Hywel Murrell

Hywel Murrell (1908 – 21 January 1984) was a British psychologist who introduced the term "ergonomics" to the English dictionary, created the first ergonomics department in British industry, and wrote the first British textbook on ergonomics. He also had keen interest in caving from his education at Sidcot School, becoming a founder member, and first secretary, of the Wessex Cave Club.

Biography and work

Murrell graduated in chemistry.

In 1949, Murrell coined the term "ergonomics" and created the Ergonomics Research Society at a meeting in his office at the Admiralty. At the end of 1951, he left the NMSU and joined Tube Investments Ltd., creating the first ergonomics department in British industry. until his retirement in 1975.

Legacy

Murrell's work, which had an objective and experimental stance, helped ergonomics to be taken seriously and became the basis for the studies of human interaction with technology that took off in the 1950s and 1960s.