Among Franz Boaz's major contributions to Anthropology was the introduction of scientific methods to modern anthropology.

He was also a great teacher, influencing future anthropologists like Robert Lowie, Alfred Kroeber, Edward Sapir, and Ruth Benedict. For his works, he was recognized as the Father of American Anthropology.

Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential anthropologists ever, Franz Boas was a GermanAmerican scientist, who is also known as the Father of Modern Anthropology. He was the first person to implement the scientific method into the study of human cultures and societies. Franz Boas was the most important figure in 20th century North American anthropology. He laid down the four-field structure of the discipline around cultural, physical, linguistic and archaeological disciplines pertaining to the American Indian. He also trained many professional anthropologists. Boas made memorable contributions to the changes in immigrant head form undercut eugenics arguments and lessened the significance of anthropometric measures of race. The archaeological works of Franz Boas were almost cursory. While studying culture, his theoretical contributions dealt with the critique of evolution. He destroyed the rationalist theories of human nature. His historical particularism, his insistency on stringent ethnographic method, and his stress on the native point of view were pivotal to the development of modern anthroplogy. Franz Boas's values will seem naive to some today, but here is a summary of the central beliefs that he brought with him from the start of his long career, as they can be derived from his published writings and letters.

Leslie A. White, in full Leslie Alvin White (born Jan. 19, 1900, Salida, Colo., U.S.died March 31, 1975, Lone Pine, Calif.), American anthropologist best known for his theories of the evolution of culture and for the scientific study of culture that he called culturology. Leslie White was one of the most important-and controversial-figures in American anthropology. This classic work, initially published in 1949, contains White's definitive statement on what he termed "culturology." In his new prologue to this reprint of the second edition (originally published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1969), Robert Carneiro outlines the key events in White's life and career, especially his championing of cultural evolutionism and cultural materialism. One of the major works of twentieth-century anthropological theory, written by one of the disciplines most important, complex, and controversial figures, has not been in print for several years. Now Evolution of Culture is again available in paperback, allowing today's generation of anthropologists new access to Leslie Whites crucial contribution to the theory of cultural evolution. A new, substantial introduction by Robert Carneiro and Burton J. Brown assess Whites historical importance and continuing influence in the discipline. White is credited with reintroducing evolution in a way that had a profound impact on our understanding of the relationship between technology, ecology, and culture in the development of civilizations. A materialist, he was particularly concerned with societies ability to harness energy as an indicator of progress, and his empirical analysis of this equation covers a vast historical span. Fearlessly tackling the most fundamental questions of culture and society during the cold war, White was frequently a lightning rod both inside and outside the academy. His book will provoke equally potent debates today, and is a key component of any course or reading list in anthropological or archaeological theory and cultural ecology.