Some questions on Franz Boas?

For a research paper, you'll probably want to cite more references than just Wikipaedia ... however, the Wikipaedia article is a great place to start your own reading to get a broad overview. (see link below).

He was active in the "early days" of anthropology as a distinct academic discipline - late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was undoubtedly brilliant, and a founding pioneer of anthropology - although his ongoing fame and influence is much stronger in American anthropology, than in the British tradition (not to say he's ignored in British anthropology, just that he isn't quite as famous a towering figure as he is in the US).

His contributions are enormous and cover many different areas within anthropology - physical, social/cultural, and linguistic. Perhaps his most significant contribution was to look at human society as a collective response to the geography and environment; instead of an aggregation of individual responses. Earlier anthropological work had tended to see peoples in a more individual light - eg "why do primitive people choose to remain primitive? Is there something unusual about their brains?" etc. Boas was one of the founders who turned the question around, to ask "how is it that primitive peoples' societies are a sensible response to their historical and geographical situation.

There are many whole books written on the work of Franz Boas - any college library should provide a lot of sources for you.

Hope it helps.

Franz Boas Bibliography