The First Measured Century : An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000

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Summary: A MUST READ!
Review: The First Measured Century is one of the top illustrated guides to trends in America. It covers from 1900-2000, a century where there were numerous technological advancements, and changes in ideas and ways of life. This book documents these changes in an easy to read, clear and concise fashion. The best part of the book is there is one page that has a chart or charts displaying the trend and one page that has an explanation of the sociological explanations behind the trend. (Make note of the colors in the different graphs; they are symbolic!) The explanations are very interesting because many of the trends run contrary to belief and have sociological explanations that I never would have guessed. Aren't you interested in why Middletown high school students had changing views between agreeing/disagreeing with the statements "Christianity is the one true religion and all people should be converted to it" and "It is wrong to go to the movies on Sunday." Whether you are in search of informative data or an interesting read, sit back, indulge and come out a smarter, more cultured person.

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Summary: Great scholarly work, and a nice coffee table book too!
Review: The First Measured Century is the perfect complement to a well-balanced Ivy League education as well as a great collection of trivial data that will astound your friends and co-workers. Formatted in a very easy to follow combination of graphs and in-depth discussion; the book addresses nearly all conceivable trends in the twentieth century. The breadth of discussion makes it a must for anyone studying social trends.

Rating:
Summary: Great scholarly work, and a nice coffee table book too!
Review: The First Measured Century is the perfect complement to a well-balanced Ivy League education as well as a great collection of trivial data that will astound your friends and co-workers. Formatted in a very easy to follow combination of graphs and in-depth discussion; the book addresses nearly all conceivable trends in the twentieth century. The breadth of discussion makes it a must for anyone studying social trends.

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Summary: Make your friends think your smarter than you really are!
Review: The First Measured Century is the quintessential 20th century social trend book. It has been indispensable to me in the short amount of time that I've owned it. The language and charts are very straight-forward, understandable, and presented in a neat and uncluttered fashion that is easy to retain. It makes for a really fascinating read. It turns out that the social trends of the 20th century aren't always what you would expect them to be; Which means there's plenty of information here to impress your friends, family, co-workers, and professors.

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Summary: Fantastic Book!
Review: The text is concise, informative and entertaining, the charts easy to follow without being watered down. The collective experience and expertise of the authors and their sound data collection and presentation make the First Measured Century an excellent resource for students in search of data and teachers looking for reliable texts. Beyond that, the book is an excellent means for making social science - past and current - accessible to the greater public while still interesting to those in the field. The references cited provide ample direction for further research. Highly recommended!

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Summary: The Greatest Book of Social Trends
Review: This book is full of valuable information on the social trends of the US. It provides information on all aspects of our social world. These trends are professionally written and beautifully displayed. This book is one of our nations prized accounts of American life. I recommend this book for any person who wishes to learn more about the intimate lives of those in 20th Century America. It is also a wonderful gift that will be treasured by your loved ones and passed down through the generations.

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Summary: The best sociological book ever!!
Review: This book is truly the most enjoyable sociology related text that I have read to date. The information found in both the graphs and the text are indespinsible, at least for those of us that want to live a full and knowledgeable life. The text is also extremely well written. Whereas most academic books of this caliber bore the reader with terms and concepts that cannot be understood, this book does no such thing. It consistently interesting and never confusing. I have never read a better sociological book. I would also like to strongly disagree with a previous review that said that this book should not be called a book. Clearly, it is a book, as it has pages with words on them. Clearly, whoever wrote that review should not be allowed to write reviews because The First Measured Century is definitely one of the best books ever.

Rating:
Summary: The best sociological book ever!!
Review: This book is truly the most enjoyable sociology related text that I have read to date. The information found in both the graphs and the text are indespinsible, at least for those of us that want to live a full and knowledgeable life. The text is also extremely well written. Whereas most academic books of this caliber bore the reader with terms and concepts that cannot be understood, this book does no such thing. It consistently interesting and never confusing. I have never read a better sociological book. I would also like to strongly disagree with a previous review that said that this book should not be called a book. Clearly, it is a book, as it has pages with words on them. Clearly, whoever wrote that review should not be allowed to write reviews because The First Measured Century is definitely one of the best books ever.

Rating:
Summary: Makes statistics interesting
Review: This book, which has charts of nearly every measurable statistical trend in America from 1900-2000, is an excellent read. Far from being a dry cluster of survey data, it includes with each group of charts a corresponding page explaining the sociological reasons behind the data. I assure anyone who hasn't read this book that they are in for a number of suprises, as many of the trends illustrated in fact run contrary to popular 'taken for granted' misconceptions. The First Measured Century is concise but thorough, well-written but easy to follow. You definitely won't be able to put it down.

And there is definitely a FULL LIST of sources at the end of the book, just as you would expect. So it's perfect for continuing study.

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Summary: Sound social science, but no help for further study
Review: This is a very fascinating collection of data about American society. It is very sound social science as far as it goes; the statistics are professionally presented and are often strikingly revealing, especially when they are counter-intuitive. But there is a most serious flaw in this book: the authors give no guidance whatever to further reading. Say you are interested in crime (Chapter 12). You will see a lot here that will surprise you. But if your curiosity has been aroused by the chapter, you will need to read at least some of the the scholarly literature before you have understood what the data mean. How would you locate this scholarly material ? The authors of this book give you no help. Shame on them !