Discussion: View Thread

I am sending this on behalf of Fred Nickols because his attempts at posting it have been foiled by, you guessed it, software.

According to Fred ---

I have seen the following remark attributed to Kurt Lewin on numerous occasions: 

"There is nothing so practical as a good theory." 

But, I've never seen it with an accompanying citation - until recently - and so
I resolved to track it down.

The citation I saw referenced page 169 of Field Theory in Social Science, a
collection of Lewin's papers edited by Dorwin Cartwright (Harper & Brothers,
1951).  True enough, I found it there, toward the end of the next to last
paragraph in Chapter VII, which is a 1943-44 paper titled "Problems of Research
in Social Psychology."  This oft-cited statement by Lewin is actually part of a
longer sentence.  Lewin, writing about the need for a close relationship between
theoretical and applied psychology, wrote:

"Many psychologists working today in an applied field are keenly aware of the
need for close cooperation between theoretical and applied psychology.  This can
be accomplished in psychology, as it has been accomplished in physics, if the
theorist does not look toward applied problems with highbrow aversion or with a
fear of social problems, and if the applied psychologist realizes that there is
nothing so practical as a good theory."

--