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#GratefulHarvest #Table Levi was an Italian Jew & a scientist, this is a book of essays, stories, & anecdotes of his reflections of World War II & the Holocaust. I remember it being an exceptionally powerful read.

It‘s not the most famous of Levi‘s books, yet it is my favorite. I even quoted it to introduce my master thesis back in University time. It‘s about the bravery of mind: what you can achieve with clear thinking. “We are chemists, our duty is to understand Nature”.

The book is not in the picture but is in the suitcase. Moving out of my house, would be nice to play a game: which book would you like to have always with you? One of mine is the “periodic table” by Primo Levi

#FriYayIntro. @jesshowbooks

1. Going to see 2001: A Space Odyssey on the big screen
2. Seven, which is crazy high for me
3. Summer. So nice after the long MN winters
4. I go to 15-20 concerts a year....so hard to pick one. Maybe Bob Mould at First Avenue? Arcade Fire, Thurston Moore, Bernard Lakes, Leslie Odom, St. Vincent, could go on forever.
5. 👌🏻👍🏼

...but I knew that the license to make mistakes becomes more limited with the passing of the years, so he who wants to take advantage of it must not wait too long. On the other hand, one must not wait too long to realise that a mistake is a mistake...

But there is trouble in store for anyone who surrenders to the temptation of mistaking an elegant hypothesis for a certainty: the readers of detective stories know this quite well.

We are here for this - to make mistakes and to correct ourselves, to stand the blows and hand them out.

He seemed to feel that he had wasted a day if he had not in some way gotten to the bottom of his reserve of energy, and then even his eyes became brighter and he explained to me that, with a sedentary life, a deposit of fat forms behind the eyes, which is not healthy; by working hard the fat is consumed and the eyes sink back into their sockets and become keener.

He had chosen chemistry because he had thought it better than other studies; it was a trade that dealt with things one can see and touch, a way to earn one's bread less tiring than working as a carpenter or a peasant.

One could draw from this two conflicting philosophical conclusions: the praise of purity, which protects from evil like a coat of mail; the praise of impurity, which gives rise to changes, in other words, to life.

I declared myself ready to forgive my enemies, and perhaps even to love them, but only when they showed certain signs of repentance, that is, when they ceased being enemies. In the opposite case, that of the enemy who remains an enemy, who perseveres in his desire to inflict suffering, it is certain that one must not forgive him: one can try to salvage him, one can (one must!) discuss with him, but it is our duty to judge him, not to forgive him.

The problem of sorting books I haven't read yet.
Is this non-fiction? And if so is it an essay collection? Autobiography? 🤷
Sorry about the out of focus image, my phone camera just won't cooperate lately.

I am one of those people to whom many things are told.

I recommended this book (which I loved) to my wife, Lisa, who is a middle school science teacher and lover of all things science. Last night as we waited for our movie to start she announced that she hated the book and bailed after three chapters. Wha........... You just never know I guess!

Oh, I just loved this book. The book consists of 21 chapters, all but two are autobiographical. The chapters are named after, and somehow relate to, elements on the periodic table. The autobiographical chapters are very personal and well written. The other two chapters are fiction and threw me at first but I liked both stories. Both dealt with the effects of the dangerous elements lead and mercury.

Wrapping this one up today. The author‘s point was successfully conveyed to this layman.

Life is changing for Jews in Italy prior to WWII.

I love the way Primo writes. Not bad for a chemist.

Lev‘s Italian family was full of characters.

This book is excellent so far! It is a collection of short stories of Levi‘s life experiences. Each chapter‘s title is a different element and the characteristics of the element relate to the particular anecdote of the chapter. Levi was an Italian Jewish chemist who lived through World War II.

An odd, eclectic mix of books to start the year. Still not sure why I picked the vocabulary book. The Silverberg book is being serialized on the Star Ship Sofa sci-fi podcast. The Last Train From Hiroshima is my current audiobook and The Periodic Table is the January read for the Science and Inquiry Book Club on Goodreads.

Finally getting round to sitting down and reading this. Also not to brag but I love this mug I decorated. Definitely still have lots of work to do but reading is far more appealing #lazysunday #tea #primolevi #procrastination

#PhotoADayNov16 - An #inspiring book- the last chapter of this memoir just blew me away when I first read it.