The mind of primitive man : $b A course of lectures delivered before the Lowell Institute, Boston, Mass., and the National University of Mexico, 1910-1911

"The Mind of Primitive Man" by Franz Boas examines cultural and mental growth while questioning common ideas about race. The book, which comes from lectures given in the early 1900s, looks at why people think those in civilized societies are better than those in primitive societies. Boas argues against ideas of racial superiority that are based on culture or body differences. He presents the idea that the environment, more than inherited traits, shapes the differences between primitive and civilized groups; further, he plans to investigate how nature and nurture affect people.