The memoir Sur
la force des Hommes was published by Coulomb in 1778. It is an attempt to
understand human work mechanically and is the first publication on physiology
and ergonomics. The question introduced by Coulomb appears from a pragmatic
point of view. He proposed to measure the quantity of action (mechanical work)
that a man can expend in a day of work by different ways of applying force. To
do this, Coulomb studied the old problem of human mechanical capacity, also
studied by Theophilus Desagulliers (1683-1744) and Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782).
In this paper we examine and discuss Coulomb’s above-mentioned publication
showing his pioneering approach (Coulomb, 2002).
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