Second ed. published in 1976 under title: Humanity and modern social thought.

Varieties of courage: an introduction to social thought.--The sacred and the profane: an introduction to Emile Durkheim.--Power, bureaucracy, money, and religion: the views of Max Weber.--The unanticipated consequences of human actions: the views of Robert King Merton.--Can science save us? The question of George A. Lundberg.--Statistics of deadly quarrels: the logic of Lewis F. Richardson.--The sociologist in anger: the views of C. Wright Mills.--Abundance, leisure, and loneliness: an introduction to David Riesman.--Humanity as the big con: the human views of Erving Goffman.--The use of sociology as bad faith: the views of Peter L. Berger.--The science of culture: the views of Leslie White.--The crisis of our age: the views of Pitirim A. Sorokin.--Cultural dreams and nightmares: observations by Jules Henry.--The formation of delinquent culture: Albert K. Cohen's theory of the gang.--How to lose at games: the coalition theories of Theodore Caplow.--The uses of sociological thought: a summary.