Carl N. Degler is Margaret Byrne Professor of American History Emeritus at Stanford University.
"Just the type of book I have been looking for that deals with
ideas in U.S. history I do not think I have seen other books on
this."--Donna D. King, Virginia State University
"Wonderfully written....This immensely informative and detailed
history of social thought...provides a challenging perspective on
what it is (or what people have thought it is) to be
human."--Kirkus Reviews
"Degler has produced a brilliant synthesis of our national
preoccupation with the nature of human beings and what that has
meant in our democracy."--Los Angeles Times
"A scholarly, dispassionate, historical examination of the nature
vs. nurture controversy....Wide-ranging."--Publishers Weekly
"Masterful....Impressive intellectual history....[Degler] makes his
case forcefully and articulately."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Thoroughgoing and evenhanded."--Library Journal
"A masterly intellectual history of the reverberation of Darwinian
ideas in popular social thought and in the thoughts of social
scientists....Takes[s] us on a splendid, informed, eye-opening
textual tour of the acceptance, rejection and acceptance again of
bio-social thought from the late 19th century to the present....On
Mr. Degler's tour one learns many remarkable things about some of
the people who have shaped 20th-century thought...An indispensable,
and
safe enough primer, for the [bio-social] debate."--Richard A
Shweder, The New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating tour of biosocial thought and a challenging
exploration of what it means to be human."--Science News
"An excellent exposition of the changing positions of the
scientists and provides context for their ideas, experiments, and
conclusions. Degler's explication of the work of anthropologist
Franz Boas is a major contribution to scholarship."--Magill Book
Reviews
"An important, impressive book that offers a refreshingly new look
at Darwinism."--William H. Goetzmann, University of Texas,
Austin
"A solid, well-mapped intellectual history."--The Washington
Times
"Degler's study will both fascinate and disturb its readers. He
documents in considerable detail from primary sources an aspect of
the history of eugenics that few of those studying the movement
have examined so far....[A] stunning intellectual history of the
impact of Darwinism and biological research on the social
sciences."--Contemporary Psychology
"Very thorough discussion of a critical and controversial issue.
I've recommended it widely."--Robert Pyne, Dallas Theological
Seminary
"Comprehensive....Well written, timely study....Degler is to be
congratulated...Balanced and erudite."--Metascience
Noted historian Degler's new work covers much of the same nature-nurture territory as Kenneth Bock's Human Nature and History ( LJ 11/15/80), but most of the material is presented as narrative history full of personalities and contexts rather than simply as competing ideas. Ranging from Darwin's day to the present, this account chronicles the rise, fall, and recent resurgence of biological and hereditarian (especially racial and gender-based) explanations of the variations in behavior and intelligence. Degler's study is thoroughgoing and evenhanded, though it is far more engaging when it recounts struggles to overcome racism and eugenics in the early decades of this century than when it attempts to evaluate current work on these topics . For academic and larger public library collections.-- Glenn Petersen, Baruch Coll., CUNY
"Just the type of book I have been looking for that deals with ideas in U.S. history I do not think I have seen other books on this."--Donna D. King, Virginia State University "Wonderfully written....This immensely informative and detailed history of social thought...provides a challenging perspective on what it is (or what people have thought it is) to be human."--Kirkus Reviews "Degler has produced a brilliant synthesis of our national preoccupation with the nature of human beings and what that has meant in our democracy."--Los Angeles Times "A scholarly, dispassionate, historical examination of the nature vs. nurture controversy....Wide-ranging."--Publishers Weekly "Masterful....Impressive intellectual history....[Degler] makes his case forcefully and articulately."--The Philadelphia Inquirer "Thoroughgoing and evenhanded."--Library Journal "A masterly intellectual history of the reverberation of Darwinian ideas in popular social thought and in the thoughts of social scientists....Takes[s] us on a splendid, informed, eye-opening textual tour of the acceptance, rejection and acceptance again of bio-social thought from the late 19th century to the present....On Mr. Degler's tour one learns many remarkable things about some of the people who have shaped 20th-century thought...An indispensable, and safe enough primer, for the [bio-social] debate."--Richard A Shweder, The New York Times Book Review "A fascinating tour of biosocial thought and a challenging exploration of what it means to be human."--Science News "An excellent exposition of the changing positions of the scientists and provides context for their ideas, experiments, and conclusions. Degler's explication of the work of anthropologist Franz Boas is a major contribution to scholarship."--Magill Book Reviews "An important, impressive book that offers a refreshingly new look at Darwinism."--William H. Goetzmann, University of Texas, Austin "A solid, well-mapped intellectual history."--The Washington Times "Degler's study will both fascinate and disturb its readers. He documents in considerable detail from primary sources an aspect of the history of eugenics that few of those studying the movement have examined so far....[A] stunning intellectual history of the impact of Darwinism and biological research on the social sciences."--Contemporary Psychology "Very thorough discussion of a critical and controversial issue. I've recommended it widely."--Robert Pyne, Dallas Theological Seminary "Comprehensive....Well written, timely study....Degler is to be congratulated...Balanced and erudite."--Metascience
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