Evolutionism in Cultural Anthropologytraces the interaction of evolutionary thought and anthropological theory from Herbert Spencer to the twenty-first century. It is a focused examination of how the idea of evolution has continued to provide anthropology with a master principle around which a vast body of data can be organized and synt

"Evolutionism in Cultural Anthropology"traces the interaction of evolutionary thought and anthropological theory from Herbert Spencer to the twenty-first century. It is a focused examination of how the idea of evolution has continued to provide anthropology with a master principle around which a vast body of data can be organized and synthesized. Erudite and readable, and quoting extensively from early theorists (such as Edward Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan, John McLennan, Henry Maine, and James Frazer) so that the reader might judge them on the basis of their own words, "Evolutionism in Cultural Anthropology" is useful reading for courses in anthropological theory and the history of anthropology.

Is history more than (in Boswell's words) a chronological series of remarkable events'? Does it have a pattern? Is it fraught with meaning'? Can we discern its trends? What determines its course? In short, can a substantial and coherent philosophy of history be devised that offers answers to these questions? These issues, which have intrigued -and bedeviled - historians for centuries, are explored in this thoughtful book.

Is history more than (in Boswell's words) a chronological series of remarkable events'? Does it have a pattern? Is it fraught with meaning'? Can we discern its trends? What determines its course? In short, can a substantial and coherent philosophy of history be devised that offers answers to these questions? These issues, which have intrigued -and bedeviled - historians for centuries, are explored in this thoughtful book.

This journal captures the day-by-day, week-by-week excitement of a fall season spent challenging the sports books of. Reno as the author tries to beat the point spread betting college football. While basically the story of one man, armed with a system, going head to head against the oddsmaker, it is also an ethnography of the sports books of Nevada. The author, a professional anthropologist, presents the mo detailed account ever written of just how sports books operate. How is the point spread made? By whom? How does it change, game by game, in response to the money bet? All this and more is revealed. .. . . . But beyond that here is a very human story of an avid football fan, indulging his passion and his hobby, trying doggedly to outsmart the oddsmaker. Moreover; the book catches the flavor of the gambling scene in Reno, as well as reflecting the color and pageantry of college football.

It is some years in the future, and Pope Urban IX, pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, after reigning for thirteen years, has suddenly died of a massive heart attack. From every corner of the globe, 77 cardinals converge on the city of Rome, where they will gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect Urban's successor. papacy, only to falter and fall by the wayside. Finally, after endless maneuvering and many ballots, one of them gains enough support among his fellows to emerge as the 267th pope. cardinal-electors is based on a close study of conclaves in the past. Rich in authentic detail, the story is nonetheless imaginative, filled with intrigue and suspense, the outcome remaining in doubt until the very end. Other novels have been written about conclaves and papal elections, but this is the only one that follows the actions of a conclave, detail for detail, from beginning to end, with each ballot tabulated and the results announced and debated by the assembled cardinals. electing a pope, the novel is filled with colorful incidents of papal history, as well as the daily comings and goings of the cardinals. Though forced to live in rough-hewn pine cubicles, constructed for the occasion in the Apostolic Palace, the cardinals are nevertheless surrounded by some of the world's greatest art, which greets them during the days they must remain in strict seclusion, until a new pontiff is chosen. extensively in his own field, including two books, The Muse of History and the Science of Culture (2000) and Evolutionism in Cultural Anthropology (2003). This, however, is his first novel.