Max Ringelmann

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Maximilien Ringelmann (1861-1931) was a French professor of agricultural engineering at l'Institut National Agronomique and Director de la Station d'Essais de Machines in Paris in 1888. He was a member of l'Académie d'Agriculture. In 1897 he developed a simple set of grids for measuring the density of smoke. These grids are still used today^[1]. He is notable for discovering the Ringelmann effect in 1913 ^[2], also known as "social loafing".^[3] This finding is one of the earliest discoveries in the history of Social Psychology, allowing Ringelmann to be described by some as a founder of Social Psychology.

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Ringelmann's publications include:

• Ringelmann, Maximilien, Les Machines Agricoles (Paris: Hachette, 1888 - 1898), 2 vol.s.
• Ringelmann, Maximilien, Les Travaux et Machines pour mise en Culture des Terres (Paris: Dunod, 1902 (?)).
• Ringelmann, Maximilien, Génie Rural Appliqué aux Colonies [Agricultural engineering applied in the colonies] (Paris: Augustin Challamel, 1908).
• Ringelmann, Maximilien, Puits Sondages et Sources [Well drilling and wellheads] (Paris, 1930).

See also:

• Kravitz, D.A. and Martin, B. (1986). "Ringelmann rediscovered: The original article," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 50, pages 936-941.
• Simon, Bernard "Max Ringelmann (1861-1931) et la recherche en machinisme agricole" [Max Ringelmann (1861-1931) and research into the mechanization of agriculture] in Cahiers d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences, No. 46: Histoire de la méchanique appliquée. Enseignement, recherche et pratiques mécaniciennes en France après 1880, Claudine Fontanon, ed. (Paris: ENS Editions, 1998), pages 47-55. (ISBN 2-902126-50-6)

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