Part Four Summary and Analysis

Clarence King has a charasmatic personality and was a well respected scientist. Yet even this formidible character was daunted by the enormous task of his new position. King's personal interests did not lie with public service and he spent little time on his government responsibilities, pursuing women and wealth instead. When King finally officially left his post, he named Powell as his replacement. Powell then assumes joint directorship of the Bureau of Ethnology and the Bureau of Geology, with over a decade of experience in the halls of Congress and the back rooms of politics. Powell was now at the core of American science.

The author presented the system Powell used to divide the Science of Man into five smaller sciences. Powell drew upon the work of Lewis Morgan in defining the myths of the American Indian tribes, and...