This is a review of Leslie White and his three key works.

Leslie Alvin White was born in Colorado in 1900. An advocate of social evolution at a time when it had virtually disappeared from anthropology, following its rejection by Franz Boas and his students. His affirmation of evolutionism, his materialist-utilitarian interpretation of custom, and his call for a science of culture are the pillars of his scholarly reputation. White first attended Louisiana State University before transferring to Columbia University where he received a Bachelors Degree (1923) and a …

…-999. 1990 Interpreting Leslie White: Pessimism and Theory. American Anthropologist. 92:1019-1020. Hatch, Elvin 1990Leslie White's Materialism: A Comment on Barrett. American Anthropologist. 92:1018. White, Leslie A. 1949The Science of Culture: A Study of Man and Civilization. New York: Grover Press, Inc. 1959The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilization to the Fall of Rome. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 1975The Concept of Cultural Systems: A Key to Understanding Tribes and Nations. New York: Columbia University Press.