AbstractThe previous literature concerning the origin of the termsocial sciencehas traced the earliest usage of the English phrase to J. S. Mill in 1829 and of the Frenchscience socialeto Charles Fourier in 1808. A prior, albeit vague, employment of the term is found in a 1785 letter by John Adams. In addition, an unambiguous usage ofsocial sciencehas been discovered in the 1825Articles of Agreementof the London Cooperative Society. The labelsocial scientistappears as early as 1875.