Sociology in Poland has been developing, as has sociology throughout Europe, since the mid-19th century. Although, due to the Partitions of Poland, that country did not exist as an independent state in the 19th century or until the end of World War I, some Polish scholars published work clearly belonging to the field of sociology. Contemporary Polish sociology is a vibrant social science with its own experts and currents of thought. Jan Stanisław Bystroń wrote in 1917 that Polish sociology is — as is any other national sociology — a notable and distinct field: