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Doctor Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 - March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. Its revolutionary message to mothers was that "you know more than you think you do."
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics.
Spock received his undergraduate education from Yale University, where he became a member of Scroll and Key. While studying medicine at Yale University, Spock, was a rower. As member of the American eight crew, he won a gold medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics, rowing an all-Yale eight, along with James Stillman Rockefeller, with whom he shared a Scroll and Key membership in common. He transferred to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, where he graduated first in his class in 1929.
In 1946 Spock published his book "The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care", which became a bestseller. By 1998, it had sold more than 50 million copies. Later, he wrote three more books about parenting.
Spock was politically outspoken and active in the movement to end the Vietnam War. In 1968 he was sentenced to two years in prison for military conscription, but a federal court overruled his conviction. He was the People's Party candidate in the 1972 United States presidential election with a platform that called for free medical care, the legalization of abortion and marijuana, a guaranteed minimum income for families and the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from foreign countries. [1] (http://rwor.org/a/v19/950-59/951/spock.htm) In 1970-s and 1980-s he demonstrated and gave lectures against nuclear weapons and cuts in social welfare programs.
Contrary to popular rumor, Dr. Spock's son did not commit suicide. Spock has two children, Michael, a Boston's Children's museum director, and Peter, an owner of a construction company, both of them still alive. However, Spock's grandson Peter committed suicide on December 25, 1983 at the age of 22 by jumping from the roof of the Boston's Children's museum. The reasons for suicide are unknown.
It is common to see "Dr. Spock" confused with the fictional character "Mr. Spock" of Star Trek fame, particularly in references from people unfamiliar with the science fiction franchise. Reportedly, Trek creator Gene Roddenberry did not intentionally name the character after Dr. Spock; this was a coincidence.
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