ABSTRACT
The work of Hywel Murrell for the Army Operational Research Group (AORG) during and just after the Second World War is overviewed in the light of his subsequent role in the founding of ergonomics. Murrell’s role in founding the Ergonomics Society and in coining the term Ergonomics has been widely reported. The work Murrell undertook at the AORG provided a strong basis for his subsequent development of ergonomics. Murrell’s own accounts are relatively brief and it appears that his work for the Admiralty was seen by him as more mainstream in its contribution to ergonomics. Most accounts of ergonomics in the United Kingdom draw attention to the year 1949 and the formation of the Ergonomics Society and its first meetings. However, it is interesting to explore what went on before this date, to see what provided the grounding for the discipline that was subsequently to emerge.
