Anthropology has a lot of science in it but fails the is-it-a-science test for many. Clifford Geertz of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, brings a sharp eye to the problem of what exactly anthropology is in an extraordinarily fascinating book After the Fact (Princeton, £17.95 / $27.50, lSBN 0 674 00871 5). What makes the book a delight to read is his awareness of how the social sciences have changed again and again, and with them the perceptions of the social scientists. So this personal history of anthropology brings all the big questions to the forefront from the notion of what an anthropological “proof’ could be or what objectivity is. Highly recommended.
More from 91av
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Health
Read the winner of this year’s Young Science Writer Award
Comment
Life
Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia
News
Physics
The 50-year quest to create a quantum spin liquid may finally be over
Features
Technology
Backlash builds over NHS plan to hide source code from AI hacking risk
News
Popular articles
Trending 91av articles
1
Woman in cancer remission without treatment in highly unusual case
2
Man destined for Alzheimer's may have been saved by accidental therapy
3
The 50-year quest to create a quantum spin liquid may finally be over
4
Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia
5
We have figured out a new way to send messages into the past
6
Honey has been used as medicine for centuries – does it really work?
7
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
8
Hantavirus: Where has the deadly cruise ship outbreak come from?
9
300-year-old experiment could become world's best dark matter detector
10
The problem of cosmic inflation and how to solve it
