This book is intended to serve as an introduction to the study of human behivor. The author has therefore attempted to present a brief outline in a form favorable for discussion and investigation. The importance of the subject is obvious and has been tragically emphasized by the present world crisis. Little is known about man as he is. Imagination has supplied many of the details in the picture of what he was once supposed to be, while disappointment associated with unrealized expectations of what he might have become has increased the difficulties of taking measure of his present stature. Parent, teacher, physician, student of social phenomena, prospective reformer, statesman and philosopher, each has his special interest in the general human problem. To-day every intelligent citizen is anxiously awaiting the solution to the problem of how "democracy may be made safe for the world". There can be little doubt that in the careful, painstaking study of man as he is will be found the means by which human institutions may be established upon a more rational basis and at least an intelligent effort made to lay the foundations of a durable peace.

This book is intended to serve as an introduction to the study of human behivor. The author has therefore attempted to present a brief outline in a form favorable for discussion and investigation. The importance of the subject is obvious and has been tragically emphasized by the present world crisis. Little is known about man as he is. Imagination has supplied many of the details in the picture of what he was once supposed to be, while disappointment associated with unrealized expectations of what he might have become has increased the difficulties of taking measure of his present stature. Parent, teacher, physician, student of social phenomena, prospective reformer, statesman and philosopher, each has his special interest in the general human problem. To-day every intelligent citizen is anxiously awaiting the solution to the problem of how "democracy may be made safe for the world". There can be little doubt that in the careful, painstaking study of man as he is will be found the means by which human institutions may be established upon a more rational basis and at least an intelligent effort made to lay the foundations of a durable peace.

The application of fractals and fractal geometry in soil science has become increasingly important over the last few years. This self-contained and timely book was designed to provide detailed and comprehensive information on the current status of the application of fractal geometry in soil science, and on prospects for its future use. With a detailed and specific introductory chapter, particular attention is paid to comparing and contrasting "fractal" and "fragmentation" concepts. Some uses of fractals, such as to quantify the retention and transport properties of soils, to describe the intricate geometry of pore surfaces and macropore networks, or to elucidate the rooting patterns of various plants, are discussed. Applications of fractals in soil science are both relatively recent and in constant evolution. This book reflects accurately existing trends, by allowing sharp differences among the viewpoints expressed in contributed chapters to be presented to the reader in one self-contained volume.

Where and when did man make his first appearance on this earth? The object of this book is to bring before the public such further facts and values regarding the evolution of man. After studies Churchwood made during many years, he is now fully convinced that the hitherto preconceived ideas of many scientists regarding the origin of the human race, both as to place and date, are erroneous, and evidence will be brought forward to prove that the human race did not originate in Asia, but in Africa.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1972, and a past president of both the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association, Carl Degler is one of America's most eminent living historians. He is also one of the most versatile. In a forty year career, he has written brilliantly on race (Neither Black Nor White, which won the Pulitzer Prize), women's studies (At Odds, which Betty Friedan called "a stunning book"), Southern history (The Other South), the New Deal, and many other subjects. Now, in The Search for Human Nature, Degler turns to perhaps his largest subject yet, a sweeping history of the impact of Darwinism (and biological research) on our understanding of human nature, providing a fascinating overview of the social sciences in the last one hundred years. The idea of a biological root to human nature was almost universally accepted at the turn of the century, Degler points out, then all but vanished from social thought only to reappear in the last four decades. Degler traces the early history of this idea, from Darwin's argument that our moral and emotional life evolved from animals just as our human shape did, to William James's emphasis on instinct in human behavior (then seen as a fundamental insight of psychology). We also see the many applications of biology, from racism, sexism, and Social Darwinism to the rise of intelligence testing, the eugenics movement, and the practice of involuntary sterilization of criminals (a public policy pioneered in America, which had sterilization laws 25 years before Nazi Germany--one such law was upheld by Oliver Wendell Holmes's Supreme Court). Degler then examines the work of those who denied any role for biology, who thought culture shaped human nature, a group ranging from Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead, to John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner. Equally important, he examines the forces behind this fundamental shift in a scientific paradigm, arguing that ideological reasons--especially the struggle against racism and sexism in America--led to this change in scientific thinking. Finally, Degler considers the revival of Darwinism without the Social Darwinism, racism, and sexism, led first by ethologists such as Karl von Frisch, Nikolaas Tinbergen, Konrad Lorenz, and Jane Goodall--who revealed clear parallels between animal and human behavior--and followed in varying degrees by such figures as Melvin Konner, Alice Rossi, Jerome Kagen, and Edward O. Wilson as well as others in anthropology, political science, sociology, and economics. What kind of animal is Homo sapiens and how did we come to be this way? In this wide ranging history, Carl Degler traces our attempts over the last century to answer these questions. In doing so, he has produced a volume that will fascinate anyone curious about the nature of human beings.

'I find The Revival of Laissez-Faire informative, especially as a survey of the ideas of the six economists, each of whom was no doubt at the front in the intellectual battle over laissez-faire. The book is a good source on an important slice of twentieth century economics for undergraduate history of economics course.' - J. Daniel Hammond, Journal of the History of Economic Thought In the 1970s, the Keynesian orthodoxy in macroeconomics began to break down. In direct contrast to Keynesian recommendations of discretionary policy, models advocating laissez-faire came to the forefront of economic theory. Laissez-faire no longer stood as an exceptional policy endorsed for rare occurrences of market clearing; rather it became the policy standard. This book provides the definitive account of this watershed and traces the evolution of laissez-faire using the cases of its proponents, Frank Knight, Henry Simons, Friedrich von Hayek, Milton Friedman, James Buchanan and Robert Lucas. By elucidating the pre-analytical framework of their writings, Sherryl Kasper accounts for the ideological influence of these pioneers on theoretical work, and illustrates that they played a primary role in founding the theoretical and philosophical use of rules as the basis of macroeconomic policy. A case study of the way in which interwar pluralism transcended to postwar neoclassicism is also featured.