Abstract
I am making a bookcase from wooden planks. Each shelf has to be cut to the right length. Marking the distance along the plank with a tape measure, I use a pencil and set-square to draw a straight line across it. After these preliminaries, I set the plank on a trestle, lift my left leg, and kneel with as much of my weight as I can upon it, while keeping my balance on the ground with my right foot. The line to be cut slightly overhangs the right end of the trestle. Then, stooping, I place the palm of my left hand on the plank just to the left of the line, grasping it around the edge by the fingers. Taking up a saw with my right hand, I wrap my fingers around the handle—all, that is, except the index finger, which is extended along the flat of the handle, enabling me to fine-tune the direction of the blade.
Was there ever a bookcase that gave a fraction of the satisfaction as the one fashioned by your own hands?
The editor, The Handyman and Home Mechanic
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bernstein, N. (1996). “On dexterity and its development.” In M. Latash and M. Turvey (eds), Dexterity and its Development, 3–244. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Connerton, P. (1989). How Societies Remember. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Farnell, B. (2000). “Getting out of the habitus: an alternative model of dynamically embodied social action.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 6 (397–418).
Ingold, T. (1999). “‘Tools for the hand, language for the face’: an appreciation of Leroi-Gourhan’s Gesture and Speech.” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Science 30 (411–453).
Ingold, T. (2000). The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill. London: Routledge.
Keller, C. (2001). “Thought and production: insights of the practitioner.” In M.B. Schiffer (ed.), Anthropological Perspectives on Technology, 33–45. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Latash, M. (1996). “The Bernstein problem: how does the central nervous system make its choices?” In M. Latash and M.T. Turvey (eds), Dexterity and its Development, 277–303. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lefebvre, H. (2004). Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life. London: Continuum.
Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1993). Gesture and Speech (trans. A. Bostock Berger, intr. R. White). Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press.
Leudar, I. and Costall, A. (1996). “Situating action IV: planning as Situated Action.” Ecological Psychology 8 (153–170).
Mauss, M. (1979). “Body techniques.” In Sociology and Psychology: Essays, 97–123. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Mitcham, C. (1978). “Types of technology.” In Research in Philosophy and Technology Vol 1, 229–294. Greenwich. Connecticut: JAI Press.
Preston, B. (2000). “The functions of things: a philosophical perspective on material culture.” In P. Graves-Brown (ed.), Matter, Materiality and Modern Culture, 22–49. London: Routledge.
Pye, D. (1968). The Nature and Art of Workmanship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pye, D. (1978). The Nature and Aesthetics of Design. London: Herbert Press.
Sigaut, E (1993). “How can we analyze and describe technical actions?” In A. Berthelet and J. Chavaillon (eds), The Use of Tools by Humans and Non-Human Primates, 381–397. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sigaut, F. (1994). “Technology.” In T. Ingold (ed.), Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology: Humanity, Culture and Social Life, 420–459. London: Routledge.
Vernant, J. (1983). Myth and Thought Among the Greeks. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Wendrich, W. (1999). The World According to Basketry: An Ethno-Archaeological Interpretation of Basketry Production in Egypt. University of Leiden: CNWS.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2006 John R. Dakers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ingold, T. (2006). Walking the Plank: Meditations on a Process of Skill. In: Dakers, J.R. (eds) Defining Technological Literacy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403983053_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403983053_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-53206-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-8305-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)