Ross A. McFarland is regarded as the father of human factors in aviation. Author of the classic Human Factors in Air Transport Design, several other books and hundreds of articles, he was also a consultant to many federal agencies and corporations. In the 1930s and 1940s, McFarland was a researcher at the Fatigue Laboratory at Harvard University, and in 1947 he joined the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health. His research included studies of the effects of substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and carbon monoxide on human performance; dark adaptation and visual thresholds; anoxia and high altitude physiology; stress and fatigue in pilots and other flight personnel; the physiological and psychological characteristics of airplane pilots; human factors in air and ground vehicle design; health and safety in air and ground transportation; accident prevention; and circadian rhythms in air travel. McFarland's papers are a source of information on these topics as well as the McFarland family history, the Guggenheim Chair of Aerospace Health and Safety at Harvard, the Aerospace Medical Association, Pan American Airlines, U.S. military research, the Human Factors Society, other researchers involved in similar studies, and a host of related topics. The collection also includes hundreds of photographs.