A leading theorist of the interaction between individualism and social organization, Robert MacIver was born April 17, 1882, in the small town of Stornoway on the island of Lewis, most northerly of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. His father, Donald, came from a long line of farming country people; his mother, Christina Morrison, was from town and, as Morrison himself said in his autobiography, was "more sophisticated, less tradition-bound." His parents sent him away at the age of 16 to the University of Edinburgh and Oxford University for his classical education. His teaching career began in 1907 when he accepted a post as lecturer in political science and sociology at Aberdeen University. In 1915, he journeyed to Canada and the University of Toronto where he was first a professor and then head of the department of political science. MacIver earned a PhD from Edinburgh in 1917. He remained at Toronto until 1927, during which time he...