"THE FIRST MEASURED CENTURY: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900–2000" by Theodore Caplow, Louis Hicks and Ben J. Wattenberg is a book about social change in the United States during the twentieth century. It relies on statistical trends to tell that awesome story.

This invaluable reference reveals surprising trends that define twentieth-century America.

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "The First Measured Century" is arguably the first statistical profile of the American nation that is a joy to read..."

Amazon.com: More than 100 years ago, U.S. President James Garfield predicted that the compilation of detailed statistics would ultimately provide us with a new way to view history. In the 1900s, America did indeed live up Garfield's prophesy by studiously measuring everything from population growth and occupational inclination to crime trends and food fads. The First Measured Century, produced in conjunction with a PBS special of the same name, expertly catalogs and analyzes the "numerical thinking" that has subsequently taken place.

Authors Theodore Caplow, Louis Hicks, and TV host Ben Wattenberg are all accomplished social scientists who have collectively produced dozens of books, articles, and television shows on the trends these statistics amplify. Here, they compile statistics derived from government sources and independent polling data into sections on work, education, family, religion, money, politics, business, and more. Each is further divided into single-page essays that begin with one overarching theme ("The concentration of working women in a few occupations diminished as they found employment throughout the economy") and conclude with charts and graphs that underscore the point (in this case, precisely how women left farming, domestic, and factory work from 1900 through 1998 for clerical and sales jobs, teaching, nursing, and other professional occupations). All in all, a highly informative--and entertaining--read. --Howard Rothman

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AEI Press licenses individual users to download and print one copy of The First Measured Century for private or educational use only. For any other use of downloaded material, please contact Virginia Bryant at AEI Press, 1150 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036 or by email: vbryant@aei.org

The First Measured Century Official Website

Read and Learn!

Select the Chapters for Fascinating Trends of the Twentieth Century.

About the Author:

Theodore Caplow is an adjunct scholar of the American Enterprise Institute, Commonwealth Proffessor of Sociology at the University of Virginia, and the author of many books, including "American Social Trends" (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1991). He was the principal investigator of the National Science Foundation-funded Middletown III project.

Louis Hicks is a research fellow at AEI, an associate professor of sociology at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and coauthor of "Systems of War and Peace" (University Press of America, 1995).

Ben J. Wattenberg is a senior fellow at AEI, a syndicated columnist, and moderator of the PBS show "Think Tank." His many books include "Values Matter Most" (Simon & Schuster, 1984), and, with Richard Scammon, "The Real Majority" (Coward McCann, 1970).

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