24 M A R C H 2 0 0 6 T R I B O L O G Y & L U B R I C A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y

Historical Review

n the early 1960s therewas a steep increasein the reported fail-

ures of plant and machin-ery due to wear and asso-ciated causes, some caus-ing heavy financial losses.Technology was improvingand the cost to operate aplant was increasing. Con-tinuous processes mademachinery breakdownsmore costly and seriousthan ever.

This trend was recog-nized by specialistsinvolved in the subjects offriction, wear and lubrica-tion. Numerous papers on

various facets of these subjects were pre-sented. However, it was not until October1964 that a Conference on Iron and SteelWorks Lubrication, organized by the thenLubrication & Wear Group of the Institutionof Mechanical Engineers and the Iron and

Steel Institute, revealed the magnitude ofthe problem and its occurrence on an inter-national scale. The situation called formore and better education and for moreand better coordinated research on anational scale.

An investigation startsAs a result, representations were made tothe British government and a WorkingGroup was set up by the then Minister ofState for Education and Science, the Rt.Hon. Lord Bowden of Chesterfield. Itsterms of reference: “To investigate the pres-ent state of lubrication education andresearch in this country and to give an opin-ion on the needs of industry thereof.”

While trying to establish the reasons forthe wide neglect of the subject in the past,despite its technological and economicimportance, the Working Group found threeprincipal reasons:

■ First was the interdisciplinary nature ofthe subject, which includes engineer-ing, physics, metallurgy and chemistry.

Tribology: How a word wascoined 40 years ago

I

For centuries there was no word to describe the

scientific concepts of friction, wear and lubrication.

Now the entire world celebrates.

Dr. H. Peter Jost at the

launch of an English gov-

ernment report on March

9, 1966, when the concept

of the word “tribology”

first entered the public

domain.

Editor’s Note: March 9, 2006, marks the 40th anniversary of the word “tribology.” Recently, the editors of TLT asked Dr. H.

Peter Jost to jog his memory banks and describe the state of lubrication engineering in 1966 and how this word came to be. The

following article contains the story, to the best of his recollection.

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T R I B O L O G Y & L U B R I C A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y M A R C H 2 0 0 6 25

■ Second, only with the technical ad-vances in production methods ofrecent years had attention beenfocused on the importance and inter-dependence of the constituents of thisinterdisciplinary subject.

■ Third, the term “lubrication,” used inits narrower sense, had not only pre-vented many people from fully appreci-ating the economic significance of thesubject matter, it also was a misnomerfor the description of the sphere oftransference of force from one movingsurface onto another when the sur-faces were in relative motion. Thisoccurred whether the purpose of thetransfer of such forces was associatedwith high friction (brakes, clutches,tires) or, alternatively, with low friction(bearings, slides, etc.).

Lost for a wordThere was no word in English or otherknown languages to describe the conceptembracing these points. The chairman ofthe investigation, therefore, consulted theOxford English Dictionary. The Greek wordtribos, meaning “rubbing,” seemed to be thenearest expression covering this concept. It

was known that during World War II Bowdenand Tabor had established a Tribo-physicsLaboratory for the Commonwealth Science& Industry Research Organization (CDSIR)in Melbourne, Australia, but this was dis-continued after Bowden and Tabor returnedto the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge,England.

After due consideration, the term ‘tribol-ogy’ (triboscience or tribotechnology) wasrecommended for describing the subjectmatter. Tribology was defined as “the sci-ence and technology of interacting surfacesin relative motion and of related subjectsand practices.”

On March 9, 1966, the English governmentpublished the Working Group’s report whichconfirmed the prognosis that had promptedits establishment. The report found a directlink between tribology education andresearch and progress in industrial efficiencyand development. Potential savings of £515million per annum (in 1966 terms) were esti-mated for industry by better application oftribological principles and practices.

The report suggested that as a nationwhose livelihood was inextricably tied tothe success of its exports and its industrialefficiency, the United Kingdom could not

The Rt. Hon. Lord Bowden

of Chesterfield, minister of

state for education and sci-

ence, (sixth from the left)

visited a meeting of the

Working Group in July

1965. Also pictured (from

left to right): Dr. J.G. Laven-

der, department of educa-

tion and science; Mr.

Solomons, ministry of

technology; D.W. Tanner,

department of education

and science; A.D. Newman,

Glacier Institute of Man-

agement; Dr. J.E. Garside,

principal, Borough Poly-

technic; Lord Bowden; Dr.

H. Peter Jost, chairman of

the Working Group; L.F.

Hall, English Electric Co.

Ltd.; Dr. D. Dowson, Univer-

sity of Leeds; J.G Withers,

British Petroleum Co. Ltd.;

R.P. Langston, ministry of

defence and D. Scott,

National Engineering Lab-

oratory.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

The Founding Fathers of Tribology

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afford to overlook the economic, industrialand commercial advantages to be gained byfurther study of tribology. The report madea number of recommendations dealing withresearch, education and information. Italso called for the establishment of Centresor Institutes of Tribology and a handbookon tribo-design and engineering to bemade available to all designers and worksengineers.

Tribology takes offAfter consideration of the report by govern-ment departments, the Rt. Hon. AnthonyWedgwood Benn, MP, then Minister of Tech-nology, announced to the House of Com-mons on Aug. 11, 1966, the establishment of

a committee to advise on the implementa-tion of the recommendations contained inthe report issued by the Ministry of Educa-tion and Science. The committee was to becalled Committee on Tribology and com-posed of industrial executives, senior mem-bers from the academic and research worldand department representatives.

By the end of September 1966, allpreparatory work had been completed, andon Sept. 26 the Committee on Tribology wasintroduced at a press conference, chaired byWedgwood Benn.

According to Hansard, the official proce-dures publication for the House of Com-mons, the following were included amongthe committee’s duties:

What was life like 40 years ago when the word

“tribology” was first coined? These factoids

might bring back a few memories.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States.Hubert H. Humphrey was vice president.

U.S. population: 197 million. World population:3.4 billion.

Life expectancy for a U.S. citizen: 70.2 years.

Cost of a U.S. postage stamp: 5 cents.

Supreme Court decides Miranda vs. Arizona, protecting the rightsof the accused.

FDA declares the Pill safe for human consumption.

Nobel prizes in science awarded to: Chemistry—Robert S. Mulliken(U.S.) for research on bond holding atoms together in a molecule.Physics—Alfred Kastler (France) for work on energy levels in atoms.

Life in 1966

26 M A R C H 2 0 0 6 T R I B O L O G Y & L U B R I C A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y

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NBC broadcasts first episode ofStar Trek. CBS backs out of sched-

uled airing of Psycho, deeming ittoo violent.

Baltimore Orioles winWorld Series. Boston Celtics win NBA champi-onship. Montreal Canadians win StanleyCup. England wins World Cup. Notre Dameis crowned college football’s national cham-pion. Super Bowl does not exist yet.

The Sound of Music winsAcademy Award for best

picture. Lee Marvin namedbest actor. Julie Christie named best actress.

Emmy winners include The Fugitive, TheDick Van Dyke Show, Bill Cosby, Barbara

Stanwyck, Mary Tyler Moore and Don Knotts.

Tony winners include Marat/Sade, Man of La Mancha, Hal Holbrook and Rosemary Harris. <<

(a) Advising the minister of tech-nology on measures to effecttechnological progress andeconomic savings in thesphere of tribology.

(b) Advising government depart-ments and other bodies onmatters associated with tri-bology.

(c) Examining and recommend-ing to industry the latest tech-niques on tribology.

(d) Reporting to the minister oftechnology annually on itsown activities and on trendsand developments in tribol-

ogy considered to be of tech-nological or economic signifi-cance to the nation.

Life begins at 40!Attention to the concept of tribologywas needed in every industrial coun-try in the world. It was, therefore, nosurprise that its significance wasrecognized worldwide. Tribologysocieties and groups were formed,and chairs in tribology were estab-lished in many countries. A globalbody, the International TribologyCouncil, now comprising 36 coun-tries, was formed. An award for

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

House of Commons Report, Aug. 11, 1966, which states

the government’s acceptance of the Jost Report (so

named by the government) and probably was the key

to the development of tribology.

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supreme achievement in the field, The Tribology GoldMedal, often referred to as Tribology’s Nobel Prize, wasestablished.

Perhaps the reason for this extraordinary developmentcan be found in the words of Professor Hirano of Japan, the1987 Tribology Gold Medallist, in his now famous lecture on“The Technological Progress of Tribology and its Philosoph-ical Background.” He compared the emergence of tribologyas, “an all-pervading concept, a historically and culturallysignificant event comparable with the Industrial Revolutionin the middle of the 18th Century.”

If the birth of the word tribology 40 years ago is regardedas a start of life, the world can expect many benefits from tri-bology in areas as diverse as wealth creation, the environ-ment, energy preservation, medical engineering and, in gen-eral, the quality of life. As we celebrate this milestoneanniversary on March 9, 2006, STLE joins the world’s tribol-ogists in wishing, “Many Happy Returns.” <<

House of Commons Report, Oct. 18, 1966.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27

Peter Jost is president ofthe International Tribol-ogy Council in London.You can reach him athpjost1@aol.com.

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