ABSTRACT

Although the division of labour is not of recent origin, it was only at the end of the last century that societies began to become aware of this law, to which up to then they had submitted almost unwittingly. Undoubtedly even from antiquity several thinkers had perceived its importance.1 Yet Adam Smith was the fi rst to attempt to elaborate the theory of it. Moreover, it was he who fi rst coined the term, which social science later lent to biology.