A foundational figure in sociology and social theory, Georg Simmel developed a methodology for analyzing modernity by tracing Capitalism’s disorienting effects on social relations, aesthetics, perception and marginal minutiae, influencing Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), Georg Lukács (1885–1971) and others. Born in Berlin, Simmel is best remembered for his important 1903 essay, ‘Die Großstädte und das Geistesleben’ (‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’), which explores the non-committal, ‘blasé’ postures that city-dwellers adopt to cope with their bewildering urban environments.