Ethnology (greek ethnos: (non-greek, "barbarian") people) is a genre of anthropological study, involving the systematic comparison of the folklore, beliefs and practices of different societies. Among its goals are the reconstruction of human history, and the formulation of laws of culture and culture change, and the formulation of generalizations about human nature. In some parts of the world (like the USA and Great Brittain) it is also referred to as cultural anthropology, although it is not entirely the same. Ethnology has been a scientific discipline since the late 18th century but many of the world' s best known minds of all times have been studying various peoples and their traits. Some Greek authors even went so far as to associate non-human characteristics to people whose way of life they did not understand. Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, forms one of four commonly-recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ... Folkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore such as fairy tales and folk mythology in oral or non-literary traditions. ... History is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in geologic history of the Earth. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. ... This article is about law in society. ... Look up Culture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has news related to this article: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin... Human nature is the fundamental nature and substance of humans, as well as the range of human behavior that is believed to be invariant over long periods of time and across very different cultural contexts. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

List of scholars of ethnology

• Yanagita Kunio
• Amadou Hampâté Bâ
• Audrey Richards
• Wilhelm Schmidt
• Francois Bizot
• Katerina Kratzmann

Yanagita Kunio (柳田 国男 1875-1962) is a scholar who is often known as a father of Japanese ethnology. ... Amadou Hampâté Bâ (January or February 1900 or 1901 in Bandiagara, Mali – May 15, 1991 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast) was a Malian writer and ethnologist. ... Wilhelm Schmidt (1868-1954) was a German linguist, anthropologist, and ethnologist. ...

Websites relating to ethnology

• http://www.ethnologue.com/ describes the languages and ethnic groups found worldwide, grouped by host nation-state.