Simon Schaffer is Reader in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, and a major figure in the field of science studies. This pamphlet, in part a take-off on George Stocking's work in the history of anthropology, offers an historical sketch of W.H.R. Rivers and Franz Boas, founding figures each with a hand in anthropology and physics. Schafer explores connections between the disciplinary logics they engaged, and the practices of "science" and "poetry".