Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth

Original Abstract

In 1928 Margaret Mead announced her stunning discovery of a culture in which the storm and stress of adolescence didn't exist. The resulting book, Coming of Age in Samoa has since become a classic - and the best-selling anthropology book of all time. Within the nature-nurture controversy that still divides scientists, Mead's evidence has long been a crucial negative instance, an apparent proof of the sovereignty of culture over biology.