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Ergonomics
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A review of: “Bodyspace: Anthropometry, Ergonomics

and Design”. By STEPHEN PHEASANT. (London,
Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 1986.) [Pp. 276.]
£16·00 paperback; £30-00 hardback.
J. M. PATRICK
Version of record first published: 31 May 2007.

To cite this article: J. M. PATRICK (1986): A review of: “Bodyspace: Anthropometry, Ergonomics and Design”. By STEPHEN
PHEASANT. (London, Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 1986.) [Pp. 276.] £16·00 paperback; £30-00 hardback., Ergonomics,
29:10, 1295-1295

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 Book review
Bod yspaee: Antbropometry, Ergonomics and
Design. By STEPHEN PHWANT.(London,
Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 1986.)
[ P p 276.1 £ 1 6 - 0 paperback; £30.00
hardback.
Bodyspace is a book that will satisfy an
increasingly important requirement in de-
sign ergonomics. It is at the same time a
reference book, containing pages of carefully
compiled data and an excellent source of
references, and a thoughtful text with a
provocative and informative content.
The text is centred around chapter 4
Downloaded by [elys canas] at 17:44 24 April 2013
which is an extensive collection of anthro-
pometric tables listing some 36 variables
ranging from head length through ab-
dominal depth to foot breadth. The main
data set is for British subjects in a series of
different age-groups, and the Sth, 50th and
95th centiles for males and females are given.
Subsidiary tables describe adults of other
nationalities, including Americans and Japa-
nese. The basis of the measurements and
statistics is well documented, and chapter 3
on human diversity is itself an excellent short
survey of this aspect of human biology.
Chapters 1 and 2 are particularly lucid
introductions to ergonomics and to
anthropometry.
Chapters 5 to 8 are on special regions of
the body, on the forces exerted between
segments of the body, on the dynamics of
.reach and clearance, and on posture. These
round off the first half of this text devoted to
the fundamentals of the subject, and provide
a most readable and balanced introduction
to applied anthropometry. It is continually
illuminating, and on many pages I found
myself turning to the long reference list to
identify the source of some fascinating piece
of information.
But after this weighty start 1 found the
rest of the book rather thin and fragmentary:
it is sustained by a wealth of ideas and
insights but it is somewhat lacking in
material. I take this to be a reflection of the
relatively under-developed state of the art,
and it offers an invitation to ergonomists to
apply the available antbropometric data to
.
design problems in their own field. Dr Phea-
sant reviews briefly the topics of seating (for
leisure, office and driving), the domestic
environment, manual materials handling,
and controls and displays. All this is done
with penetrating analysis but leaves the
impression that there must be more to come.
The elderly and the left-handed only get the
briefest of mentions, and among neglected
areas are clothing manufacture and public
transport: trains, buses and bicycles warrant
a coverage equivalent to that devoted to the
motor car.
This is a very personal book: the wide
interest of the author, his deep understand-
ing and his long experience show on every
page. Occasionally his tongue-in-cheek style
leads him to make an idiosyncratic choice
among contradictory hypotheses. Many
topics are illustrated from personal observ-
ation and reflection, and the compilation and
derivation of the data tables have obviously
been based on an individual labour of love.
We owe Dr Pheasant a considerable debt of
gratitude.
Bodyspace is well-illustrated, attractively
presented and reasonably priced. It should
run into many editions as this important field
develops and as new applications arise and
the gaps in our knowledge are filled. It
deserves to be popular amongst practitioners
and teachers of ergonomics, as well as
amongst basic scientists and applied en-
gineers. There is something here for everyone
who appreciates the human form, who wants
to get the measure of it, and who desires an
environment fit for it to live and work in.
J. M. PATRICK