Dr. Arnold Lucius Gesell (21 June 1880 - 29 May 1961) was a psychologist

Psychologist

Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

 and pediatrician who helped develop the field of child development

Child development

Child development stages describe theoretical milestones of child development. Many stage models of development have been proposed, used as working concepts and in some cases asserted as nativist theories....

.

Gesell was born in Alma, Wisconsin

Alma, Wisconsin

Alma is a city in and the county seat of Buffalo County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 942 at the 2000 census. The city is surrounded by the Town of Alma. The motto for the city of Alma is: "Step into Living History."-Geography:...

, whose dysgenic

Dysgenics

Dysgenics is the study of factors producing the accumulation and perpetuation of defective or disadvantageous genes and traits in offspring of a particular population or species. Dysgenic mutations have been studied in animals such as the mouse and the fruit fly...

 qualities Gesell later analysed in The Village of a Thousand Souls. He was the eldest of five children and the son of a photographer and a teacher, individuals who were both interested in education. Watching his younger siblings learn and grow helped to establish in him an interest in children.

With plans to become a teacher, Gesell attended Stevens Point Normal School after he graduated from high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 in 1896.