Books

First edition, first printing, British issue, of Taylor's important technical paper, the result of years of study and experiment into cutting metal, the implementation of which vastly increased the speed of machinery in the industry. Taylor's "experiments at the Midvale and Bethlehem Steel Company led to the discovery of high speed steel and revolutionized the art of cutting metals. His paper on The Art of Cutting Metals presented to ASME was considered as the most remarkable ever presented to a learned society. The paper was based on the longest and most exhaustive series of about 30,000 experiments conducted over a period of 26 years, at a cost of about $2,000,000... they initiated a major breakthrough in the development of American industry" (Sahni & Vayunandan, p. 139). The book was also published within volume 28 of Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers the same year. Taylor is now best known for his 1911 Principles of Scientific Management, which established the principles of what is popularly known as "Taylorism" - the management of workers on an entirely rationalized, scientific basis. The British issue of the book is distinguished by a stamp to the title page which supplements the imprint with "and from the Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., 6 & 8, Bouverie Street, London, E.C.". Octavo. Original green cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt. With 24 folding plates at rear. Page of pencilled paragraph notes at end of text section. Minimal bumping and wear at extremities, endpapers a little spotted, a couple of leaf corners turned over, plate 7 with 85 mm closed tear into image without loss. A very good copy. Pardeep Sahni & Etakula Vayunandan, Administrative Thinkers, 1991.