As a social scientist, it seems unavoidably clear that Dickens could never be said to be ahead of his time, certainly he was not very capable. However, Dickens was truly an artist when he described characters. Thus the incredible extremes of goodness or depravity of characters such as Jonas Chuzzelwit, Bill Sykes, Tom Pinch, or Nancy in "Oliver Twist", among others. These characterizations were loved by Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg.