ABSTRACT
The study of youth is central to James Coleman's work. In turn, James Coleman's work on youth is central to our understanding of youth development in modern society. His work has been important for five independent reasons. It generated important substantive findings and theoretical insights. It developed innovative research designs. It marked the beginning of large-scale social projects. It played a pivotal role in policy and it illustrated the power of social sciences as a basis for policy. Finally, Coleman heralded the age of the social scientist as a media star. Each of these contributions made a major impact in the field, as reflected in other chapters in this volume, which discuss each of these aspects in greater detail. Coleman's work on youth was also central to my own career, as will become apparent in the personal postscript that I have included in this chapter.
