Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. Its revolutionary message to mothers was that "you know more than you think you do."

Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas about childcare influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children, and to treat them as individuals, whereas the previous conventional wisdom had been that child rearing should focus on building discipline, and that, e.g., babies should not be "spoiled" by picking them up when they cried.

In addition to his pediatric work, Spock was an activist in the New Left and anti Vietnam War movements during the 1960's and early 1970's. At the time his books were criticized by Vietnam War supporters for allegedly propagating permissiveness and an expectation of instant gratifications that led young people to join the these movements a charge Spock denied. Spock also won an Olympic gold medal in rowing in 1924 while attending Yale University.

His life covered most of the last century. His influence will reach far into the next. He was, and will always be, a man for all children.

The man who would become, somewhat to his own astonishment, the most trusted pediatrician and best-selling author of all time was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on May 2, 1903. As the eldest of six children, Benjamin McLane Spock was immersed in the world of childcare at an early age, helping to change diapers, babysit, feed, and otherwise attend to his siblings. His parents, a prominent lawyer and a devoted mother, ran a strict household and harbored high expectations for their offspring.
Benjamin Spock readily absorbed these standards, attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then Yale University, like his father before him. At Yale, Spock studied literature and history and excelled in athletics, even earning a spot on the Olympic rowing crew that won a gold medal at the 1924 games. He attended the Yale School of Medicine for two years and then transferred to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, where he graduated first in his class in 1929. By that time, he had married Jane Cheney and soon had two sons, Michael and John.

While specializing in pediatrics, Spock realized that he could best help his young patients and their parents if he gained a greater understanding of their psychological needs and family dynamics. With the dedication and intensity that marked his every endeavor, he studied psychoanalysis for six years, making him the only practicing pediatrician of his time with this combination of training. The more he talked with parents and studied the psychological and emotional aspects of childhood, the more convinced he became that much of the prevailing wisdom of the day was flawed. And, in 1946, he was given the chance to publish his iconoclastic views in The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, a tome he penned for Pocket Books that initially sold for a modest 25 cents.  During Spock's long lifetime, his book would be translated into 39 languages and sell more than 50 million copies, making it second in sales only to the Bible.

Spock's ideas have become such a part and parcel of the parenting landscape that it's easy to forget how revolutionary they were. In post-war America, parents were in awe of doctors and other childcare professionals; Spock assured them that parents were the true experts on their own children. They had been told that picking up infants when they cried would only spoil them; Spock countered that cuddling babies and bestowing affection on children would only make them happier and more secure. Instead of adhering to strict, one-size-fits-all dictates on everything from discipline to toilet training, Spock urged parents to be flexible and see their children as individuals.