MIRROR FOR MAN

by Clyde Kluckhohn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 25, 1949

To most people, anthropology is a curious occupation concerned with the odd behaviour of primitive people, and anthropologists are queer people whom we nevertheless onvy because their work takes them to exotic places. That anthropology can have meaning and validity to an auto mechanic or a bookkeeper is probably a new idea to many. Mirror for Man, subtitled The Relation of Anthropology to Modern Life does a literate, interesting and concise job of answering the questions that many of us ask -- Just what is anthropology? What does an anthropologist do? How do his researches on Eskimos and Fiji Islanders help you or me make sense out of the morals and mores of our community? The author, professor of anthropology at Harvard, believes we can achieve the understanding of the immediate only through achieving first the long view, the vista of Man in his development in time and in distribution in space; that only by attaining such objectivity can we see our immediate problems in their proper context. This book won the $10,000 prize in the Whittlesey House Science Contest, and should contribute substantially toward helping the general reader attain that objectivity. There's enough of puncturing accepted theories to make it controversial; there's enough linking of anthropology with public problems, social attitudes, etc. to chart the direction of our thinking.

Pub Date: Jan. 25, 1949

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Whittlesey

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1949

Categories: NONFICTION