Chronicle of a Field Retold: Autism Science in Profile

Instead of reflecting on autism through studies or statistics, for Spectrum’s fifth annual book, we sought a more personal lens: the lives of the people who research the condition. The book opens with a surprising retelling of the field’s first movers: In “The new history of autism,” journalist David Dobbs reveals the scientists whose forgotten contributions predated or enabled those of Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger, long credited as the sole founders of autism research. It continues with a tour of today’s key players and includes an illustration that maps decades of apprenticeship among autism researchers, as well as a list of 40 up-and-coming scientists under 40 years old.