Alfred Kinsey

:This article is about Alfred Kinsey, the 20th century biologist and human sexuality research scientist. For the 2004 movie about Alfred Kinsey, see Kinsey (movie).

Education

At the completion of high school, Kinsey approached his father with plans to study botany at college. After a short dispute, however, his father ordered him to study at Stevens Institute of Technology. Kinsey was largely unhappy at Stevens, and later remarked that his time there was one of the most wasteful periods of his life. Regardless, however, he continued his obsessive commitment to studying.

Related Topics:
Botany - Stevens Institute of Technology

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At Stevens he primarily studied topics relating to English and engineering, but was unable to satisfy his interest in biology. At the end of two years at Stevens, he finally gathered the courage to confront his father about his interest in biology and his intent to continue studying at Bowdoin College in Maine. His father vehemently opposed this, but eventually relented. Accompanying Kinsey's victory, however, came the effective loss of his relationship with his father, which deeply bothered him for years to come.

Related Topics:
English - Engineering - Bowdoin College - Maine

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In 1914 Kinsey began studying at Bowdoin. During his study there, Kinsey became familiar with insect research under Manton Copeland. Two years later, in 1916 Kinsey graduated magna cum laude with degrees in biology and psychology. He continued his study at the Bossey Institute at Harvard University which was one of the most well-respected biology schools in the United States. It was there that he studied applied biology under William Morton Wheeler, a scientist who made outstanding contributions to entomology through his study of insects. Under Wheeler, Kinsey worked almost completely autonomously, which suited them both quite well. For his doctoral thesis, Kinsey began research on Gall wasps. Kinsey began collecting samples of gall wasps with almost obsessive zeal. He took 26 detailed measurements on hundreds of thousands of gall wasps and his methodology made an important contribution to entomology as a science. He was granted a Sc.D. degree in 1919 for his work. He published several papers in 1920 under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History introducing the gall wasp to the scientific community and laying out its phylogeny.

Related Topics:
1914 - Manton Copeland - 1916 - Magna cum laude - Biology - Psychology - Bossey Institute - Harvard University - William Morton Wheeler - Entomology - Doctoral thesis - Gall wasp - Sc.D. - 1919 - 1920 - American Museum of Natural History - Phylogeny

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