51¶¯Âþ

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.