Ernest Burgess

The book discussed many topics such as the history of sociology, human nature, investigating problems, social interaction, competition, conflicts, assimilation and more.

Overturning the arguments of a still ascendant eugenics movement, Burgess and Park argued that social disorganization, not heredity, is the cause of disease, crime and other characteristics of slum life.

As the passage of successive waves of immigrants through such districts demonstrated, it is the slum area itself, and not the particular group living there, with which social pathologies are associated.

Introduction to the Science of Sociology was so well organized and comprehensive that most graduate students, taught by University of Chicago alumni, were required to read it.

Burgess' groundbreaking research, in conjunction with his colleague, Robert E. Park, provided the foundation for The Chicago School.

Burgess has been credited with the birth of actuarial dangerousness prediction (Harcourt, 2006) The results showed that the scale worked well.

Burgess and Cottrell were however, often criticized for this work, since they attempted to measure marriage without actually including any component of love or affection.

This book was the third volume in a three part series of handbooks written by the Inter-University Training Institute in Social Gerontology.

This volume dealt with comparative data and trends on subjects such as population structure, employment, retirement, income, housing and medical insurance.

The second volume was made up of case studies from European countries and touched on such topics as housing, family relations, and senior centers.