The prominent sociologist Peter L. Berger (1929– ), in his 1963 book Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective,
describes a sociologist as “someone concerned with understanding society in a disciplined way.” He asserts that
sociologists have a natural interest in the monumental moments of people’s lives, as well as a fascination with banal,
everyday occurrences. Berger also describes the “aha” moment when a sociological theory becomes applicable and understood:
[T]here is a deceptive simplicity and obviousness about some sociological investigations. One reads them, nods at the familiar scene, remarks that one has heard all this before and don’t people have
better things to do than to waste their time on truisms—until one is suddenly brought up against an insight that radically questions everything one had previously assumed about this familiar scene.
This is the point at which one begins to sense the excitement of sociology. (Berger 1963)