Rating: 
Summary: Bringing to life the everyday
Review: Galen Cranz has brought to life an everyday object that is so common we have stopped noticing it. Her insights into the history of the chair and to the effect of current designs upon our bodies wakes the reader up to the intelligence and motives that have gone into the designs that literally have shaped our bodies and changed our experiences. I highly enjoyed this book and the insights that it gave me. Robert Britton
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book about a commonplace object.
Review: Galen Cranz has provided a comprehensive, thought-provoking - and very readable - book about something so "ordinary" that we seldom give it much thought even though it has quite powerful influence on our posture and coordition.In addition to a summary of the history of the chair, she uses her Alexander Technique knowledge to provide some very useful suggestions on how we can learn to sit with greater ease and less chance of developing backpain. For those interested in learning more about the Alexander Technique in general, you might want to consider "Fitness Without Stress", a very nice introduction to the topic.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the review I wrote for the Human Factors Society
Review: Galen Cranz on "The Chair"
1998, 253 pp.
WW Norton & Company
ISBN 0-393-04655-9 This book has interesting content on seating and sitting. Having once spent my vacation scouring Europe's museums for the earliest representation of a chair (earliest I could find was 1570), I looked forward to opening its covers. Dr. Cranz teaches Environmental Design at the UC Berkeley Architecture Dept. Not surprisingly, she cuts a wide swath on seating, spanning history, sociology, industrial design, architecture, ergonomics, and holistic body/mind approaches - particularly the Alexander technique. Parts of her book are engrossing. In particular, her historical perspective of how chair design has evolved historically [if accurate] may be unmatched. Her discussion of the holistic aspects of posture is also interesting. That said, this book is not noteworthy for the caliber of its review of the ergonomics research on sitting postures and seating. Much of it is plain hogwash. Throughout the book she refers to us as "ergonomicists" [should be "ergonomists"] and claims the discipline is derived from the Greek "ergon" and "omics" [should be "nomos" (laws)].
It is sometimes painful to read her sweeping generalizations. Dr. Cranz writes that ergonomic researchers "have concluded that the workstation should be an indication of the worker's status" (p. 55) . . . and "status differences have to be maintained, ergonomicists say" (p. 56), citing as evidence two office planning guides written by and for architects that fail to mention ergonomists. She misrepresents research, as when she castigates Dr. Etienne Grandjean's "poor reasoning" in Fitting the Task to the Man, writing "Amazingly, Grandjean starts with the slump as a goal" (p. 108). Drs. Grandjean et al's research had actually documented computer users' self-selected postures. These researchers reported that rather than sitting upright, the computer users they observed tended to recline somewhat. She cites findings from a small laboratory study by Drs. Bendix et al. as proof that lumbar supports on chair backrests are unnecessary (p. 109) --- but not the many studies that contradict. Minor assertions are meticulously cited, but questionable conclusions often are not sourced. If you are looking for a thorough analysis of seated posture, this is not the book for you. It provides a unique and multidisciplinary perspective on the context of seating, but please take her review of the ergonomics research on sitting postures and seating design with a heavy dose of salt.
Rating:
Summary: This is the review I wrote for the Human Factors Society
Review: Galen Cranz on "The Chair"
1998, 253 pp.
WW Norton & Company
ISBN 0-393-04655-9 This book has interesting content on seating and sitting. Having once spent my vacation scouring Europe's museums for the earliest representation of a chair (earliest I could find was 1570), I looked forward to opening its covers. Dr. Cranz teaches Environmental Design at the UC Berkeley Architecture Dept. Not surprisingly, she cuts a wide swath on seating, spanning history, sociology, industrial design, architecture, ergonomics, and holistic body/mind approaches - particularly the Alexander technique. Parts of her book are engrossing. In particular, her historical perspective of how chair design has evolved historically [if accurate] may be unmatched. Her discussion of the holistic aspects of posture is also interesting. That said, this book is not noteworthy for the caliber of its review of the ergonomics research on sitting postures and seating. Much of it is plain hogwash. Throughout the book she refers to us as "ergonomicists" [should be "ergonomists"] and claims the discipline is derived from the Greek "ergon" and "omics" [should be "nomos" (laws)].
It is sometimes painful to read her sweeping generalizations. Dr. Cranz writes that ergonomic researchers "have concluded that the workstation should be an indication of the worker's status" (p. 55) . . . and "status differences have to be maintained, ergonomicists say" (p. 56), citing as evidence two office planning guides written by and for architects that fail to mention ergonomists. She misrepresents research, as when she castigates Dr. Etienne Grandjean's "poor reasoning" in Fitting the Task to the Man, writing "Amazingly, Grandjean starts with the slump as a goal" (p. 108). Drs. Grandjean et al's research had actually documented computer users' self-selected postures. These researchers reported that rather than sitting upright, the computer users they observed tended to recline somewhat. She cites findings from a small laboratory study by Drs. Bendix et al. as proof that lumbar supports on chair backrests are unnecessary (p. 109) --- but not the many studies that contradict. Minor assertions are meticulously cited, but questionable conclusions often are not sourced. If you are looking for a thorough analysis of seated posture, this is not the book for you. It provides a unique and multidisciplinary perspective on the context of seating, but please take her review of the ergonomics research on sitting postures and seating design with a heavy dose of salt.
Rating:
Summary: This is the review I wrote for the Human Factors Society
Review: Galen Cranz on "The Chair"
1998, 253 pp.
WW Norton & Company
ISBN 0-393-04655-9 This book has interesting content on seating and sitting. Having once spent my vacation scouring Europe's museums for the earliest representation of a chair (earliest I could find was 1570), I looked forward to opening its covers. Dr. Cranz teaches Environmental Design at the UC Berkeley Architecture Dept. Not surprisingly, she cuts a wide swath on seating, spanning history, sociology, industrial design, architecture, ergonomics, and holistic body/mind approaches - particularly the Alexander technique. Parts of her book are engrossing. In particular, her historical perspective of how chair design has evolved historically [if accurate] may be unmatched. Her discussion of the holistic aspects of posture is also interesting. That said, this book is not noteworthy for the caliber of its review of the ergonomics research on sitting postures and seating. Much of it is plain hogwash. Throughout the book she refers to us as "ergonomicists" [should be "ergonomists"] and claims the discipline is derived from the Greek "ergon" and "omics" [should be "nomos" (laws)].
It is sometimes painful to read her sweeping generalizations. Dr. Cranz writes that ergonomic researchers "have concluded that the workstation should be an indication of the worker's status" (p. 55) . . . and "status differences have to be maintained, ergonomicists say" (p. 56), citing as evidence two office planning guides written by and for architects that fail to mention ergonomists. She misrepresents research, as when she castigates Dr. Etienne Grandjean's "poor reasoning" in Fitting the Task to the Man, writing "Amazingly, Grandjean starts with the slump as a goal" (p. 108). Drs. Grandjean et al's research had actually documented computer users' self-selected postures. These researchers reported that rather than sitting upright, the computer users they observed tended to recline somewhat. She cites findings from a small laboratory study by Drs. Bendix et al. as proof that lumbar supports on chair backrests are unnecessary (p. 109) --- but not the many studies that contradict. Minor assertions are meticulously cited, but questionable conclusions often are not sourced. If you are looking for a thorough analysis of seated posture, this is not the book for you. It provides a unique and multidisciplinary perspective on the context of seating, but please take her review of the ergonomics research on sitting postures and seating design with a heavy dose of salt.
Rating: 
Summary: The Chair: A different perspective
Review: How many of us are aware of the furniture we use in our everyday lives? These are things we feel, touch and see everyday. Yet they are always in the back of our subconcious, we never really notice them, or realise how these pieces of furniture affect us physically, as well as psychologically.
"The Chair" makes us look at the ordinary chair as something beyond a piece of furniture and as a symbol of wealth, status, honor, culture and comfort. In its own way, it shapes our everyday life and things related to it.
The author traces the origins of the chair through human history and how it changed and evolved through the ages. Going deep into the issue of chair design, the author tears commonly held views about comfort into shreds and illustrates how these "comfortable" chairs actually harm the human body. After taking a good look at ergonomics, Cranz talks about the body's conciousness and how it is related to the sitting posture. With the help of somatics and the Alexander technique, she says we can improve the ways in which we sit and improve our comfort.
What captured my attention the most was the manner in which this opens up the mind to different psychological and physical effects that a commonplace object like the chair can have on human beings and how we can improve our daily lives by thinking about these issues.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read about an unexpected subject.
Review: I never thought I'd be reading a book about chairs! But this book is well worthwhile for anyone who has ever complained about uncomfortable chairs - at work, at home, at the airport etc. The book gives you quite a bit of practical information. I was struck by the references to the Alexander Technique (the author is an Alexander Technique teacher as well as being a university professor) and so I did a little researsch on that topic. There are quite a few good books available and a very comprehensive web site at alexandertechnique.com
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting and humorous look at a basic necessity.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this account of chairs through history. Chairs are something that we take for granted but they are a basic necessity. It is difficult to find a chair that is really suitable and comfortable and this friendly book has an intelligent and humorous way of looking at something that most people rarely think about. Anyone who is of an unusual size or proportions will understand easily what I mean. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting as a novel
Review: I'm delighted with "The Chair" and am telling everyone I talk to about how it is as exciting as a novel to read. Jane Heirich, Alexander teacher
Rating:
Summary: A great book to gain broad knowledge about the chair
Review: It is an easy reading and houmorous book. It deals with many aspects of sitting and seats, including aesthetics, style, ergonomics and as a status symbol. I beleive the knowledge presented in this book represents decades of dedicated reseach on this subject by the author. It also enlightens one to realize that a seat is one part of the story and the way one sits is the other part: To ensure the well being of a sitting human organism we have to address both parts. In summary, it is a pleasure to read this book.
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