Harriet Martineau was an English social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female sociologist.

Martineau wrote more than 50 books and is significant to the discipline of sociology, not least in having translated various writings of Auguste Comte

Auguste Comte

Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte , better known as Auguste Comte , was a French philosopher, a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism...

, but also through her holistic perspective that 'When one studies a society, one must focus on all its aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions'.