Course Description
Summary
Primo Levi studied chemistry in Italy in the 1930s, where he witnessed the rise of fascism. As a Jew, he learned to navigate the treacherous path of being the Other from childhood, but that was little preparation for what was to come. Sent to Auschwitz in 1944, he survived and went on to become one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. His memoir, The Periodic Table, provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a writer who was trained in science but who had a love of language and a gift for storytelling. It consists of a series of self-contained vignettes, each a story unto itself, that form a mosaic that depicts humanity in all its beauty and flaws. In this course, we will closely examine each of these vignettes, considering the history, culture, and science that shape them, as well as their relevance to today. Note that the course title is taken from the title of Roald Hoffmann's 1995 book on the dualities inherent to chemistry.
