Iconoclast: Abraham Flexner and a Life in Learning
By Thomas Neville Bonner

Though his name may not be familiar to the general public, Abraham Flexner (1866-1959) exerted more influence over the course of education in America than anyone else in its history. From elementary school to medical school, no stage of education went unnoticed by Flexner's keen insights into how and what students actually learn.

Now, in the first biography of this towering intellect, Thomas Neville Bonner details Flexner's remarkable achievements, tracing his life from his boyhood in Louisville, Ky., and his experiences as a student at Johns Hopkins to his career as an innovative teacher and headmaster, tireless educational reformer and founder of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. (424 pages, $36 hardcover)