William James gave public lectures on psychology to the Cambridge teachers in which he explained the psychology he had developed in his "Principles of Psychology" and offered ideas on applying the science of psychology to the art of education. This book contains the substance of his lectures not only given to the Cambridge teachers but to the students as well.

William James (1842 –1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late nineteenth century, one of the most influential philosophers of the United States, and the "Father of American psychology".