Career
His fieldwork was with the Penan of Borneo (1951-1952) and the Siwang of Malaysia (1953-1955). He was University Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Oxford University, 1956-1976. Professor of Social Anthropology, Oxford, 1976-1990.
Official Fellow, Merton College, Oxford, 1971-1975.
And Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford, 1976-1990. Among other things, he made a significant contribution to the study of family resemblance, introducing the terms "monothetic" and "polythetic" into anthropology.