Robert Ezra Park: American Social Ecologist

Abstract

This paper is a brief investigation of some of the factors which can be found in the thinking of writers prior to the Twentieth Century which influenced the later formation of this school of ecological thought. It also takes a look at some of the events which occurred in the life history of Robert Ezra Park which stimulated him into his career, and at some of the factors which molded his thinking. Lastly, it is a brief summary of Park's basic thinking in the development of the ecological approach to the study of the American city and society, and at his significance in today's sociological discipline.