August Dvorak

August Dvorak (May 5, 1894 – October 10, 1975[1]) was an educational psychologist and professor of education[2] at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.[3] He and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, are best known for creating the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout in the 1930s as a replacement for the QWERTY keyboard layout. In the 1940s, Dvorak designed keyboard layouts for people with the use of one hand.[4]

Dvorak and Dealey, along with Nellie Merrick and Gertrude Ford, wrote the book Typewriting Behavior, published in 1936. The book, currently not in print, is an in-depth report on the psychology and physiology of typing.

Dvorak was distantly related to the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. While the composer's name is pronounced [ˈdvɔr̝ɑːk]), with the ř roughly as a simultaneous trilled [r] and [ʒ], August Dvorak's family in the U.S. pronounces it /ˈdvɔræk/, with an English r.[5]

References

  1. ^ Cassingham, R. C. (1986). The Dvorak Keyboard. Freelance Communications. ISBN 0-935309-10-1. Page 5.
  2. ^ Cassingham, page 32.
  3. ^ Dvorak, August et al. (1936). Typewriting Behavior. American Book Company. Title page.
  4. ^ The first such machine built in accordance with Dvorak's one-handed layout was designed and constructed by Martin Tytell, also known a "Mr. Typewriter", of New York City. Kursh, Harry. Mechanix Illustrated, January 1951, pp. 74 et seq. See Meet Mr. Typewriter
  5. ^ Cassingham, page 15.

External links