The Rediscovery Of Character.

The obituaries for James Q. Wilson, the eminent social scientist, generally emphasized his ''broken windows'' theory on how to reduce crime. That's natural. This strategy, which contributed to the recent reduction in crime rates, was his most tangible legacy. But broken windows was only a small piece of what Wilson contributed, and he did not consider it the center of his work. The best way to understand the core Wilson is by borrowing the title of one of his essays: ''The Rediscovery of Character.'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]