Charity No
313712
Paul Branton 1916-1990
The metaphysics of everyday life
It is now 16 years since the death of the distinguished professional applied
psychologist, Paul Branton, who was also active in the SFCP for many
years. Paul's work as an ergonomist for British Rail focused on
ethics
in action, the way in which people's
moral values influence their daily life. In particular he was concerned with the
feelings of 'responsibility' held by people in jo
bs where their actions could
have a life or death impact, nursing or train driving.
He is survived by his wife, Rene Saran who is the daughter of Mary Saran (1897-1976) and currently an SFCP trustee. Mary was one of Nelson's students, and helped Paul to become involved in the Critical Philosophy when he came to England after active service during World War II in the Royal Navy. Paul fled Austria when the Nazis came to power.
On his death the SFCP was instrumental in the production of a book commemorating Paul's work by D. Oborne, R Branton, F. Leal, P Shipley and T. Stewart (1993) Eds. Person-Centred Ergonomics: A Brantonian View of Human Factors. London: Taylor & Francis.
The Society also named two post-doctoral scholarships in Paul's honour, and the UK's Ergonomics Society honoured him with the institution of The Paul Branton Meritorious Award.
Find out more about Paul Branton
Recent articles
Krystyna Golonka (2005) 'Paul Branton (1916-1990)' in Ergonomia (An International Journal of Ergonomics and Human Factors) Vol 27, No3, July-September 2005, pp 166-171
Oborne, D J (2001), Biosketch: Paul Branton in Karwowski W (ed) International Encyclopedia of Ergonomics and Human Factors, Taylor & Francis, London, New York. Buy this book