Murray Sidman’s Legacy and the Scientist’s Behavior

Murray Sidman passed away in May 2019 at age 96, leaving a prolific legacy behind. He was one of the stars that more powerfully shone in the behavioral science universe, illuminating with his work the paths that would be followed by many other scientists. We are seldom aware of the details characterizing a scientific trajectory like his. My aim with this paper is to honor Sidman’s enormous scientific legacy by describing some of the conditions under which he accomplished the things he did, in an effort to provide some insight into his contributions. First, this paper briefly outlines the most relevant elements in his experimental and conceptual track of record. Second, it focuses on his way of doing science, his Tactics. Then, it changes focus onto the scientific characteristics that Murray Sidman himself shared with us concerning who he was when he was doing research. The paper ends with a more personal point.