Amazon.com description: Product Description: A selective and suggestive introduction to those theoretical ideas that inform the work of contemporary sociology! Sociological Theory: A Book of Readings, Fifth Edition helps readers become acquainted with the major classical theories that have emerged since Auguste Comte coined the term sociology and shows how certain concepts and theories first suggested by an earlier generation have been developed further at a later date. In addition, this compendium offers selections that present special propositions, specific concepts, or examples of substantive theorizing rather than discussions of integrated systems.