In psychodynamics, Boris Sidis (1867-1923) was a Russian-born American psychologist noted for his theories on reserve energy and for his application of its principles in the accelerated raising of his famous prodigy son William Sidis, who would later go on to write (1920) a treatise on life theorized to be the operation of reserve energy acting the part of Maxwell's demon. [1]

Education
In Russia, at age 15, he was locked in a body-sized cell for two years (1884-86) as punishment for teaching peasants to read, an act misconstrued as a conspiracy plot; was released on the condition that he renounce all education. Left to America, and upon arriving at age 17 commented that:

“When I first set foot in the Boston Public Library, I felt as though the gates of heaven had opened to me.”

In short, Sidis was primarily autodidactic. A significantly influence, however, was his Harvard PhD advisor psychologist William James, to whom he named his son after.

References
1. Wallace, Amy. (1986). The Prodigy: a Biography of William James Sidis: America's Greatest Child Prodigy (reserve energy, pgs. 31-32, 52-53, 57, 158-59). Dutton Adult.

Further reading
● Sidis, Boris. (1913). The Psychology of Laughter (ch. 8: The Ludicrous and Reserve Energy, pgs. 67-73). Appleton.

External links
● Boris Sidis – Wikipedia.