The Monkey’s Wrench

Interestingly, the bottom-up approach to the construction of molecular level devices and machines was poetically anticipated by Primo Levi in his already-cited book The Monkey s Wrench [55] ... 

Levi P (1995) The monkey s wrench. Penguin Books, New York, p 144... 

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... 

And just as, in The Monkey s Wrench, Primo Levi exploited the fact that he was writing a novel rather than a textbook to show us a molecular diagram that no popular science writer would dare place before the reader, so Powers can risk displaying the most extraordinary chemical detail in describing the activities of the Clare company. He gives us in all its stoichiometric glory the Leblanc process for making soda from salt ... 

Biological function in polypeptides and proteins requires a specific three-dimensional shape and arrangement of functional groups, which, in turn, necessitate a definite amino acid sequence. One monkey wrench residue in an otherwise normal protein can completely alter its behavior. For example, sickle-ceU anemia, a potentially lethal condition, is the result of changing a single amino acid in hemoglobin (Section 26-8). The determination of the primary structure of a protein, called amino add or polypeptide sequencing, can help us to understand the protein s mechanism of action. 

Screws can be used in two major ways. First, they can be used to hold things together. Some simple examples include wood and metal screws and the screws on jars and bottles and their tops. Scr s can also be used to apply force on objects. The screws found in vises, presses, clamps, monkey wrenches, brace and bits, and corkscrews are some examples of this application. 

Srrew Wrmch.—Ono of Coe s patent wrenches, about twcivc-inch size, costii about a dollar, is the best make attd lao most durable size for all purposes. This wrench is generally known as a monkey wrench. ... 

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