Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) extended Gestaltism to include human needs, personality, social influences – and especially motivation. Following Köhler’s lead, and influenced by the pioneer quantum physicist Max Planck (1858-1947), he used the Field Theory of physics as a parallel for human situations. Physicists after the 19th century thought less about the individual components of matter, (atoms, etc.) and more in terms of “Fields of Force” – regions or spaces affected by forces, such as magnetism, electricity, etc.
