<P> In his introduction to Art de l'Épinglier (The Art of the Pin - Maker) (1761), Henri - Louis Duhamel du Monceau writes about the "division of this work": </P> <P> There is nobody who is not surprised of the small price of pins; but we shall be even more surprised, when we know how many different operations, most of them very delicate, are mandatory to make a good pin . We are going to go through these operations in a few words to stimulate the curiosity to know their detail; this enumeration will supply as many articles which will make the division of this work . (...) The first operation is to have brass go through the drawing plate to calibrate it . (...) </P> <P> By "division of this work", Duhamel du Monceau is referring to the subdivisions of the text describing the various trades involved in the pin making activity; this can also be described as division of labour . </P> <P> In the first sentence of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith foresaw the essence of industrialism by determining that division of labour represents a substantial increase in productivity . Like du Monceau, his example was the making of pins . Unlike Plato, Smith famously argued that the difference between a street porter and a philosopher was as much a consequence of the division of labour as its cause . Therefore, while for Plato the level of specialization determined by the division of labour was externally determined, for Smith it was the dynamic engine of economic progress . However, in a further chapter of the same book Smith criticizes the division of labour saying it can lead to "the almost entire corruption and degeneracy of the great body of the people....unless government takes some pains to prevent it ." The contradiction has led to some debate over Smith's opinion of the division of labour . Alexis de Tocqueville agreed with Smith: "Nothing tends to materialize man, and to deprive his work of the faintest trace of mind, more than extreme division of labor ." Adam Ferguson shared similar views to Smith, though was generally more negative . </P>

Division of labour and the evolution of extreme specialisation