Karl H. E. Kroemer - Bases of Human Factors Engineering/ Ergonomics

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

This fifth edition of Engineering Physiology has the same purpose as the earlier prints: To provide physiological information which engineers, designers, managers and many other persons need to make work and equipment fit the human.

We chose the title Engineering Physiology in the 1980s to indicate our treatment of the topic. The book does not take the place of standard (biological-medical-chemical) textbooks on human physiology; instead, it models and describes the human body in terms that provide practical, design-oriented information on essential features and functions.

Even an audacious engineer wouldnt dare to devise a system as complicated as the human body. Yet, what we design, whether simple tools or complex structures, must suit the humans who use them. Therefore, understanding how the human body functions, what it can do with ease (or, worst, barely tolerate) is the basis of human-centered engineering.

This book helps lay the foundations for teamwork among engineers and physiologists, chemists, biologists and physicians. Bioengineering topics concern bones and tissues, neural networks, biochemical processes, anthromechanics, biosensors and prosthetics, perception of information and related actions, to mention just a few areas of common interest.

Such understanding provides the underpinnings for devising work tasks, tools, workplaces, vehicles, work-rest schedules, human-machine systems, homes and designed environments so that we humans can work and live safely, efficiently and comfortably. This is the field of ergonomics or human (factors) engineering, terms often used interchangeably.

Every chapter starts with a model:

When developing models we must realize that selecting certain features, drawing distinctions, making classifications usually imposes artificial divisions of our own choosing upon a universe that is, in many ways, all in one piece. We do such modeling because it helps us in our attempted understanding of the intricate system. It breaks down a set of objects and phenomena too complex to be grasped in their entireties into smaller realms that we can deal with one by one. There is nothing objectively true about such models; the only proper criterion of their value is their usefulness. (Slightly altered from Isaac Asimov, 1963, The Human Body, p. 13. Signet, New York.)

Basic human physiological characteristics did not change in recent years, though body sizes did. The previous editions of this book (in 2010, 1997, 1990, and 1986) contain listings of earlier publications. In this fifth edition, we are referring mostly to recent publications, along with selected classic references.

Traditional practice was to support statements in the text by listing the names of the authors, and of their co-authors, who wrote previously on that topic. That wordy custom disrupts the flow of reading, especially when there are strings of names and dates. To avoid that problem, we simply place a small marker, * , in the text where references or explanations are desired. These appear, at the end of the chapter, in a separate Notes section, which the reader may skip or consult.

We appreciate your comments, telling us what we did well and what we should do better. You can contact us at kroemer@vt.edu or katrin.ergonomics@gmail.com.

The skeletal system of the human body contains some 200 skeletal bones , their articulations , and associated connective tissue . These structures all consist of special cells embedded in an extracellular matrix of fibers and a ground substance. Bones provide the structural framework for the body. Ligaments connect the bones at their articulations , while tendons connect muscle with bone . Mobility is provided by the action of muscles across the articulations of bones . In particular, the spinal column is often of great concern to the ergonomist because it is the locus of many overexertion injuries.