 Szacki is perhaps most noted for his monumental "Historia myśli socjologicznej" ("History of Sociological Thought").Written in Minneapolis and Oxford and originally published in English in 1979, it failed to make a strong impact on international sociology, but remains a popular textbook among Polish teachers and students of sociology until this day.The updated edition of 2002 was awarded with the Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science "(Nagroda Fundacji na rzecz Nauki Polskiej)", colloquially dubbed the "Polish Nobel Prize", in 2003

In the 1970s, Szacki began to maintain contacts with oppositional circles, although he never became an active figure in politics.