Fatigue, its causes, mechanisms and consequences, has long
been the topic of discourse and study. Sleep itself was discussed
among early philosophers, including Aristotle (Edelson, 1992). The
recognition and diagnosis of fatigue as a risk factor affecting health
and human performance in the early nineteenth century spurred
physiologists, engineers, psychologists, and social reformers to
chart its course, find its cure, or at least modify its effects. For an
interesting perspective on the evolution of fatigue as a scientific
construct, and its scientific, social and political role in the management
of human resources, the reader is referred to Rabinbach
(1990).
Some of the early empirical studies on fatigue date back to the
turn of the 20th century, with Edward Thorndike’s early investigations
into the phenomenon of mental fatigue (e.g., Thorndike,
1899). Later, Henri Piéron’s seminal work in 1913, “Le Probleme