Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the famously influential neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, was born in a small town in what is now the Czech Republic. In 1886 he set up in private clinical practice in treating 'nervous disorders' and would go on to develop the various techniques associated with psychoanalysis, as well as his famous theories on the unconscious, the human psyche, dreams and sexuality – leading to the publication of many works, of which The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) and The Ego and the Id (1923) are just a two examples.

Professor Richard Stevens (Introduction and abridgement) was previously Head of Psychology at the Open University. He holds a first-class degree in Psychology from the University of Edinburgh as well as an MA (Trinity College Dublin) and a PhD by published work. He has been Chair of the Association for Humanistic Psychology in Britain and helped to found the Consciousness and Experiential Section of the British Psychological Society. His books include Freud and Psychoanalysis and Understanding the Self and he has numerous publications in academic and other journals.

Professor Marika Taylor (Series Foreword) is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Head of School within Mathematical Sciences at the University of Southampton. Her research interests include all aspects of string theory, gravitational physics and quantum field theory. In recent years much of her work has been focused on holographic dualities and their implications. Marika's research has featured in such publications as Physical Review, Journal of High Energy Physics and General Relativity and Gravitation among others.