ABSTRACT
Herbert Spencer's thought seemed to run more swiftly to issues of health than to his sociological vocation, and he did not even seem to be looking forward to a sociological vacation. Spencer's voyage to America was a dangerous pilgrimage because it challenged him to make these very connections. Spencer's writings were about providing a social realism, describing how social phenomena had emerged and how society worked. Somewhat ironically Spencer's criticism of American social life is itself based on interpreting the physical characteristics, especially the faces of Americans. Spencer had framed some of his sociological work in a context that almost led Americans who were informed to expect to meet an ill person. Spencer handled the Americans and American social development in his own way, protecting his own liberty behind a medical screen. Spencer was not immune to the social and technological changes that were so rapidly advancing around him whilst in America and they form the substance of his interview.
