ABSTRACT
Pierre Frederic Guillaurne Le Play,l born at Honfleur, Normandy, 1 The bibliography of the Le Play school is extensive, but apart from the
in 1806, was edueated at the College du Havre, and graduated as a mining engineer at the Eeole des Mines in Paris in 1832, where, in 1840, he beeame Professor of Metallurgy. Le Play was deeply affected by the social upheaval of 1830, which occurred at a time when he was suffering from a serious illness. As a result, he carne to believe that it was essential to undertake a scientific examination of social phenomena in order to suggest measures of social reform. To this task he devoted the leisure of his long life. In a professional capacity, and also during his vacations, Le Play travelled through Europe and devoted himself assiduously to the first-hand investiga .. tion of social life and organization. The fruits of these labours, spread over twenty years, at Iength appeared in 1855 in his classic study Les Ouvriers Europeens. On the basis ofthese investigations and the conclusions drawn from them regarding the structure and weIl ... being of society, he propounded his schemes of social reform. These are mainly contained in La re/orme sociale en France (1864) and L' organisation du travail (1870).
