Lester Frank Ward
Lester Frank Ward (born June 18, 1841 in Joliet , Illinois , † April 18, 1913 in Washington, DC ) was an American paleobotanist and sociologist . He was an important founding father of American sociology and the first president of the American Sociological Association . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Ward ".
Life
Ward's family could not afford a higher education and so he mainly taught himself Latin, Greek, German and other languages as well as mathematics. He grew up in Illinois and Myersburg, Pennsylvania, where he worked in his brother's wagon wheel store. In the early 1860s he took classes at the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, Towanda, Pennsylvania. In 1862 he married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Carolyn Vought. He then fought on the side of the Northern States in the Civil War and was badly wounded near Chancellorsville. From 1865 he worked for the US Treasury in Washington DC and also studied at George Washington University (then Columbian University). In 1869 he received his first Bachelor of Arts (“AB”), in 1871 another as a Bachelor of Laws (“LL.B.”) and in 1873 his Master of Arts (“AM”). After his wife Lizzie died in 1872, he married his second wife Rosamond Asenath Simons a year later. From 1882 he was employed at the USGS, initially as an assistant geologist, from 1889 as a geologist and from 1892 as a paleontologist, a position he held until 1906. In addition, from 1882 he was an honorary curator for paleobotany at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. In 1906 he gave up both activities to accept the chair in sociology at Brown University . Previously, in addition to his work at the USGS, he had earned a reputation as a pioneer in sociology in the USA through several books.
plant
On the basis of his progress hypothesis, he assumed that social hardship and poverty could be minimized through systematic state interventions based on meliorism , here in the understanding of a science of improving society. A sociology interfering in the social and economic life of American society should regulate competition, connect people on the basis of equal opportunity and cooperation, and promote happiness and freedom for all. With this Ward stood in opposition to the social Darwinist ideas that were widespread in economics, politics and sociology as well as the laissez-faire doctrine and development determinism.
Works
- Guide to the Flora of Washington, DC and Vicinity . Washington, 1881.
- Dynamic Sociology , Or Applied social science as bases upon statical sociology and the less complex sciences, (2 volumes), New York, Appleton & Co., 1883 (2nd ed., 1897). Vol. I. ( Memento from February 25, 2010 on WebCite ) (2,430 kB - PDF) - Vol. II. ( Memento from January 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (2,396 kB - PDF)
- Sketch of Paleo-Botany , Washington, 1885.
- Synopsis of the Flora of the Laramie Group, 1886.
- Types of the Laramie Flora, 1887.
- The Psychic Factors Of Civilization ( Memento from February 25, 2010 on WebCite ) , Boston, Ginn & Co., 1893. (1,726 kB - PDF)
- Contributions to Social Philosophy ( Memento January 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , 1895–1897. (596 kB - PDF)
- Outlines of Sociology ( Memento January 3, 2007 on the Internet Archive ) , New York, Macmillan, 1898 (reprinted 1913). (609 kB - PDF)
- Contemporary Sociology ( Memento of January 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , Am. Journal of Sociology, 1902. (333 kB - PDF)
- Pure Sociology. A Treatise on the Origin and Spontaneous Development of Society ( Memento from January 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , Boston, Ginn & Co, 1903. (2,625 kB - PDF)
- Pure sociology . A treatise on the origin and spontaneous development of society. Trans. V. J. v. Unger. 2 vols. Innsbruck, Wagner 1907/09.
- A Text-book of Sociology , together with James Q. Dealey, London, Macmillan, 1905.
- Applied Sociology. A Treatise on the Conscious Improvement of Society by Society ( Memento from January 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , Boston, Ginn & Co. 1906. (2,305 kB - PDF)
- Glimpses of the Cosmos , Comprising His Minor Contributions Now Republished, Together with Biographical and Historical Sketches of All His Writings, New York & London: GP Putnam's Sons, 1913–1918. 6 volumes, posthumously.
literature
- Bernhard J. Stern (Ed.), Young Ward's Diary , New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1935.
- Cape, Emily P., Lester Frank Ward: A Personal Sketch , New York, 1922. (The official biography).
- Chugerman, Samuel., Lester Frank Ward The American Aristotle. A Summary and Interpretation of His Sociology , Durham, NC, Duke UP, 1939.
- Burnham, John C., Lester Frank Ward in American thought , Washington, DC, 1956.
- Rafferty, Edward C., Apostle of Human Progress. Lester Frank Ward and American Political Thought, 1841/1913 , New York / Oxford, 2003.
- Commager, Henry Steele; The American Mind; Chapter 10: Lester Ward and the Science of Society; Yale University Press; 1950.
- Becker, Ernest; Escape From Evil; Free Press, reissue edition; 1985.
- Finlay, Barbara; Lester Frank Ward as a Sociologist Of Gender: A New Look at His Sociological Work; Gender & Society, Vol. 13, No. 2, 251-265 (1999) http://gas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/2/251
- Ravitch, Diane; Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms; Simon & Schuster; Chapter one: The Educational Ladder http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/r/ravitch-back.html
- Mers, Adelheid; Fusion (graphic art, needs to be magnified) http://adelheidmers.org/aweb/fusion.pdf
- Rafferty, Edward C .; "The Right to the Use of the Earth": Herbert Spencer, the Washington Intellectual Community, and American Conservation in the Late Nineteenth Century; http://www.historians.org/annual/2006/06program/precirculated/Session145_Rafferty.pdf
Web links
- American Sociological Association: Lester Ward .
- Hall of Fame: Lester F. Ward , cityofjoliet.com.
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Lester Frank Ward Papers .
- Author entry and list of the described plant names for Lester Frank Ward at the IPNI
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Ward, Lester Frank |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American sociologist |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1841 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Joliet (Illinois) |
DATE OF DEATH | April 18, 1913 |
Place of death | Washington, DC |