Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915), who believed that his system of scientific management provided the foundations for a scientific ethics, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on March 20. His early education took place in private schools in Pennsylvania, Europe, and New Hampshire, and he was accepted for admission into Harvard University. But fascinated by the relationship among science, technology, and ethics, he decided on an apprenticeship at a steel company in Philadelphia, where, from 1878 to 1884, he advanced from common laborer to a supervisory mechanical engineer. In the process he became familiar with soldiering, when workers, to protect jobs and keep piece-rates high, increased output while bosses were watching and decreased it otherwise. An ardent believer in the Puritan work ethic, Taylor was troubled by this inefficient and unethical behavior, and came to believe that he had a solution not only for the Midvale Steel Company but for...