author
Edward Alsworth Ross
1866–1951
A pioneering American sociologist, he helped shape the young field of sociology in the United States and wrote widely for both scholars and general readers. His work often asked how society guides behavior and how modern life changes communities.
1 Audiobook
The Old World in the New The Significance of Past and Present Immigration to the American People
by Edward Alsworth Ross
About the author
Born in Virden, Illinois, in 1866, Edward Alsworth Ross became one of the early builders of American sociology. He taught at several universities and emerged as a prominent public voice on social questions at a time when sociology was still defining itself as a discipline.
Ross is especially remembered for writing about social control and for trying to build broad theories about how societies hold together, influence behavior, and respond to change. He was also active in the American Sociological Association and helped establish sociology as a serious area of study in the United States.
His career was influential but also controversial, reflecting the intense public debates of his era. Even so, his books and teaching left a lasting mark on the development of American social thought, and he remains an important figure in the history of sociology.