The Wrench
Encyclopedia
The Wrench, published in the US under the title of The Monkey's Wrench, was one of Primo Levi
's collections of stories (another being The Periodic Table
).
First published as La Chiave a Stella by Einaudi in 1978, the book was written after Levi had retired from SIVA
. It takes the form of an interview by a chemist of a rigger. They are both working in a remote work camp where there is little to do in the evenings except tell stories. The scene is loosely based upon Togliattigrad, the Fiat camp set up in Russia to build a car factory. The rigger is Libertino Faussone and the chemist is clearly autobiographical.
The story, one of many in the book, is about troubleshooting
, and the forensic investigation skills needed to solve industrial problems. The skills include being able to assess the facts of a failure, analyse them in the light of the product design, and once the root cause
has been identified, act to correct the mistake or mistakes so as to prevent further events of the same kind.
Levi always felt that satisfying work was essential for a happy life, and the honest hands-on work of someone who also used his intellect was the highest form of work. Faussone was his ideal. Life is a series of problems which one has to use ones brains and ones hands to resolve.
Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi was an Italian Jewish chemist and writer. He was the author of two novels and several collections of short stories, essays, and poems, but is best known for If This Is a Man, his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland...
's collections of stories (another being The Periodic Table
The Periodic Table
The Periodic Table may refer to:*The periodic table of chemical elements.*The periodic table of mathematical shapes.It is also the title of books about the table:* For the book by Primo Levi, see The Periodic Table ....
).
First published as La Chiave a Stella by Einaudi in 1978, the book was written after Levi had retired from SIVA
Siva
Siva may refer to:*Shiva, a major Hindu God*Živa , a Slavic goddess*A pro-apoptotic signaling protein*1170 Siva, asteroid named after the god*Siva , name of several rural localities in Russia...
. It takes the form of an interview by a chemist of a rigger. They are both working in a remote work camp where there is little to do in the evenings except tell stories. The scene is loosely based upon Togliattigrad, the Fiat camp set up in Russia to build a car factory. The rigger is Libertino Faussone and the chemist is clearly autobiographical.
Stories
The job of a rigger is to set up cranes and scaffolding and to manage major mechanical projects. One of Faussone's jobs is to sort out a problem with an acetic acid separation column which goes through a cycle of making loud noises and shaking, before settling down again. It turns out the ceramic contents of the column have disintegrated and have formed a sludge at the bottom. This is precisely what happened at SIVA to a column that Levi designed.The story, one of many in the book, is about troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved, and so the product or process can be made operational again. Troubleshooting is needed to develop and...
, and the forensic investigation skills needed to solve industrial problems. The skills include being able to assess the facts of a failure, analyse them in the light of the product design, and once the root cause
Root cause
A root cause is rarely an initiating cause of a causal chain which leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Commonly, root cause is misused to describe the depth in the causal chain where an intervention could reasonably be implemented to change performance and prevent an undesirable outcome.In...
has been identified, act to correct the mistake or mistakes so as to prevent further events of the same kind.
Levi always felt that satisfying work was essential for a happy life, and the honest hands-on work of someone who also used his intellect was the highest form of work. Faussone was his ideal. Life is a series of problems which one has to use ones brains and ones hands to resolve.