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November 23, 2005

Primo Levi on the formative value of manual work

    Chemical substances that were once analyzed manually are now analyzed with machines. Apart from gains in efficiency brought by automation, Primo Levi saw one area of loss:

Another virtue that the chemist’s trade develops is patience, not to be in a hurry. Today chemistry is completely changed; it is rapid chemistry. Today the analysis of a mineral is no longer manual. It is done by machine and takes a few minutes, where before it took weeks. Naturally, it was inconvenient having to work a whole week to analyze the mineral, but this made it possible to develop other virtues, which in fact are those of perseverance, not getting discouraged, assiduous application. . . . It is clear that from a practical point of view a machine-made analysis is more convenient. But manual analysis, like all manual work, has a formative value; it is too similar to our origins as mammals to be neglected. (Quoted in The Life of the Creative Spirit, p.216.)

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For a biographical sketch of Primo Levi, click here .

November 23, 2005 |

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Books by H. Charles Romesburg

  • H. Charles Romesburg: The Life of the Creative Spirit

    H. Charles Romesburg: The Life of the Creative Spirit
    Practically all of the quotations in this blog's posts are collected in "The Life of the Creative Spirit."

  • H. Charles Romesburg: How About It, Writer?

    H. Charles Romesburg: How About It, Writer?
    Based on a study of more than 12,000 essays from the very best literary magazines, this book provides writers with lists of thousands of classic forms of opening sentences, titles, transition sentences, ways of saying "for example," and ways of closing nonfiction pieces. When you are writing an essay and want a hint for a better or fresh way of saying what you mean, looking through the lists acts on the imagination, stimulating your creativity. From Lulu Press (ISBN 1-4116-2862-4, 194 pp., softback), it's $16.95 when ordered from Lulu.com/Romesburg , and $22.95 from bookstores. To view its cover, click on www.cnr.usu.edu/romesburg/how_about_it_writer.htm To view its title page, contents, and first two chapters, click on: www.cnr.usu.edu/romesburg/how_about_it_writer_preview.pdf

  • H Charles Romesburg: Best Research Practices

    H Charles Romesburg: Best Research Practices
    The Saunterer’s new book (2009), Best Research Practices explains how to plan and carry out reliable experiments, how to conceive and circumstantially support research hypotheses, how to test research hypotheses with the hypothetico-deductive method, how to discover cause and effect, and more. It’s based on his examination of 5,000 top scientific articles, studying the methods used to produce reliable knowledge. Preview it on-line by going to the following link: http://print.google.com/print?isbn=9780557017836

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