io6 



NATURE 



i ( )( D n;i i; IO, igi8 



of lines has vanished, whilst the less refrangible set 

 i i : i ■■ increased velocity, which on the night 



of Jun< ".I s estimated al i860 km. sec. This 



motion reminds one ol eruptive promm- 

 ted from the sun, and, if confirmed, would 

 I he action of a repulsive forci 



The hydrogen emission bands are verj intense and 

 well defined in all the photographs, especially Ha and 

 il.;. luii in the ultra-violel beyond HS the) become 

 feeble and difficult to distinguish, whilst the absorp- 

 tion lines are strongest and persist longest in the 

 ultra-violet, where they have been photographed up to 

 11- on June 18 m. The I la line stands cut isolated 

 and without absorption in all the plates except the 

 earliest one exoosed on rune 1 ; < 1. On this plate the 

 continuous spectrum is faintly visible near it, and the 

 two displaced absorption lines corresponding with the 

 two velocities mentioned above are clear]? shown. The 

 H/3 emission band on fune 20 extends from A 4834 to 

 A 4.88s. and within ii are three maxima at 4857, 4864, 

 and 4*880. 



Thf last plate secured was exposed on July 11, the 

 star 1 1. 1. 1 l' then of magnitude ;'>. 'This photograph 

 shows 1 mission bands onlv, extending to Hij, and there 

 is no appreciable absorption, even in the ultra-violet. 

 The nebula emission Land at 500: lias greath increased 

 in relative brightness, in accordance with precedent. 



Kodaikanal, Vugust 6 J. Evershed. 



THE "TAYLOR" SYSTEM OF 

 " SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT." 



DURING the last year or two much attention 

 has been given to the results of anal) ses 

 of industrial operations obtained by Dr. F. W. 

 Taylor in the United States, and a system of 

 scientific management has been based upon them. 

 Advocates of the "Taylor" system claim that, by 

 the thorough analysis and investigation of the 

 actual practice of manufacture, it has been pos- 

 sible to deduce certain principles applicable to all 

 industry. These principles* are not so co- 

 ordinated and developed as the laws of physical 

 science, because, although the result of industry 

 —the production of concrete material things — is 

 physical, the actual process of production by 

 human brains and hands is not a physical, but a 

 il, process. Only those who maintain that 

 social laws cannot be discovered which will explain 

 and govern the actions of society can consistently 

 argue that the "Taylor" principles applied to 

 industry are not scientific. 



In the early davs of mechanical invention pro- 

 gress 1 t.tirely by trial and error. At the 

 present day almost all invention is the result of 

 laborious . ition and research, and the 

 developmein invention and design has been 

 greatly accel the application of scientific 



method. The o ; id minuteness of detail 



shown in the 1 irking drawings of a 



modern engineer: u ld have been beyond 



the comprehensioi ithers, who could 



not decide such thin fs , bul had to work 



by rule-of-thumb application of 



ience to engineering A ign has made all this 



elbprnenl a matter of coursi the present 



rations Science has madi idway in 



bei ause a km >v ledgi oi rs ol the 



1 2554, VOL. I02] 



strength ol mate rials, and ol magnetism and elec- 

 tricity, are essential to the design of steam and 

 electric mac limes ; and once a man is forced to use 

 science as tin basis ol his work, he- is more likely 



to evolve scientific methods in connection with the 



numerous detail i and routine of actual produi linn. 



In this direi tion, however, then- is still much that 

 can be done, but the fad to realise is thai in this 

 field of human effort si ientific method ' s accepted 

 by practical];, all. 



When we come to the actual purchase, storing, 



and handling ol materials required for production, 



we find no equivalent to the modern scientific 

 designer and draughtsman. We find a varied 

 collection of buyers, storekeepers, and clerks. It 

 is safe to say that very few of these types of 

 workers have the haziest notion of what scientific 

 methods arc, or how they could be applied to their 

 work. Il is probably unfair to expect this, as 

 they are all highly trained by rule of thumb. 

 Planning and co-operation, which are among the 

 basic principles of scientific management, are 

 usually glaringly absent, and where production is 

 not held up by lack of material, this is accom- 

 plished b) prodigal expenditure and, conse- 

 quently, inefficiency in the use of material. 

 Nevertheless, method is accepted in this direction 

 also, without much controversy. It is agreed that 

 works should be built so that they can be easil) 

 expanded without mixing up all the departments, 

 and laid out so that material can travel as 

 continuously as possible from one process to 

 another, until completed, with the minimum 

 amount of cross or backward travel. It is agreed 

 that materials should be purchased with some 

 relation to the output, the time required to deliver, 

 and the number of times to be repurchased in 

 the year, so as to guarantee material when 

 required, without at the same time locking up 

 more capital in stocks than is necessary. It is 

 agreed that stores should be large, roomy, and 

 completely closed in, and nothing issued without 

 proper requisition ; and that men from the store 

 should move material to the shops so that the time 

 of the skilled men is not wasted seeking after 

 material. 



There are hundreds of systems for doing these 

 things — in fact, each firm must evolve the one 

 most suitable lor itself; but the principles under- 

 lying all these varied systems are the same; and 

 once a manager has a grasp of these principles 

 he can quickly plan a system, and with time and 

 continual care will get it to work. Buyers, store- 

 keepers, and clerks have no scientific training, 

 and, consequently, they seldom see the principles 

 involved. To unscientific minds there is little or 

 no co-ordination or correlation; everything is 

 more or less in watertight compartments; they 

 cannot see the extraordinary interdependence of 

 all sections id industry. As, however, this type 

 of labour is not numerous, and has no organised 

 objection to improved methods, it is possible to 

 improve matters comparatively quickly with a 

 reasonable expenditure of will and mental energj 

 on the- part of the management. 



