = November 16, 2014 | access-date = November 17, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="LangBrent-Variety">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-dumb-and-dumber-to-on-top-with-38-million-1201357746/ | title = Box Office: 'Dumb and Dumber To' On Top With $38.1 Million | first = Brent | last = Lang | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = November 16, 2014 | access-date = November 17, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141116201842/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-dumb-and-dumber-to-on-top-with-38-million-1201357746/ | archive-date = November 16, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Deadline-ScottBowles">{{cite web | url = https://deadline.com/2014/11/dumb-and-dumber-big-hero-6-interstellar-box-office-1201285987/ | title = 'Dumb and Dumber To' Graduating Box Office Money Cum Laude | first = Scott | last = Bowles | website= [[Deadline Hollywood]] | date = November 16, 2014 | access-date = November 17, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141118013737/http://deadline.com/2014/11/dumb-and-dumber-big-hero-6-interstellar-box-office-1201285987/ | archive-date = November 18, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="BrentMagazine">{{cite news | url = https://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-1-scores-years-biggest-opening-with-123-million-1201362980/ | title = Box Office: 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1' Scores Year's Biggest Opening With $123 Million | first = Brent | last = Lang | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = November 23, 2014 | access-date = November 24, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141125034204/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-1-scores-years-biggest-opening-with-123-million-1201362980/ | archive-date = November 25, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="RT">{{Cite Rotten Tomatoes|id=interstellar_2014|type=m|title=Interstellar|access-date=September 14, 2021}}</ref>

<ref name="MC">{{Cite Metacritic|id=interstellar|type=movie|title=Interstellar|access-date=September 14, 2021}}</ref>

<ref name="CS">{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= Cinemascore |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= December 20, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Varietyrev">{{cite journal | last=Foundas | first=Scott | url=https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-interstellar-1201338475/ | title=Film Review: 'Interstellar' | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=October 27, 2014 | access-date=October 27, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029234605/http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-interstellar-1201338475/ | archive-date=October 29, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="USAToday">{{cite journal | last=Puig | first=Claudia |author-link=Claudia Puig | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/10/27/interstellar-review/18018445/ | title='Interstellar': Sci-fi saga gets lost in space | journal=[[USA Today]] | date=October 27, 2014 | access-date=October 29, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029013839/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/10/27/interstellar-review/18018445/ | archive-date=October 29, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="ABC.net.au">{{cite news | url=http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s4120221.htm | title=Interstellar | work=[[At the Movies (Australian TV series)|At the Movies]] | publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] | date=November 4, 2014 | access-date=November 5, 2014 | archive-date=November 5, 2014 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20141105082704/http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s4120221.htm }}</ref>

<ref name="Barnes-Oct2014">{{cite news | last=Barnes | first=Henry | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/interstellar-first-look-review-matthew-mcconoughey | title=Interstellar review: McConaughey v the whole wide world | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=October 28, 2014 | access-date=October 31, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030223607/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/interstellar-first-look-review-matthew-mcconoughey | archive-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Gettell">{{cite news | last=Gettell | first=Oliver | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-interstellar-movie-reviews-critics-20141105-story.html | title='Interstellar' is an ambitious, imperfect sci-fi epic, reviews say | url-access=limited | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=November 5, 2014 | access-date=November 6, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108052023/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-interstellar-movie-reviews-critics-20141105-story.html | archive-date=November 8, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Dyer">{{cite journal | last=Dyer | first=James | url=https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=138121 | title=Interstellar: Star Trek Into Greatness | journal=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] | date=October 28, 2014 | access-date=October 29, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211040308/http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=138121 | archive-date=February 11, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Calhoun">{{cite journal | last=Calhoun | first=Dave | url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/interstellar | title=Interstellar | journal=[[Time Out London]] | date=October 27, 2014 | access-date=October 29, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029163530/http://www.timeout.com/london/film/interstellar | archive-date=October 29, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Roeper">{{cite journal | last=Roeper | first=Richard | url=http://entertainment.suntimes.com/movies/interstellar-epic-beauty-effects-ideas/ | title='Interstellar': Epic Beauty In Its Effects and Its Ideas | journal=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date=November 4, 2014 | access-date=November 4, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104175241/http://entertainment.suntimes.com/movies/interstellar-epic-beauty-effects-ideas/ | archive-date=November 4, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Robey-Oct2014">{{cite journal|last=Robey|first=Tim|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11174967/Interstellar-first-look-review-close-to-a-masterpiece.html|title=Interstellar, first-look review: 'close to a masterpiece'|journal=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=October 27, 2014|access-date=October 29, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028204817/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11174967/Interstellar-first-look-review-close-to-a-masterpiece.html|archive-date=October 28, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="McCarthy">{{cite web|last=McCarthy|first=Todd|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/interstellar/review/744059|title='Interstellar': Film Review|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=October 27, 2014|access-date=October 27, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030045020/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/interstellar/review/744059|archive-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Coyle">{{cite news |last=Coyle|first=Jake|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4df741cbc5d64f68a2051c117ee5b8a0/review-interstellar-sublime-cosmic-knockout|title=Review: 'Interstellar' a sublime cosmic knockout |agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=October 30, 2014|access-date=October 31, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031231529/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4df741cbc5d64f68a2051c117ee5b8a0/review-interstellar-sublime-cosmic-knockout|archive-date=October 31, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="ForbesReview">{{cite magazine|last=Mendelson|first=Scott|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/12/26/interstellar-the-interview-and-the-most-disappointing-films-of-2014/2/|title='Interstellar,' 'The Interview,' And The Most Disappointing Films Of 2014|magazine=[[Forbes]]|date=December 26, 2014|access-date=December 29, 2014|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229131052/http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/12/26/interstellar-the-interview-and-the-most-disappointing-films-of-2014/2/|archive-date=December 29, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Seitz-Nov2014">{{cite web|last1=Seitz|first1=Matt Zoller|author-link1=Matt Zoller Seitz|title=Interstellar Movie Review & Film Summary (2014)|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/interstellar-2014 |website=Roger Ebert.com |access-date=November 23, 2017|date=November 3, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616120413/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/interstellar-2014|archive-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Brooks-NYT">{{cite news|last=Brooks|first=David|author-link=David Brooks (commentator)|title=Love and Gravity|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/opinion/david-brooks-interstellar-love-and-gravity.html|url-access=limited|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 21, 2014 |access-date=December 13, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205105243/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/opinion/david-brooks-interstellar-love-and-gravity.html|archive-date=December 5, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="la review of books">{{cite magazine|url=http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/books-space-christopher-nolans-interstellar|title=Books in Space: Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar"|first=Wai Chee|last=Dimock|date=December 25, 2014|magazine=The Los Angeles Review of Books|access-date=March 20, 2015|archive-date=December 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229234036/http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/books-space-christopher-nolans-interstellar|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="RRMartin">{{cite web |last=Martin|first=George R. R. |url=http://grrm.livejournal.com/410394.html|title=For Your Consideration: Stuff Not By Me|website=Not a Blog|date=March 8, 2015|access-date=May 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422021742/http://grrm.livejournal.com/410394.html|archive-date=April 22, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar">{{Cite web |date=February 22, 2015 |title=Oscars 2015: The Winners List |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-2015-winners-list-776233/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510092242/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-2015-winners-list-776233/ |archive-date=May 10, 2022 |access-date=March 17, 2022 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>

<ref name="interstellar.withgoogle">{{Cite web |url=https://interstellar.withgoogle.com/time-capsule |title=Emic A Time Capsule from the People of Earth |website=interstellar.withgoogle.com |access-date=February 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413223240/https://interstellar.withgoogle.com/time-capsule |archive-date=April 13, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="googleforeducation">{{Cite web |url=http://googleforeducation.blogspot.ca/2014/11/interstellar-lesson-plans-are-now.html |title=Google for Educagion Interstellar Lesson Plans are Now Available |website=googleforeducation.blogspot.ca |access-date=February 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205200847/http://googleforeducation.blogspot.ca/2014/11/interstellar-lesson-plans-are-now.html |archive-date=February 5, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="theguardian">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2014/oct/29/interstellar-european-premiere-in-pictures |title=Interstellar European premiere – in pictures |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=February 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310075449/https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2014/oct/29/interstellar-european-premiere-in-pictures |archive-date=March 10, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Lubin-Nov2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/how-hans-zimmer-wrote-the-interstellar-theme-2014-11?r=US&IR=T&IR=T|title=The Story Of How Hans Zimmer Wrote The 'Interstellar' Theme Will Give You Chills|first=Gus|last=Lubin|date=November 4, 2014|website=[[Business Insider]]|archive-date=July 19, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180719023335/http://www.businessinsider.com/how-hans-zimmer-wrote-the-interstellar-theme-2014-11?r=US&IR=T&IR=T|url-status=live|access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Jessica Chastain Steals The Show At Interstellar European Premiere">{{cite news | url= http://www.ikonlondonmagazine.com/jessica-chastain-steals-the-show-at-interstellar-world-premiere-in-london/ | title= Ikon London Magazine coverage from the London Premiere | work= Ikon London Magazine | date= October 30, 2014 | access-date= March 8, 2018 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180310011827/http://www.ikonlondonmagazine.com/jessica-chastain-steals-the-show-at-interstellar-world-premiere-in-london/ | archive-date= March 10, 2018 | url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="TomShone14">{{cite journal|last=Shone|first=Tom|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/04/-sp-christopher-nolan-interstellar-rebooted-blockbuster|title=Christopher Nolan: the man who rebooted the blockbuster|journal=The Guardian|date=November 4, 2014|access-date=July 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122014558/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/04/-sp-christopher-nolan-interstellar-rebooted-blockbuster|archive-date=January 22, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="BoxOfficeMojo-B">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=interstellar.htm&adjust_yr=1&p=.htm|title=Interstellar (2014) – Box Office Mojo|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|archive-date=December 16, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181216000139/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=interstellar.htm&adjust_yr=1&p=.htm|url-status=live|access-date=December 15, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Empire2020">{{Citation|title=The 100 Greatest Movies Of The 21st Century: 20 – 11|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movies-century-page-9/|access-date=January 17, 2020|archive-date=January 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118234847/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movies-century-page-9/|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="WiredBlackHoleInterview">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/10/astrophysics-interstellar-black-hole/|title=Video Interview for WIRED|date=2014|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818004138/http://dp8hsntg6do36.cloudfront.net/5446f00e61646d41b4130000/d9013528-b384-4abf-b3a3-236b905daaf3high.webm|archive-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref>

}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Keyes |first=Greg |date=November 11, 2014 |url=https://archive.org/details/interstellaroffi0000keye |title=Interstellar: The Official Movie Novelization |publisher=[[Titan Books]] |isbn=978-1-78329-369-8 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite web |last=MacKay |first=John |date=2014 |title=On Interstellar |url=https://www.academia.edu/9240536 |url-access=registration |via=[[Academia.edu]]}}

* {{Cite book| publisher = [[Brill Publishers]] | pages = 39–70| last = Repphun| first = Eric| chapter = Mormon Science Fiction: Tales of Interstellar Exodus and Perfection| date = 2012|doi=10.1163/9789004226487_004|title=Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production|url-access=subscription|url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004226487/B9789004226487_004.xml|isbn=978-90-04-22648-7}}

* {{cite book |last=Thorne |first=Kip |date=November 7, 2014 |title=[[The Science of Interstellar]] |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-35137-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Vaz |first=Mark Cotta |author-link=Mark Cotta Vaz |url-access=registration |date=November 11, 2014 |url=https://archive.org/details/interstellar-beyond-time-and-space-organized/ |title=Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space |publisher=[[Running Press]] |isbn=978-0-7624-5683-3}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Interstellar}}
* {{IMDb title|tt0816692}}
* {{AllMovie title|576585|Interstellar}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=2004892}}
* {{AFI film|id=70145|title=Interstellar}}

{{Christopher Nolan}}
{{Jonathan Nolan}}
{{Navboxes
|title = [[List of accolades received by Interstellar|Awards for ''Interstellar'']]
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Visual Effects}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects}}
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{{Empire Award for Best Film}}
{{Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film}}
}}
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