HFES proudly announces its newest title, copublished with CRC Press, "Extra-Ordinary" Ergonomics, a comprehensive guide to designing for special populations.

Underscoring the need for extraordinary ergonomics, the book illustrates various approaches to measuring the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of those who differ from the norm. Kroemer explains how to assess and determine abilities and needs and demonstrates how to design tools, homes, and environments to make working space safe and living space easy.

Researchers and students will find helpful information about measuring people's sizes, strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities, and from this information determine the needs for specific ergonomic accommodations. The book enables human factors professionals, architects, and designers to devise work tasks, devices, tools, and environments for special populations – particularly for children. Health care professionals and employers will discover ways to help people who suffer from temporary or permanent disabilities so they can cope with the demands at work, at home, or in a care facility.

Karl "Eb" Kroemer is professor emeritus, Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. A Fellow of both the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Ergonomics Society (UK), Kroemer was a member of the Committee on Human Factors of the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences and of the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Human Factors and Applied Ergonomics.

This book makes a compelling argument that within the ergonomics community there needs to be a much greater emphasis on extreme variations in population attributes. It very nicely illustrates how combinations of age, gender, and common sensory and motor impairments alter the performance capability of various groups. Some quantitative design recommendations are included, though it also is made clear that much more needs to be learned about "extra-ordinary" populations to substantiate specific intervention strategies in the future.

--Don B. Chaffin, Distinguished University Professor, University of Michigan

Volume 4, HFES Issues in Human Factors and Ergonomics Series
Supervising Editor: Jefferson M. Koonce

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