Leslie White and Julian Steward and their theories of cultural evolution and cultural ecology were instrumental in the reemergence of evolutionist theories of culture in the 20th century and Harris took inspiration from them in formulating cultural materialism.
Leslie Whiteová a Julian Stewardová a jejich teorie o kulturní evoluci a kulturní ekologii byly nástrojem pro znovuobjevení evolučních teorií kultury ve 20. století a Harris se od nich inspiroval při formulaci kulturního materialismu.