Human Factors and Ergonomics Society: Stories from the First 50 Years
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THE HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY: STORIES FROM THE FIRST 50 YEARS Edited By Jack Stuster P.O. Box 1369 Santa Monica, CA 90406-1369 USA Copyright © 2006 by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Inc. All rights reserved. PREFACE One of the great moves of my 47-year career in human factors was asking my colleague, Jack Stuster, to collect and document stories from the first 50 years of the Society. His many pleasurable interactions with those who contributed to this effort and the wonderful stories that resulted turned out to be, according to Jack, truly a labor of love. Moreover, I think that whatever time you spend with these stories will be enjoyable for the insights and humor they contain, and for the understanding and appreciation they provide of our profession. The stories are still coming in even as I write this. Jack had several new stories waiting for him as he returned to work at the start of the week; Stu Parsons just called to make sure that an additional story he rounded up will make it in before the publica- tion deadline. Although it took some initial effort to get members thinking about their professional and Society experiences, and still more effort to convince them that their stories would be of sufficient interest to document in a Society publication, once the dam broke, the stories flooded in. So, this document has one editor and many authors. Some have written about the formation and early years of the profession and the Society. Fortunately, these reports come from members who were there and can provide first-hand accounts of these significant events. Some members have written about special events from their own careers, ranging from briefing Werner Von Braun’s staff on the intricacies of a sub- marine ballistic missile system, to reviewing the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear power station explosion in the Ukraine, to the trials and tribulations of teaching seagulls to detect downed pilots in the ocean. Others have contributed tales that, while they saw little humor in them at the time, seem pretty funny now, many years later. Some of the early pioneers of our field are no longer with us and, as a conse- quence, not immediately available to contribute stories of their own. However, they appear in this document in stories provided by their friends and colleagues. I’ll leave you with the words of one of these pioneers, David Meister, who was probably one the most prolific and critical observers of our profession. David actually did admit in writ- ing that the history of our profession was a success story and that human factors and ergonomics had become academically respectable as a distinct discipline. But he also admonished that, “our eyes should not be fixed on how far we have come, but on what we need to do in the next 50 years.” Douglas H. Harris Chair, HFES 50th Anniversary Task Force Santa Barbara, California August 2006 – i – TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 HUMAN FACTORS - NOTES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DISCIPLINE ..................... 3 Human Factors and Ergonomics by Stanley Roscoe..................................................... 5 The Early Years by Harold Van Cott................................................................................ 7 Ah, The Good Old Days by Walter Harper..................................................................... 8 The Weaning Years by Stanley Roscoe............................................................................ 10 The Adolescence of Engineering Psychology by Stanley Roscoe................................ 12 The Emergence of Small Human Factors Groups by Bob Blanchard ......................... 15 On the Passing of David Meister by Jim Baker .............................................................. 16 Early Large System Human Engineering Standards by Stuart Parsons ................... 20 Top-Down, Middle-Out, and Bottom-Up by Hal Hendrick.......................................... 21 Alex Williams, Investigator and Inventor by Stanley Roscoe...................................... 23 STORIES FROM THE CAREERS OF HUMAN FACTORS PROFESSIONALS ........... 27 Human Factors on the Moon by Tom Malone............................................................... 29 Putting “Flipper” to Work by Bob Blanchard................................................................. 31 A Human Factors Job to Die For! by Bob Blanchard..................................................... 32 Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? by Bob Smillie................................................ 33 Seagulls Lie by Barry Berson ............................................................................................ 34 Sushi for Breakfast by Barry Berson................................................................................ 35 “Missed It By That Much” by Barry Berson ................................................................... 35 And They All Moved On Down the Passageway by Stuart Parsons......................... 36 Never a Prophet in One’s Own Land (or Company) by John M. Caroll.................... 37 A Treasured Memory by Martin Helander .................................................................... 38 Age Is Relative by Gerald P. Krueger.............................................................................. 38 A Society By Any Other Name by H. W. Sinaiko.......................................................... 39 Oh, to Be a Star by Lewis F. Hanes.................................................................................. 40 My Introduction to Human Factors by Arnold M. Lund............................................. 41 Don’t You Know Anything? by Arnold M. Lund......................................................... 41 CEO Meets Human Factors by Arnold M. Lund........................................................... 42 A Time of Waste by Steve Rogers.................................................................................... 43 Glowing Reviews by Stuart Parsons............................................................................... 45 Chernobyl by Najmedin Meshkati.................................................................................... 46 Common Sense by Ken Laughery................................................................................... 47 Driving the Design by Richard Roesch............................................................................ 48 The Importance of Being Earnest by Richard Roesch ................................................... 49 – iii – Page STORIES FROM THE CAREERS OF HUMAN FACTORS PROFESSIONALS (CONTD.) Classified Information by Jack Stuster ........................................................................... 50 Stealth Human Factors by Roger Koppa ......................................................................... 51 A Failure to Communicate by Jack Stuster.................................................................... 52 Push Forward to Go, Pull Back to Stop by Roger Koppa.............................................. 53 Join the Human Factors Profession and See the World by Joseph Seminara ............ 54 Initiation Into the Human Factors Community by Charles Holmes Irwin ................ 55 Memorandum for the Chief of Naval Material by H. G. Rickover............................. 57 TALES FROM THE HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY ................ 59 Serendipity by Harry Wolbers.......................................................................................... 61 The Tulsa Meeting by Ezra Krendel................................................................................. 62 The Tulsa Meeting by H. W. Sinaiko................................................................................ 62 Local Chapters and Professional Affiliations by John Duddy...................................... 63 Beware of the Sweaty Palm by Doug Harris ................................................................. 64 Public Relations Chairman Involved in Brawl by Robert Besco.................................. 65 The “Harris Incident” by Bob Blanchard......................................................................... 66 The Splash at Myrtle Beach by Richard Hornick ............................................................ 67 Telephone Calls to the HFES Office by Lynn Strother................................................. 67 How I Joined the Staff of HFES by Lynn Strother........................................................ 68 Serious Business by Richard Hornick............................................................................... 69 Friendly Persuasion by Hal Hendrick.............................................................................. 70 A Frugal Faux Pas by Stuart Parsons.............................................................................. 70 Scorecard on the 1987 Annual Meeting in New York by Ed Israelski........................ 71 Another Touching HFES Moment by Dave Post .......................................................... 72 The Humane Factors of Being First and Last by Raja Parasuraman........................... 73 – iv – INTRODUCTION The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society is unusual, if not unique, among professional organizations. The primary purpose of the Society is to promote the dis- covery and exchange of knowledge concerning human behavior that is relevant to the design of tools, devices, equipment, vehicles, vessels, inhabited spaces, procedures,