Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
are perceived as reflecting the processes of human life. In Paracelsian
chemical philosophy these correspondences were seen as much more
than a metaphor; but I think it is fair to say that they were rather more
than metaphors for Levi too, who was clearly moved by a profound em-
pathy for chemical science. He writes, for example, with something like
reverence about the process of distillation:
Distillation is beautiful. First of all, because it is a slow, philosophic, and
silent occupation, which keeps you busy but gives you time to think of
other things, somewhat like riding a bike. Then, because it involves a
metamorphosis from liquid to vapour (invisible), and from this once
again to liquid; but in this double journey, up and down, purity is at-
tained, an ambiguous and fascinating condition, which starts with chem-
istry and goes very far. And finally, when you set about distilling, you
acquire the consciousness of repeating a ritual consecrated by the centu-
ries. [Levi 1985]
Levi also found ways to expound the
synthetic
nature of chemistry, the
fact that it was about making things. In his novel
The Monkey's Wrench
(1978) he points out that chemistry has in fact much in common with the
profession of the engineer. The narrator, talking to a construction worker
named Faussone who assembles bridges, says
The profession I studied in school and that has kept me alive so far is the
profession of a chemist. I don't know if you have a clear idea of it, but
it's a bit like yours; only we rig and dismantle very tiny constructions
[…] I've always been a rigger-chemist, one of those who make synthe-
ses, who build structures to order, in other words.
And he goes on to explain what that entails - how difficult it is to
assemble a structure using atoms:
[…] when you come down to it, we're bad riggers. We really are like
elephants who have been given a closed box containing all the pieces of
a watch: we are very strong and patient, and we shake the box in every
direction and with all our strength. Maybe we even warm it up, because
heating is another form of shaking. Well, sometimes, if the watch isn't
too complicated, if we keep on shaking, we succeed in getting it to-
gether; but, as you can imagine, it's more reasonable to proceed a bit at a
time, first attaching two pieces, then adding a third, and so on. It takes
more patience, but actually you get there first. And most of the time
that's the way we do it. [Levi 1987]
