Weber, Alfred

Weber, Alfred (1868–1958)
German economist, brother of Max, who contributed to theories which explain patterns of industrial location as the outcome of competition for the most advantageous (cost-minimizing/profit-maximizing) locations; and, through this, to the development of geography as a social science. However, he is perhaps best known to sociologists for his cultural sociology (see Fundamentals of Culture-Sociology, 1920–1), in which he analyses the relationship between the growth of knowledge (especially science and technology) and the ‘culture’ (or ‘soul’) of civilizations.