He has been described as "the founding father of 21st-century sociology" and "one of the world's preeminent sociologists and historians" as his "scholarship was unsurpassed, his humanity of the highest order, his spirit unwavering." After his death, numerous special journal issues, conferences, awards and obituaries appeared in his honor. He was an influential proponent of large-scale historical social science research. The title of Tilly's 1984 book "Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons" is characteristic of his particular approach to social science research.