Ergonomics was invented from the Greek ergon (work) and nomos (study). This word appeared for the first time in a Polish study by Wojciech Jastrzębowsk The Outline of Ergonomics; i.e. the Science of Work as early as 1857. But even though early work was done on the subject in Poland, the word entered the English language by a very different route. After all, the first translation of the Polish work into English was only in 1997.
This is not to say that the subject was not examined in detail. Seminal work on the subject included extensive research done in the Soviet Union. The target was to achieve maximum efficiency with lowest level of health hazards. This was exemplified in the First Conference on Scientific Management of Labour held in Moscow in 1921.
Much work was also done by the military, especially in the United States. One of the first aims or ergonomics aim was to find the optimum design for cockpits. This led to the first simulator and the invention and understanding of the phases “human factor” and “pilot error”.
Officially the word enters English with the foundation of the Ergonomics Research Society (now the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors). This happened in July 1949.
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