Under min resa till Papenburg i februari månad, så kunde jag inte låta bli att stanna till vid Pocket Shop på Arlanda på väg till gaten. Det var två böcker som fångade mitt intresse, men den enda var en storpocket… och det kändes alldeles för klumpigt, således gick jag ut med en pocket (i tyngsta laget) av Michel Faber: The Crimson Petal and the White.

Jag tror inte att jag skulle kunna, lyckosamt, beskriva denna bok med ett ord, en mening eller ens en paragraf. För den är så mycket, berör så mycket och den visar hur världen inte är svart/vitt, att den är grym, känslokall men trots allt kärleksfull. Inte minst, så måste jag medge att Michel Faber är en mästare på att byta perspektiv, och hålla historien flytande. Följande utdrag är en tanke hos en av huvudpersonerna:

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Utdrag ur The Crimson Petal and the White (Sv. Sugar: kvinnan som steg ut ur mörkret) av Michel Faber

His voice is a queer mixture, as subtle a blend of elements as any perfume: there’s disappointment, as though he too had cherished a dream that as soon as she crossed the threshold into his house they’d embark on a life of uninterrupted carnal bliss; there’s sheepishness, as if he knows he’s to blame for what’s happened instead; there’s contrition, for any nuisance she’s endured in his daughter’s company; there’s dread, at the prospect of finding an additional servant when he has a thousand other things to do; there’s pity, at the sight of her lying in Beatrice Cleave’s utilitarian little bed; there’s affection, as if she wishes he could restore the sparkle to her eyes with a single caress; and yes, there’s desire.

Jag älskar att läsa engelska naturvetenskapliga texter – speciellt från USA. Det gäller inte bara ”populärvetenskapliga” böcker, även kurslitteratur är betydligt bättre – både i upplägg och innehåll. Amerikanare vet hur man gör ett ämne intressant.

För ett tag sedan beställde jag hem Empires of Light – Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse and the race to electrify the world, skriven av Jill Jonnes (Amazon).

Boken är både en historisk återberättelse av det så kallade ”War of Currents” men innehåller samtidigt mycket lärorik beskrivning av Elkraft som vetenskap. Jag har ännu inte läst klart boken, i det närmaste bara börjat, men jag har redan funnit ett utdrag ur boken som jag känner belyser det som jag så gärna vill lyfta fram – att kunskap kan vara intressant, lärorikt och riktigt spännande.

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Utdrag ur Empires of Light av Jill Jonnes eller:

Faraday, and how continuous current was ‘created’ through magnetism

Faraday had an iron ring. On one side he had wound a coil of insulated wire that was attached to a battery. On the other side of the ring he wound a second coil of insulated wire, and that was attached to a galvanometer, which measures small electric currents. When Faraday activated the battery to electrify the first coil, he looked hopefully for signs of life in the second coil but saw none. What did catch his eye was that the galvanometer registered a feeble and momentary current when the battery was attached or detached. Here was the first clue: A change in the charged coil’s magnetic field – starting and stopping it by activating the battery – briefly created current in the second wire coil. Faraday’s friend and colleague John Tyndall would later ponder Faraday’s genius and explain it thus:

“He united vast strength with perfect flexibility. His momentum was that of a river, which combines weight and directness with he ability to yield to the flexures of its bed. The intentness of his vision in any other direction did not apparently diminish his power of perception in other directions; and when he attacked a subject, expecting results different from those which he expected should not escape him through preoccupation.” […]

Over the next couple of months, as autumn brought the usual rain and gloom to London, Faraday found a day here and there to pursue these intriguing blips by the galvanometer. In his first experiment, he wound a coil of wire around a straight iron core. He took two long bar magnets and held them in a V and used the wrapped iron core as the third side of the triangle. When the V of the magnets was separated, breaking the magnetic circuit, current was induced in the coil. [Faraday noted] in his journal, “Hence, distinct conversion of Magnetism to Electricity.” To further test this, he took a pencil-shaped magnet and simply moved it in and out of coiled wire. The moving magnetic field created a brief current in the wire. But Faraday was interested in producing a continuous current, not just brief bursts.

So he set up a simple twelve-inch copper disk on an axle that revolved between the opposite poles of a permanent magnet. On one side of the copper disk, a wire ran from the axle to a galvanometer. Then another wire led from the galvanometer to a metallic conductor held against the rim of the copper disk. When the copper disk revolved, disturbing and thus changing the magnetic field of the magnet, the galvanometer registered a continuous electric current. [Faraday wrote] in his minutely detailed laboratory notebooks, “Here therefore was demonstrated the production of a permanent current of electricity by ordinary magnets.” Simply stated, Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction says that an “electric current is set up in a closed circuit by a changing magnetic field.”

Kategorin Bokhyllan innehåller tankeväckande utdrag inte bara från facklitteratur men också från den skönlitterära världen.

Denna gång blir det ett utdrag ur Markus Zusaks storsäljare The Book Thief (Amazon). Boken är gripande på många sätt och är absolut läsvärd likväl som vuxna som för YA som är den kategori den officiellt faller inom. Berättelsen följer en ung flickas uppväxt i krigshärjade Tyskland och hennes kärlek för böcker och ordens fängslande värld.

Boken berättas ur Dödens perspektiv – både tragisk, rolig och vacker historia.

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Utdrag ur The Book Thief (Sv. Boktjuven) av Markus Zusak:

For hours, the sky remained a devastating, home-cooked red. The small German town had been flung apart one more time. Snowflakes of ash fell so lovely you were tempted to stretch out your tongue to catch them, taste them. Only, they would have scorched your lips. They would have cooked your mouth.

Clearly, I see it.

I was just about to leave when I found her kneeling there.

A mountain range of rubble was written, designed, erected around her. She was clutching at a book.

Apart from everything else, the book thief wanted desperately to go back to the basement, to write, or to read through her story one last time.

Bokhyllan är en kategori där jag samlar utdrag ur böcker jag läser/läst som jag finner tankeväckande på olika sätt. Kanske kan det inspirera till att andra väljer att läsa, kanske öppnar det för diskussion..

Först ut är ett utdrag ur Matthew E. Mays bok The Elegant Solution (Amazon). I utdraget skriver han om det japanska ordet hansei och dess innebörd och vikten av att reflektera över händelser för att skapa en djupare förståelse och uppnå bättre resultat. Han skriver också hur västvärlden skiljer sig åt i detta avseende – att dem enda tillfällena då vi egentligen reflekterar är när vi inte får ett önskvärt resultat eller då en katastrof inträffar.

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Utdrag ur The Elegant Solution – Toyota’s Formula for Mastering Innovation av Matthew E. May:

Hansei (hahn-say) is the Japanese word for reflection. Hansei is the rigorous review conducted after action has been taken. It’s a huge and absolutely vital part of learning. And with a few notable exceptions, our Western culture is just plain miserable at it.

Hansei is not about confirmation. It’s not about celebration of success. It’s a sobering reality check, regardless of a project’s outcome. Were you to attend a hansei meeting following a resounding success at Toyota, you would be shocked at the tone of the meeting. It’s stern and serious. Fine, the team greatly exceeded expectations. Guess what, that means they didn’t understand their process. Their objectives should have been met. And even if they matched perfectly to the target, the team must still examine the course of action and the interim measures, not just the final results.

In Western culture, about the only time anything close to true hansei occurs is when a catastrophic failure happens. 9/11. Cloumbia. Hurricane Catrinca. Even then, it’s a “special study,” generally focused more on conducting a fault-finding autopsy in order to place blame more than anything else. When projects meet their objective, we celebrate. Unfortunately, there’s little in the way of deep learning in that approach. Our Western culture bias for action doesn’t value reflection nearly as high as it should. Horrors, if we catch anyone in their office staring out into space, they must be daydreaming, goofing off.

We just don’t seem to get it. It’s about thinking. Hansei fosters real learning and insight. Our shortcomings in this area have everything to do with why so many individuals and organizations suffer from self-induced learning disability in business.