ABSTRACT
A person who wants to become a psychologist but, for whatever reason, must begin study for a degree later than most PhD candidates can take heart from the career of Charles Edward Spearman (1863-1945). Spearman began his formal study of psychology when he was 34 years old and did not complete his PhD until 10 years later. As this chapter will attest, one reason for his delayed entry into the field seems to be inherent in the history of Spearman’s intellectual development. Another was the happenstance of war, which interrupted his graduate study. His late start seems in no way to have hindered his brilliant career, however. He went on to become the most influential figure in British psychology in the 20th century and was one of the great originators in psychology, especially in the fields of differential psychology (the study of individual differences) and psychometrics (the measurement of mental traits). The history of these specialties could not be written without recognition of Spearman’s creative achievements. After Sir Francis Galton (chap. 1, Pioneers I) founded these fields in the second half of the 19th century, Spearman, in the first half of the 20th was their chief engineer, architect, and developer.
