The study of the origins of sociology and its first developments was a concern of Durkeim in several passages of his life and his work. Sometimes he was Sismondi and Saint-Simon (1895-1896), other times Comte (1915-1916) or, in general, the history of sociological doctrines (1901-1902), as the prologist points out. Gonzalo Cataño's "prologue" presents a guide for reading the text, while that of the same Colombian sociologist offers a reference to Durkeim's works that have been translated into Spanish. A century later, it is fruitful to observe the development of the social sciences and, especially, of sociology. In Montesquieu's time history was still in its infancy and statistics ("that new discipline," according to Durkeim) was not yet in wide use despite the fact that Quetelet had placed its guiding principles after the generalization of" political arithmetic" in both English and Continental studies in the early eighteenth century.