Leslie White

Leslie White was an American anthropologist known for his work in the field of cultural anthropology. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of anthropology.

Leslie White is famous for his work on cultural evolution and his theory of cultural materialism. He argued that the development of cultures could be understood through technology and the amount of energy that societies are able to harness and utilize.

White's theory of cultural materialism suggested that the key determinant of cultural evolution is the amount of energy available to a society and how efficiently it is used. According to him, cultures with higher levels of energy capture and use will tend to be more advanced and complex.

Leslie White's most famous book is "The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilization to the Fall of Rome," published in 1959. In this book, he presents his theories on cultural evolution and provides a comprehensive overview of human history from a cultural perspective.

Leslie White's theories have had a lasting impact on the field of anthropology. His ideas about cultural evolution and cultural materialism continue to be influential and have been widely debated and built upon by subsequent generations of anthropologists.