John Harvey Wheeler (October 17, 1918 – September 6, 2004) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, and

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

. He was best known as co-author with Eugene Burdick of ''

Fail-Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that in the event of a specific type of failure, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inherent safe ...

'' (1962), an early Cold War novel that depicted what could easily go wrong in an age on the verge of nuclear war. The novel was made into a movie, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

, in 1964. In later years, Wheeler was a founding editor of the ''Journal of Social and Biological Structures'', 1982, and an early advocate of

online education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

and the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

as a democratizing tool. He taught a course in "OnLine Publishing" for

Connected Education Connected Education - also known as Connect Ed - was a pioneering online education organization founded and administered by Paul Levinson and Tina Vozick. Operating from 1985 to 1997, Connect Ed offered the M.A. degrees in Media Studies (through Th ...

in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Biography

Wheeler was born on October 17, 1918 in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

.Encyclopedia Britannica
/ref> He attended Subiaco Academy, earned his bachelor's and master's degree from Indiana University, and his PhD from Harvard University. He taught at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University; became full professor of political science at Washington and Lee University, where he wrote ''Fail-Safe''. In 1960, he became a longtime fellow at the

Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions The Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California was an influential think tank from 1959 to 1977. Its influence waned thereafter and it closed in 1987. It held discussions on subjects it hoped would influence publ ...

in Santa Barbara, California. While at CSDI he wrote, edited or contributed to a dozen books, including ''Democracy in a Revolutionary Era'' (1968) and ''The Virtual Library'' (1987). Wheeler was an authority on

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

(1561–1626). He died on September 6, 2004 in Carpinteria, California.

Books

*''Lattimore the Scholar'', (1953), co-author with George Boas; Baltimore. *''The Conservative Crisis'', (1956),

Public Affairs Press Public Affairs Press ( – mid-1980s) was a book publisher in Washington, D.C., owned and often edited by Morris Bartel Schnapper (1912–1999). History According to notional successor Peter Osnos of the 1997-founded PublicAffairs: For ...

, Washington. *''Fail-Safe'', (1962) Eugene Burdick & Harvey Wheeler, McGraw Hill; Re-published, 1999, by Ecco Press, now part of Harper-Collins. *''Democracy in a Revolutionary Era'', (1968) Harvey Wheeler, Encyclopædia Britannica Bicentennial Perspectives; Published separately by Praeger. New York. *''Democracy in a Revolutionary Era'', (1970) Praeger, New York. *''Beyond the Punitive Society'', (1973) editor and contributor, W.H. Freeman, San Francisco. *''The Structure of Human Reflexion'', (1990) Ed and contributor, Peter Lang, New York.

Filmography

*'' Fail Safe'' (1964) *'' Fail Safe'' (2000)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Harvey 1918 births 2004 deaths Indiana University alumni Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American male writers