Considering the anthropological ideas current in Britain between 1885 and 1945, this book explores the relationship between social scientific ideas and behaviour. Professor Kuklick shows how the descriptions British anthropologists produced about the peoples of exotic culture can be translated into commentaries on their own society. Read as such, the anthropology of the period covered by the book represents an appeal for a society that rewards individuals on the basis of talent and achievement, not inherited status; a brief for the welfare state, which is obliged to care for those whom circumstances have prevented from taking care of themselves; and a plea for tolerance of cultural diversity based on observation of a range of ways of life that satisfy human needs and desires. The book also shows how anthropological insight informed consideration of specific problems: e.g. womens' rights, the Irish problem and colonisation.

Considering the anthropological ideas of Britain between 1885 and 1945, this book explores the relationship between social scientific ideas and behavior. Professor Kuklick shows how the descriptions British anthropologists produced about the peoples of exotic cultures can be translated into commentaries on their own society. Read as such, the anthropology of the period covered by the book represents an appeal for a society that rewards individuals on the basis of talent and achievement, not inherited status; a brief for the welfare state, which is obliged to care for those whom circumstances have prevented from taking care of themselves; and a plea for tolerance of cultural diversity, based on observation of a range of ways of life that satisfy human needs and desires. The book also shows how anthropological insight informed consideration of such specific problems as the rights of women, the Irish, and all colonized peoples.

Unlike many histories of scientific practices, which deal with laboratory experiments, this collection of essays focuses on scientific investigations conducted out of doors: biological, physical, and social. Case studies from varied disciplines explore the material, human, and cultural aspects of fieldwork, and the relationships between scientific activity and popular outdoor activities such as exploration and recreation.
Included are "Gender, Culture, and Astrophysical Fieldwork: Elizabeth Campbell and the Lick Observatory-Crocker Eclipse Expeditions," by Alex Soo-jung-Kim Pang; "Wallace in Other Lands," by Jane Camerini; "The Heroic Science of Glacier Motion," by Bruce Hevly; "Objectivity or Heroism: Invisibility of Women in Science," by Naomi Oreskes; "When Nature is the Zoo: Vision and Power in the Art and Science of Natural History," by Gregg Mitman; "Manly Men in Scientific Balloons: Meteorology and the Victorian Scientist as Romantic Hero," by Jennifer Tucker; "Paul du Chaillu and Construction of Authority," by Stuart McCook; "Of Sangfroid and Sphinx Moths: Cruelty, Public Relations, and Entomology, 1800-1840," by Anne Larsen Hollerbach; "The Ship as a Scientific Instrument in the 18th Century," by Richard Sorrenson; and "'A Tent with a View: ' Colonial Officers, Anthropologists, and the Making of the Field in Northern Rhodesia, 1937-1960," by Lynette Schumaker.