The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram (broadcast Friday, June 12th, 2009)

We'll talk with Thomas Blass, author of a book about pioneering social scientist Stanley Milgram. Milgram is widely known for his 'obedience to authority' experiment, in which he found that ordinary people were willing to subject others to painful electric shocks simply because an authority figure commanded them to. (The shocks were simulated, and the shockees were actors.) In another experiment, Milgram defined the basis of the 'small world' phenomenon, asking individuals to pass letters through their chain of acquaintances in an effort to deliver it to a target recipient. We'll talk about his life and work.

Guests

Thomas Blass
Author, "The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram," (Basic Books, 2004)
Professor of Social Psychology
University of Maryland-Baltimore County
Baltimore, Maryland

Related Links

• Stanleymilgram.com

Segment produced by:Annette Heist

Stories for
Friday, June 12th, 2009

• Moon Missions Preview
• Colliding Planets (Don't Panic)
• New Views of the Universe from Herschel and Planck Telescopes
• Raising a Stink over a Flower in Bloom
• The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram
• Why Do We Have Fingerprints?

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