Actually, I think it is anthropologist Julien Steward who is specifically associated 
with the name ecological anthro.

Charles

(((((((((((( 



Leslie White
1900-1975

Leslie White was an American anthropologist best known for his ideas about cultural 
evolution (White, Leslie A(lvin)). He was influenced by the Marxian economic theory, 
Darwinian evolutionary theory, and by what he learned while attending school and 
participating in fieldwork. 

When White got out of the Navy, he went to Louisiana State University, then to 
Columbia University, and lastly to the University of Chicago. He received a B.A. and a 
M.A. in psychology from Columbia University and a Ph. D. in sociology from the U of 
Chicago. Early on, White did fieldwork in Southwest America with the Keresan Pueblo 
Indians. He then taught at the University of Michigan (White, Leslie A(lvin)). He 
spent the last years of his life working at the University of California, Santa 
Barbara in the anthropology department. 

Throughout his life, White was interested in general evolution. He strongly supported 
the ideas of the 19th-century writers Herbert Spencer, Lewis H. Morgan and Edward 
Tylor . He adopted many of their ideas and gave them a fresh approach. He is known for 
developing the term "culturology". White coined this term because he believed that 
cultures should not be explained in terms of psychology, biology, or physiology, but 
rather in its own category. Culturology is defined as "the field of science which 
studies and interprets the distinct order of phenomena termed culture" 
(Anthropological Theories). 

White was especially interested by technological development. When speaking of 
technological advancements pertaining to how it affects culture White states, "culture 
advances as the amount of energy harnessed per captia per year increases, or as the 
efficiency or economy of the means of controlling energy is increased, or both" 
(Anthropological Theories). White felt that technology is a main factor within a 
cultural system. 

White presented many great ideas to the field of anthropology through essays and 
lectures, but what is most widely accepted as his greatest contribution is a series of 
essays called "The Science of Culture." 

References:
This picture reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.

"White, Leslie A(lvin)" Britannica Online. 

Smith, Karen. "Anthropological Theories." University of Alabama. 

Janet Nusser



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