Gustav Eckstein was a medical doctor, scientist, writer, teacher and philosopher. He taught mainly at University of Cincinnati, but also visited the Soviet Union several times and studied with Ivan Pavlov, the pioneer in the field of conditioned reflexes. Eckstein was the author of 10 books ranging from fiction to scientific, including Canary, and the bestselling The Body Has a Head, first published in 1969. He died in 1981.