Abstract
Jack Goody (born 1919) is a British social anthropologist. He tries to understand the specific role which written communication has played in the development of social and cultural institutions in contemporary societies. He has also written on the history of the family and the anthropology of inheritance. He is member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the British Academy. Jack Goody questions many assumptions about the Uniqueness of the West and so, allows the development of better explanatory theories. He particularly directs his book to the Western anthropologists, who often consider the miraculous accomplishments of the West as a basic assumption in their work, and as a global and long-standing character. It's worth studying this because it has implications for social science and above all, for the perception of ourselves and of others.
