Wundt

In 1879, the first laboratory for experimental psychology opened in Leipzig, Germany, under Wilhelm Wundt, who sought to quantify sensation and inner experience.

“The exact description of consciousness is the sole aim of experimental psychology,” Wundt wrote.

“We are always inwardly immersed in what Wundt has somewhere called the twilight of our general consciousness,” James reflected.

But just think of how many paved the way for Wundt’s achievements.

There’s Gustav Fechner, often credited with performing the first experiments that can be identified as psychological—and that, as early as 1839, when Wundt was only seven years old.