#andrew ure

[lindahall]

Andrew Ure – Scientist of the Day 

On Nov. 4, 1818, Andrew Ure, a Scottish physician teaching in Glasgow, performed an unusual post-mortem experiment.

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[dinosaurtheories]

The Division of (Robotic?) Labor

In 1776 an economist and philosopher by the name of Adam Smith wrote one of his most influential works “The Wealth of Nations”. The book just as it title reads sought to explain how wealth was accumulated, utilized, and distributed among powerful nations. Among this research Smith also sought to explain why powerful nations are more successful in accumulating wealth than other nations who may struggle for power, money or both. One of the supportive reasons Smith gave for those who can manufacture and distribute more wealth than others is the division of labors within those nations. Adam Smith argued that in order to generate better use of a workforce tasks need to be sectioned off to be completed by individuals who were considered exceptional or professional talents at one particular function, and only they would complete this one section or part of the job. This would allow those who were skilled in one proficiency to continually adapt and improve that skill while not having to worry about performing other functions they may be sub-par at.

About a half century later a man by the name of Andrew Ure wrote an exposition into robots and robotic systems within the workforce, and society. Ure’s work was entitled “The Philosophy of Manufactures” and within the work he also shared a similar sentiment to a division of labor that Adam Smith had proposed. Ure’s theory paid a focus on the role robotics would come to have, and the impact on the human psychology to try and assimilate this technology to benefit them. In his work Ure eluded that one of the biggest challenges facing this philosophy is the division of labor between the specialized workforce and specialized robotic machinery. As Ure noted: “The main difficulty did not, to my apprehension, lie so much in the invention of a proper self-acting mechanism for clawing out and twisting cotton into a  continuous thread, as in the distribution of the different members of the apparatus into one cooperative body, in impelling each organ with its appropriate delicacy arid speed, and above all, in training human beings to renounce their desultory habits of work, and to identify themselves with the unvarying regularity of the complex automaton. (p.15) Ure recognizes a challenge in some being able to adapt successfully to this division of labor and renounce their old habits of work, a challenge Adam Smith had stated and saw before in his time as well.

An interesting comparison that I wanted to fully explore more in-depth, it’s interesting the ways something as the division of labor can be interpreted throughout time and applied to so many other facets, phenomena’s, and theories. What are your thoughts?

[asrarblog]

Evolution of Management Thinking and Practices – 18th & 19th Centuries – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #915

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[stratharchives]

Week 7 - Outline of course of evening lectures by Andrew Ure on mechanics and chemistry at Anderson's Institution, 1822

[Archives reference: OB 7/1/1]

Andrew Ure (1778-1857), chemist, succeeded George Birkbeck as Professor of Natural Philosophy at Anderson’s Institution in 1804. Ure had graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1801 and had served, briefly, as an army surgeon in Scotland. Ure continued the mechanics’ class begun by Birkbeck and delivered a very successful course of evening lectures on mechanics and chemistry. This outline of the contents of the evening lectures he delivered to the class in 1822 shows the type and range of subjects he tackled. Ure was perhaps more famous for his experiments with galvanism. In 1818, he caused a sensation by galvanising the body of an executed criminal and apparently bringing it back to life. Many consider this and similar experiments by other scientists to be the inspiration behind Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. In 1830, Ure left Anderson’s University to move to London where he set himself up as a consulting chemist, probably the first in Britain.

Read more about Andrew Ure.

[odditiesoflife]

The Real Dr. Frankenstein

Dr. Andrew Ure, (1778 – 1857), was a Scottish scholar, chemist, and doctor. He was a Professor of Natural Philosophy, specializing in chemistry and physics, at the Andersonian Institution in Glasgow in 1804. His evening lectures on chemistry and mechanics enjoyed considerable success. But Dr. Ure had a slightly darker side. A popular idea of his day was that electricity was the key to life and could be used to reanimate dead bodies, bringing them back to life.

In 1818 Ure revealed the experiments he had been carrying out on the corpse of a murderer/thief named Matthew Clydesdale, after the man had been executed by hanging. He decided to preform one of his experiments in front of an audience of his fellow doctors and students. He explained to his audience his belief that in cases of suffocation, drowning or hanging, that life could be restored by stimulating the phrenic and supraorbital nerves. Ure then began his experiment.

He proceeded to cut into the corpse and insert electrodes into the incisions. At first, the corpse actually simulated breathing. When the supraorbital nerve was excited, Dr. Ure states, "...every muscle in his countenance was simultaneously thrown into fearful action; rage, horror, despair, anguish, and ghastly smiles, united their hideous expressions in the murderer's face..." The scene took an even more bizarre turn when one of Ure's assistants was actually kicked by the corpse, sending him flailing to the floor. The display proved too much, as most of the audience quickly fled the scene. One man was so taken aback by what he saw, he passed out.