The Ink Blots by Damion Searls

The year was 1917 and a young Swiss psychiatrist named Dr. Hermann Rorschach developed a experiment of 10 designed ink blots designed to reveal the inner thoughts and feelings of the human mind. He was a contemporary with Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud and wrestled with their theories as well. He himself was an artist and his premise was that who we are is less a matter of what we say than what we see.

Dr. Rorschach died young of a ruptured appendix at the age of 37 so this book was less about his life and more about the history of the Rorschach test itself. After his death, psychiatrists in the United States began making use of this test and it reached the height of its popularity in the 1950's. Even though there is more scientific evidence of its value as a diagnostic tool and therapeutic method, it is being given less often.

This is a thoroughly researched and well documented book about the development and history of the Rorschach test over the years. I was looking for more of a biography and less about the test itself. Any serious student of psychology would appreciate this work.  

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.