“Is human life better or worse now than it was in the past?” So begins this introductory chapter to Bruce Mazlish’s book, “A New Science,” where he lays out his intent to examine the historical origins of sociology, especially in terms of its relationship to the humanities and economics. These questions are approached from the perspective that the transition into the modern era was perceived as a breakdown in connections of all kinds. To this end the author also examines the omnipresent substitution of money for personal relations, sometimes called a “cash nexus.”
