Tylor Edward BEdward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917) was an English anthropologist who is best known for his contributions to the field of cultural anthropology. Tylor was a pioneer in the study of culture and his work helped to establish anthropology as a distinct acadmic discipline. He is credited with developing the concept of "culture" as a way to understand human societies and their beliefs, customs, and practices. Tylor's most influential work was his book "Primitive Culture" (1871), in which he explored the evolution of human thought and culture. He argued that all societies, regardless of their level of development, had a "primitive" stage in which their beliefs and practices were based on animism and a belief in spiritual beings. According to Tylor, as societies developed, they abandoned these primitive beliefs and practices in favor of more rational and scientific ones. Tylor's ideas were controversial in his time, but they had a lasting impact on the field of anthropology. His emphasis on the study of culture and his belief in the universality of human development helped to establish anthropology as a distinct discipline. Tylor also contributed to the development of the theory of evolution by showing how cultural evolution paralleled biological evolution. Read More Read Less