Handbook of Aviation Human Factors (Human Factors in Transportation) [Hardcover]

John A. Wise (Editor), V. David Hopkin (Editor), Daniel J. Garland (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805816801 | ISBN-13: 978-0805816808 | Publication Date: January 1, 1999 | Edition: 1

A comprehensive source covering applications of human factors to aviation systems and operations, this handbook covers topics such as cabin staff and security, technical and navigational innovations, advances in communication, cost and time pressures on procurement, and new applications of automation. It covers human-macine relationships, cultural differences in practices and procedures, cognitive processes underlying human task performance, as well as maintenance, certification, verification and validation in the quest for even better system reliability. The handbook discusses major developments in aviation and in human factors, and foresees some of the further developments in this field.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...represents an interesting and thorough review of an emerging area of applied psychology. Readers interested in developing aviation human factors as their area of expertise will be well-served by this Handbook and will find it of particular value.
—Personnel Psychology

The editors have made this Handbook an overview rather than a cookbook. It is written at an introductory level, making it an excellent textbook and starting point for students and less experienced researchers. It is accurate, current, selective, very readable, and easy to understand. Its strength is in quantitative topics.
—Ergonomics in Design

Product Details

• Hardcover: 712 pages
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.; 1 edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805816801
• ISBN-13: 978-0805816808
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.5 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Longwinded And Poorly Organized, May 28, 2005

By 

Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handbook of Aviation Human Factors (Human Factors in Transportation) (Hardcover)

I used this book in a graduate Human Factors course, and while I disliked it at first, I slowly grew to hate it. I give it two stars because it does, on occasion, contain good information, but more often than not is disjointed, poorly organized, and unfocused.

The book is essentially a collection of academic papers related to Human Factors in aviation (some are moderately tangential to the subject matter at hand), and as such it is really better suited for use as a reference book than as a text. It is further limited as a text by virtue of the fact that because most of the articles are extremely specialized, giant chunks of Human Factors considerations are left totally unaddressed.

I particularly disliked the contribution from Daniel E. Maurino, entitled "Crew Resource Management: A Time For Reflection." There are much better resources available on CRM (and now Threat and Error Management as well.) On the other end of the quality spectrum, the article by Giovanni Costa titled "Fatigue and Biological Rhythms" is an excellent account of the effects of fatigue on human performance, and emphasizes the importance of circadian desynchronosis in aviation safety. Most of the articles range between these two in quality, but these two stand out for me as the defining ends of the spectrum.

This book is valuable as a reference tool and for some very specialized pieces of knowledge. It is unsuitable for a survey course in Human Factors at any level, and an attempt to read it as a text is torturous at best. Combine the unsuitability as a text with the usurious price of $145.00 and this is one of the worst values around.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The good, the bad and the ugly, December 29, 2006

By 

Dr R. J. Lofaro (AL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handbook of Aviation Human Factors (Human Factors in Transportation) (Hardcover)

One problem with the book is that, while it has a 1999 publication date, the great majority of the articles were written about 1993-1995. This fact made the book about 6 years out-of-date as soon as it was published...and, in the aviation HF arena of the late 1990's-early 2000's, this is a crucial flaw. Why? Besides the obvious, this period in aviation HF was one of both great strides and great re-considerations/re-evaluations of previously accepted aviation HF dogmas. As one example, CRM which had been heavily promoted for 20+ years by FAA and the airline industry as the silver bullet in human error accident/incident reduction was finally scrutinized and found wanting as to lack of evalative methods, among other flaws, and replaced by risk assessment/management, while as reinforcing the command/leadership role of the pilot.
The book is not so much poorly organized as lacking a overarching and integrative rationale for the topic areas.
The good? There is a new edition in the works and, if the publishers do not waste another 5 years getting it to the public, it will be up-to-date. However, I believe that it will use, basically, many of the same topics/authors, simply up-dated. One good thing is that the chapter on Civil Aviation Security will be 90% new, because of 9/11 and what has happened since.

4.0 out of 5 stars Graduate Textbook, November 24, 2008

By 

C. J. Dunn - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handbook of Aviation Human Factors (Human Factors in Transportation) (Hardcover)

This is basically a collection of academic research and research methods geared towards a graduate-level class in aviation human factors. It is what it is, of interest to those involved in higher level coursework in the aviation field.