George W. Stocking Jr., a historian of science who chronicled the norms, customs and tribal beliefs of modern anthropologists, documenting a history of racial bias and ethnocentrism as well as great insights, died on July 13 in Chicago. He was 84.

His death was confirmed by a daughter, Susan Stocking Baltrushes, who said his health had been declining for several years.

Professor Stocking, who taught history and anthropology at the University of Chicago, was best known for his studies of anthropology’s pioneers, most notably Edward Burnett Tylor, the self-taught 19th-century British theorist who is often called the father of the field, and Franz Boas, the German-American émigré who pioneered its practice in the United States.

Colleagues said his work helped produce a culture shift in anthropology during the 1960s and ’70s that heralded a growing respect for cultural diversity throughout society. “He was the in-house social critic,” said Raymond D. Fogelson, a professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago.