crabbygirl reviewed Wire Mothers by Jim Ottaviani
Review of 'Wire Mothers' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
again, ottaviani sheds light on a subject we take for granted: the idea that maternal love and comfort provide stability in an infant's cognitive and emotional development.
but this time i knew nothing about this subject, or that - at some time - this idea was actually seen as radical and unscientific.
in his 't-minus' and 'jane goodall' books he brings you into the past and illustrates their thinking which serves to unscore WHY the breakthroughs were seen as such.
for this book, he starts in the near-present, shows his hero to be unbalanced, and then has him, on late night, relate his past to a janitor. frankly it comes off as too strange to be believed, so i looked him - and yes, there is harry harlow, and skinner, and john watson...
it makes you wonder what we now consider as gospel, and will be overturned in the future...