Alfred Binet was born in Nice, France, on July 8, 1857. He went to Paris to study law, and began a career in law. Around 1878, Binet found himself gripped by the studies of hypnosis performed by Jean Charcot, a French neurologist working at Salpetriere Hospital in Paris. Charcot's work inspired Binet to abandon his law career and enter into further study of medicine and science. Ultimately, he earned a doctorate in natural science, and began work as a research associate in a laboratory at the Sorbonne in 1891. Binet rose through the ranks to become assistant director in 1892, and then director in 1895. He remained director of this Laboratory of Physiological Psychology of the Ecole Pratique Des Hautes Etudes for the rest of his life (from 1895-1911).

Binet's first work was on hypnosis and hysteria, the topics of his mentor, Charcot. Later, he began branching out into studies of subconscious thought, personality...