Humanist fixers

[Steve]

I thought I'd add a few additional readings, in part because some
might find them of interest, and in part because I'd be interested in
finding additional books like these. I'm reminded of these because of
the new _Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work_
by Matthew B. Crawford.

These books are a genre I've always found fascinating: books in which
an amateur (a writer, usually, or an academic) documents his (almost
always his, far as I know) lack of skills as he takes on some
technological project. What I like about these books is the way that
they describe technological knowledge, and how it's gained. Most take
on repair projects, not new machines or devices, and so I've called
the category "humanist fixers."

--John Jerome, _Truck_. Writer repairs 1950 Dodge pickup. My favorite.
Jerome also wrote _Stone Work_; writer learns to build stone walls.
--Noel Perrin, _FIrst Person Rural_ (and several others with similar
titles: English professor learns about life in the country.
--Craig Canine, _Dream Reaper: The Story of an Old-Fashioned Inventor
in the High-Tech, High-Stakes World of Modern Agriculture_. A little
different - farmer takes on complicated new harvester. Good
descriptions of the business around invention.
-- George Dyson, _Baidarka: The Kayak_. Learning to build a kayak.
More about the project in _The Starship and the Canoe_ by Kenneth
Brower
--Douglas Harper, _Working Knowledge: Skill and Community in a Small
Shop_. Anthropology professor hangs out in Saab mechanic's shop.
--Primo Levi, _The Monkey's Wrench_. Chemist talks to rigger.
--Daniel Robb, _Sloop: Restoring My Family's Wooden Sailboat--An
Adventure in Old-Fashioned Values_. Writer fixes old boat. (There are
many boat-fixing books out there. Probably because they're so hard to
build.)
--Lawrence Cheek, The Year of the Boat: Beauty, Imperfection, and the
Art of Doing It Yourself. (How to "become unafraid of building a
boat.")


And I'm sure there are more - other suggestions welcomed. (I've left
off _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ because it's more
about riding than maintaining, really)

--Steve

[Seth Bruggeman]

Steve (and others interested)--you're right about the boat
building/fixing manual as possibly constituting its own genre. Probably
a little far flung for this list, but among the classics are Howard
Chapelle's *Boatbuilding* and L. Francis Herreshoff's *The Compleat
Cruiser*. Herreshoff's is really about how a boat works in the broadest
sense of the term (function, comfort, aesthetics, charm, etc.); his
writing is remarkably artful. Chapelle is nuts-n-bolts boatbuilding,
but contains a memorable introduction wherein he describes the entire
process in about five pages. He concludes by suggesting that every shop
be equipped with a "moaning chair...a comfortable seat from which...the
builder can sit, smoke, chew, drink, or swear as the moment demands."
Good advice for all makers, no?

Best,
Seth

[Bethany Nowviskie]

There's a great book by John R. Stilgoe on the history and cultural
conception of the lifeboat, framed and informed by his own work at
restoring an old one. It's called "Lifeboat," and here's a review:

http://crmjournal.cr.nps.gov/07_rbook_sub.cfm?issue=Volume%202%20Number%202%20Summer%202005&seq=5

-- Bethany

[Steve]

Another fine book on fixers: _Talking About Machines: An Ethnography
of a Modern Job_ by Julian E. Orr. It's great to go back and think
about history of technology from the maker/fixer point of view. This
one's on xerox machine repairmen, and how they talk about their work -
and why talking about work is important.

[Phil]

There will be a talk and book signing by Matthew Crawford, for _Shop
Class as Soulcraft_, on Monday, June 29th, 2009, at the Ethics and
Public Policy Center in Washington, DC, sponsored by Reiter's Books, a
first-rate local scientific and engineering book store.

I've started reading this book, and am finding it engaging and apt.
The author gave a good account of himself as well on (I think) the
Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU-FM.

Google tells me that the location of the Ethics and Public Policy
Center is:

1015 15th St NW # 900
Washington, DC 20005-2610
(202) 682-1200

Information on the talk can be found at:

http://www.eppc.org/conferences/

Wine and cheese will be served at the reception afterwards.

-Phil