On this day 167 years ago, on July 9, 1858 (May 29, 1858), the American anthropologist Franz Boas was born. Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 - November 22, 1942) was one of the founders of modern anthropology and is known as "the father of American anthropology." Like many pioneers, he studied in other disciplines: he got his ideas from physics, and did his pre-doctoral work in geography. Boas still has an immortal influence on anthropology to this day. Virtually all anthropologists today accept Boas's dedication to empiricism and his methodological cultural relativism. In addition, virtually all cultural anthropologists today share Boas's contributions to fieldwork, which included long-term residency, learning local languages, and developing social connections with information providers. Finally, anthropologists continue to honor his critique of racial ideology. In his 1963 book Race: TheHistoryofanIdeainAmerica, Thomas Gossett wrote, "Perhaps Boas did more to combat racial prejudice than any other person in history." Review: A Master Scholar in a Hundred Years.