This eleventh volume in the series departs from the pattern of earlier
volumes. Some of those volumes addressed research, design, and policy
topics in terms of environmental settings, for example, homes,
communities, neighborhoods, and public places. Others focused on
environmental users, for example, chil- dren and the elderly. The
present volume examines the field of environment and behavior studies
itself in the form of intellectual histories of some of its most
productive and still visible senior participants. In so doing we hope to
provide readers with a grand sweep of the field-its research and design
content, methodology, institutions, and past and future
trajectories-through the experiences and intellectual histories of its
participants. Why intellectual histories? Several factors led to the
decision to launch this project. For one, 1989 was an anniversary and
commemorative year for the Environmental Design Research Association,
perhaps the major and most long-standing interdisciplinary organization
of environment and behavior re- searchers and practitioners. Established
in 1969, this organization has been the vehicle for generations of
researchers and practitioners from many disciplines to come together
annually to exchange ideas, present papers, and develop professional and
personal relationships. It held its first and twentieth meetings in
North Carolina, with the twentieth conference substantially devoted to
dis- cussions of the past, present, and future of the field-a taking
stock, so to speak. Thus it seemed appropriate to launch a volume on
intellectual histories at this significant juncture in the life of the
field.
