Review of The science of work

Abstract

Reviews the book, The science of work by Morris S. Viteles (1934). The book is a popularized and simplified edition of the author's earlier work on "Industrial Psychology" (Norton, 1932). From the standpoint of erudition and scientific contribution to the field there is no comparison between the two. However, the present work is a very good presentation of the subject for the non-technical reader, whereas the former was entirely over his head. It avoids most of the technical terminology, minimizes tabular material, resorts considerably to graphic presentation and includes the references at the end of the book rather than in numerous footnotes. The point of view also reflects the industrial psychologist's philosophy of the present tune a little more than did the previous work. The book is well done and obtains its objective. Technical psychologists will prefer Viteles' earlier more profound work. The non-technical reader, however, will find the present book a very good introduction to the field of industrial psychology. The ideal college text on this subject probably falls about half-way between the two books. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)