This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables. Abstract This massive tome is designed for college students who seek a broad-based introduction to sociology. This brilliant anthology of original papers constitutes a major revolution in our thinking about the nature and determinants of our society. The various authors established a central theme—a "theory of action" within which sociology as a discipline has a strategic place in the academic community. By the careful selection of papers and a rich introduction to each section the editors indicate that the patterning of social interaction and their coherence as social systems are internalized within the personality of the individual. This text cuts across the bounds of many disciplines. At the central core of the theory of social systems the authors, such as Pareto, Weber, and Durkheim, synthesize economic, political, and nonrational components into a unified whole. Freud, Cooley, Mead, and Thomas provided a sophisticated dimension by integrating and articulating the role of human