Gustav Eckstein was an American medical doctor, dentist, writer,

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

, and professor.

Biography

Eckstein was born on 26 October 1890 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, USA. Some of his books included *''In Peace Japan Breeds War'' (1927) *''Noguchi'' (1931) - a biography on Hideyo Noguchi - Japanese-American microbiologist *''Lives'' (1932) *''Kettle'' (1933) *''Everyday Miracle'' (1934) *''Hokusai'' (1935) *''Canary'' (1936) * ''Christmas Eve'' (1938) *''Friends of Mine (containing Lives and Canary)'' (1942) *''The Pet Shop'' (1944) and *''The Body Has a Head'' (1969), a best-seller. He died in 1981.

In popular culture

The character of Prof. Metz in Kaufman and Hart's 1939 play ''

The Man Who Came to Dinner ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of ...

'' is based on Eckstein, only with cockroaches in the place of canaries. In the 1993 film ''

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...

'', Phil Connors, the character played by Bill Murray, is seen reading the book ''The Body Has a Head''. The book can also be seen laying on the psychotherapist’s (played by Robin Williams) coffee table in the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckstein, Gustav American science writers 1890 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American psychologists