The purpose of this site is to make available information about the life and work of John B Calhoun. The has been continuing and increasing interest in his work but very little available to the public. This website is an effort to correct that. Here I will post thoughts on him and his work as well has quotes from his writing.
2025/1/9
Rat City by Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden
I cannot recommend this book enough.
Having grown up as the daughter of Dr. Calhoun many of the events and people were familiar to me, either from mentions around the dinner table or by personal introduction. But as a child and a young adult I was more concerned with my own life and I was not aware of the details. It was thrilling to discover all the influences and connections and to have the events fleshed out; to read about the people I had met and how they fit into Dr. Calhoun’s life and work.
This book draws you into the life, the work, and the era of Jack Calhoun. If you have an interest in Calhoun’s work this is an excellent place to start. It is not so much a biography of the man as a “biography” of the work. It places the research within the era, connecting it to what had been discovered in the decades prior and to what was occurring as the various research projects progressed. Many names in this book may be familiar to you or may suggest other avenues to explore if your interest is in population, environment, and how these shape behavior. Most of what is discussed online references only one of Calhoun’s projects this book takes you through what led up to Universe 25 and what questions that experiment raised for Calhoun.
Authors such as Tom Wolf, Hunter Thompson, and Robert Ardrey were influenced by Calhoun’s work and intrigued by the terms he coined. But probably the most popular book influenced by his work is
“Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” by Robert C. O’Brien which later became the movie “Mrs. Brisby and the Secret of NIMH”.
Kudos to the authors, Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden, who have written a thorough and very readable book.
2023/8/18
I began this website a number of years ago. It has been a learning experience so you may find things that are not as convenient as they could be. Not only have I had to learn how to create a website but I have also had to figure out how to save documents in a way that protects their integrity while still making them accessible. Feel free to use the contact option and send me an email if you come across something you think needs changing. If there is information you are not able to find on this site please do contact me. If I have it I will share it. Response time will vary depending on what else I am doing. If I am working full time I may not respond as quickly.
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JOHN B CALHOUN 