"The Proper Study" is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by American writer Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

. Inspired by a painting of a head surrounded by random psychedelic

Psychedelic

The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...

 designs, it was commissioned by Boy's Life

Boys' Life

Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...

, and published in the September 1968 issue. (The other story commissioned for the picture was The Faun. by Poul Anderson

Poul Anderson

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...

.) The Proper Study was reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories

Buy Jupiter and Other Stories

Buy Jupiter and Other Stories is a 1975 collection of short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov.It includes the following stories:*"Darwinian Pool Room"* "Day of the Hunters" * "Shah Guido G." * "Button, Button"...

.

The title is taken from "The proper study of mankind is man", a quote by Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...

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Plot summary

In a future world where the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 is ruled by a military dictatorship

Dictatorship

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...

, Professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

Oscar Harding is experimenting with a technique he terms neurophotoscopy, by means of which brain wave patterns can be observed as coloured effects that appear in the air around the subject and can be examined and analyzed.

In his efforts to have the project declassified and removed from military control, Harding invites the ruling general to visit and observe the experiments. As he plans, the general is mentally affected by the effects he observes, and in a moment of mental weakness agrees to declassify the project.

Before the effect wears off, as it must, Harding arranges for project details to be sent out to news media worldwide, thereby allowing other researchers to begin 'The proper study of mankind'.