William Armstrong Fairburn
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William Armstrong Fairburn (1876-1947) was a noted American author, navel architect, marine engineer, and industrial executive.[1] The majority of his writings were concerned with theories and speculations on human potentialities. His noted 1914, 55-page, book Human Chemistry, was the second book, following Goethe's 1809 Elective Affinities, to theorize on the nature of interpersonal chemistry.[2] In this book, Fairburn views workers as chemical elements in a well-stocked laboratory and handlers of people as chemists. The primary requirement of a successful handler, according to Fairburn, is a thorough knowledge of the characteristics and temperament of each individual so to optimize the ‘reactions resulting from combinations of individuals’. Fairburn theorizes that people can be categorized by measures of "personal entropy", which in chemistry is thought of as both the inverse of the measure of order in the system as well as the amount of energy in a thermodynamic system unavailable to do useful work.
Aside from his maritime interests, Fairburn published several dozen books in the early twentieth century concerned generally with sociology in the workplace, along with other topics such as: Man and his health; Liquids (1916), Life and Work (1916), Mentality and Freedom (1917), Organization and Success (1923), Justice and Law (1927), Russia, the Utopia in chains (1931), and Work and workers;: Essays and miscellaneous writings (1933).
The Fairburn Marine Education Foundation, Inc., of Center Lovell, Maine was established in his honor.
[edit] References
- ^ Fairburn, William Armstrong. & Ritchie, Ethel M. (1992), reprint. Merchant Sail: U. S. Woodshipbuilders and Shipbuilding Centers Through the 19th Century, Including Packets, Clippers, and Down Easters. Excerpt. Higginson Book Co. ISBN 0832824569.
- ^ Fairburn, William, Armstrong (1914). Human Chemistry. The Nation Valley Press, Inc..
[edit] Further reading
- Manchester, Herbert. (1940). William Armstrong Fairburn; a Factor in Human Progress. New York, N.Y., The Blanchard press.
- Garraty, John Arthur. (1977). Dictionary of American Biography: with an index guide to the supplements. American Council of Learned Societies. C. Scribner's sons.
- Ingham, John N. (1983) Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders: Vol. 1, A-G ISBN: 031323907X
