The Proper Study

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"The Proper Study" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. Inspired by a painting of a head surrounded by random psychedelic designs, it was commissioned by Boys' Life, and published in the September 1968 issue. (The other story commissioned for the picture was The Faun.^[1] by Poul Anderson.) The Proper Study was reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.

The title is taken from a quote by Alexander Pope ("The proper study of mankind is man.").