BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Primo Levi’s Lesson: a Bridge between Chemistry and Literature -
  Professor Luigi Dei  Department of Chemistry “Ugo Schiff” University 
 of  Florence via della Lastruccia\, 3  50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze) - 
 Italy
DTSTART:20110503T150000Z
DTEND:20110503T160000Z
UID:TALK30296@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Liz Alan
DESCRIPTION:This lecture aims to offer a reading in a scientific vein of a
  story by Primo Levi which can be found in the book ‘The Periodic Table
 ’. The reader is accompanied within this story\, Cerium\, making him to 
 go into the foldings of the sentences that deal with scientific laws\, phe
 nomena\, and discoveries with the purpose of catching the bond between nar
 ration and scientific knowledge\, in a setting - that of lager’s life - 
 where the tragedy and the existential upset obfuscate and certainly fade i
 nto the background the technical aspects of which the Primo Levi’s writi
 ng is greatly soaked in. The narrative thread is not only maintained\, but
  it goes to constitute the essential skeleton onto which the chemical know
 ledge is explained rigorously as concerns the content\, even though with s
 implicity in the form\, with the aim of stimulating a critical interpretat
 ion and a punctual attention towards those parts\, only apparently lacking
  in literary glamour\, that reveal the chemist Primo Levi. This contributi
 on concludes with an outlook of ‘memory’ that\, taking its cue from an
 other story of the same book\, Carbon\, and turning completely into matter
  and energy\, from one standpoint loses lyricism and spirituality\, but fr
 om another point of view achieves a truly interesting pathos and suggestiv
 eness for people who devote themselves or manifest their interest for the 
 scientific rationalization of natural phenomena.
LOCATION:Unilever Lecture Theatre\, Department of Chemistry
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR