In a broad sense, ergonomics is as old as humankind, or at least some point long ago in human history. Many trace its origins to that day when the first human realized that a sharp rock or a pointy stick was useful as a tool. Whoever it was, whenever it was, found a way to improve upon human capabilities by creating a tool. Peter Budnick traces those humble beginnings forward, highlighting key developments through history that have lead to what we recognize today as Ergonomics ... or Human Factors ... or whatever it is we do ... or whatever it is we call it ...

Peter Budnick reviews a fascinating article describing and analyzing newly rediscovered archives from the original Hawthorne experiments that took place in the late 1920's. The experiments were intended to demonstrate that better lighting would improve industrial productivity, but a variety of factors produced unexpected results, and the original data was thought to be destroyed in the aftermath. The so called Hawthorne Effect has been a subject of debate and speculation ever since and has influenced scientific methods and the fields of psychology, education, social sciences -- and ergonomics. Cornell researchers Izawa, French and Hedge share their findings.