ABSTRACT
Watson’s activities in science were accompanied by conflicts with several colleagues. Yet if he had had a more tranquil personality, he might have followed his father into a legal profession and not worked in science at all. When writing the biography of someone who suffered from psychological problems, the biographer might present the protagonist as eccentric and merely provide a narrative account without interpretation, or he might become an amateur psychiatrist and provide interpretations based upon limited evidence. Biographies of Isaac Newton provide examples of both approaches.
