author
Jr. James Weir
1856–1906
A Kentucky physician and popular science writer, this turn-of-the-century author explored animal intelligence, human behavior, and the uneasy border between instinct and belief. His books are curious, provocative snapshots of how science and psychology were being discussed around 1900.
2 Audiobooks
The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals
by Jr. James Weir
About the author
James Weir Jr. was an American physician, zoologist, and physiologist associated with Owensboro, Kentucky. Public-domain author records list him as living from 1856 to 1906, and his work shows a strong interest in explaining complex scientific ideas for general readers.
His best-known books include The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals and Religion and Lust. In them, he wrote about animal minds, instinct, emotion, and the connections he believed existed between religion, psychology, and human desire.
Weir also published shorter pieces in magazines such as Popular Science Monthly and Scientific American. Today he is mainly remembered for these ambitious, often unconventional works, which capture the restless curiosity of late nineteenth-century science writing.