On Family, Work and Social Change (The Heritage of sociology)

This volume introduces English-speaking audiences to the ideas and writings of a forgotten father of sociology, Frédéric Le Play. Le Play (1802-1886) was the first social scientist to combine field observation of the monographic type with standardized methods in order to test ideas regarding the functioning of society. He was also among the first to propose theories about the organization of family, work, and social change in ways that are essentially continuous with those of modern sociology.