This volume focuses on one important aspect of human sense-making - theory building - and strives to clarify the thesis that theories do not develop in some sort of social, intellectual or cultural vacuum, but are necessarily the products of specific times, insights and mindsets.

"Though Casmir's impressive and useful work appears to have been created as a textbook for upper-division undergraduates and for graduate students, it is apt to interest almost anyone studying theory building in general and communication theory in particular....this book deserves to be in any university library."
—CHOICE