394 THE HUMAN MOTOR 



into elementary motions all the actions of a thoroughly competent 

 workman. Having done this we can observe and eliminate the 

 unnecessary and useless motions which are made by less com- 

 petent men in carrying out similar work. Such men should be 

 instructed by the exhibition of the results of cinematographic 

 synthesis. In their interests we must co-ordinate science and 

 experiment, figures and facts. For them, instructors must be 

 provided who can intelligently and tactfully combat " rule of 

 thumb " methods, who can enlist the sympathetic co-operation 

 of the workmen, and demonstrate to them the advantages of 

 scientific methods in industry. Instruction charts would be 

 provided for each class of work, summarising the results ob- 

 tained by competent experimentalists. For the sake of the 

 workmen, be they young apprentices or experienced journey- 

 men, the man of science will forsake the peaceful seclusion of his 

 laboratory and will bring to the realm of industry, to factory and 

 to workshop, the marvellous working tools of science which he 

 alone can use ; tools undreamt of by the first observers, to whom 

 the human machine was a mechanism working in mysterious and 

 unaccountable ways, in no measure referable to the ordinary laws 

 of mechanics. 



303. Historical Sketch. The scientific study of labour is no 

 more than 25 years old (this was written in 1914). In ancient 

 times there were no laws for the regulation of labour other than 

 those of slavery, by which it is unlikely that efficiency was 

 obtained. 



Until the laws of general mechanics were formulated, no study 

 of man, " the first prime mover," was possible. We owe the 

 inception of the science of mechanics to Galileo (1564-1642). He 

 established the principles governing the operation of simple 

 machines, such as the lever and the inclined plane, and the laws 

 of the resistance of materials. Out of curiosity he endeavoured 

 to apply these laws to living beings. He noted the phenomenon 

 of fatigue, and thought that it was explained by the fact that all 

 bodies tended to fall downwards. Hence the ascent of a stair 

 caused fatigue because it was an action against the force of 

 Gravity. When, however, he considered that fatigue was also 

 produced by a prolonged descent of a stair, he saw that the above 

 explanation was inadequate, and explained this by stating that 

 the muscles had to move not only their own weight, but that of 

 the skeleton, or even the whole body. This was so with the legs, 

 but he considered that the heart suffered no fatigue because it 

 had only to move its own mass.f 1 ) 



V'^n^o' !%!?' Mllan edition ' voL -. P- 55 8> 1911. (Leonardo de 

 Vmchi (1452-1519) who preceded Galileo, made some remarkable observa- 

 is on the attitudes and motions of the human body which should not be 

 overlooked. Trattato tella Pittura, Milan, 1804, p. 121, et seq.}. 



