Who is Edward Sapir from Beyond Culture and what is their importance?

Edward Sapir was a linguist whose work predates that of Marshall McLuhan by thirty-five years and is extensively quoted on the topic of the relationship between language and experience. The practical usefulness of Sapir's model was demonstrated by Kluckhohn and Leighton in their pioneering work "The Navajo." Sapir's student, Whorf, is also credited with original work in the development of the field of language and thought.