Shaping the Reading Field —
Abstract of

Chapter 7
Edmund Burke Huey (1870-1913): A Brief Life With an Enduring Legacy

Jolene B. Reed

Richard J. Meyer

This chapter explores the life and lasting influence of Edmund Burke Huey, a researcher committed to progressive education whose theories continue to be studied and debated by reading scholars today. Huey's interest in the teaching and learning of reading was short-lived–barely a decade–yet in that time he studied eye movements, reading as a cognitive process, and even health issues related to reading. His development of a device for tracking eye-movements during reading, though crude by modern standards, provided landmark information for the time regarding how the eye traveled across a printed page. His best known and oft-cited work, The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading (1908), serves as the first true compendium of both reading research and the history of reading instruction.

Reed, J.B., & Meyer, R.J. (2006). Edmund Burke Huey (1870-1913): A Brief Life With an Enduring Legacy. In S.E. Israel, & E. Monaghan (Eds.), Shaping the Reading Field (pp. 159-175). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.