It is our task to inquire into the causes that have brought about the observed differentiation, and to investigate the sequence of events that have led to the establishment of the multifarious forms of human life.

He applied the scientific method to the study of human cultures and societies; previously this discipline was based on the formulation of grand theories around anecdotal knowledge. Like many such pioneers he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics and did post-doctoral work in geography. Boas once summed up his approach to anthropology and folklore by saying: "In the course of time I became convinced that a materialistic point of view for a physicist a very real one was untenable.