COMMENDABLESnBuilding a Better Fingernail FilenTrevor E Williams: A ShortnHistory ofTwenUeOhCentutynTechnology c. 1900-c. 1950;nOxford University Press; New YoAnA low-budget TV commercialnoften shown during late showsntouts the advantages of becomingna computer programmer. Thenad—a technological extensionnof the matchbook cover thatnheralds home-study courses innelectronics—features a man whonsays he wanted a job wherein henwouldn’t get his “fingernailsndirty.” He walks through a roomnfull of processors; a slight humnfi^om the whirring tapes and thenair-filtration system can benheard. The man leaves the buildingnand hops into a Corvette, anremarkable auto inasmuch as itsnbody is made of glass filaments inna resin matrix, not of highstrength,nlow-alloy steel from anrolling mill. The commercialnends with a telephone numbernthat can be dialed or punched, anprocedure quite unlike thatnneeded to operate the telephonelikendevice invented by a German,nJohann P. Reis, in 1860. (Bell patentednhis device in the U.S. inn1876.) The telephone approachnto obtaining information is almostnan order-of-magnitude leap beyondnthe matchbook approach,nwhich requires tools including anballpoint pen (introduced by anHungarian, Geotg Biro, in 1938),nan envelope, and a postal service.nThe telephone’s support system isnmuch more complex but essentiallyninvisible. It, too, is becomingnCorvette-like, as fiber cities replacenmetal phone lines.nThe history of technology—nthroughout the ages, but par­nticularly in the 20th century—ncan be characterized as being annattempt at preventing the soilingnof fingernails. Work, that whichntechnology attempts to alleviate,ndidn’t exist before the Fall; Adamnand Eve puttered around uninhibitedlynin the Garden, presumablyntrimming and pruning as anhobby. There was no perspirationnbeading on their brows.nMan has been trying to return tonthat state ever since. The bestnthat can be achieved, of course,nis one wherein man is clean, atnleast physically; the story of theneflects of technology on the soulnremains to be told.nConsider dirt. Once, farmers,nessentially, lived in it. Many—nbut a decreasing number—stillndo. The family ferm is being replacednby the “more efficient”nagribusiness. The horse’s placenwas usurped by the tractor; thentractor’s place has been filled bynsomething that is still called antractor, but which has all of thenaccoutrements of a loaded Cadillac,nfi-om tinted glass and air conditioningnto multiplex stereo.nNot only does the operator ofnthe vehicle stay clean, but it isnhard to imagine the shiny surfacenof the exterior soiled. Considerntextures. Wood has given way tonmetal, which has given way tonpolymers. Wool and leather havenbeen replaced by polyesters andnultrasuede. Smooth or smoothernsurfaces are perceived as beingnclean; paper towels don’t worknwell on rough sur&ces. The futuren(think of Star Trek} will benunwrinkled. Today, buildings fornhousing perma-press-clothednemployees—not workers—^arengenerally built with sealed windowsnfor the sake of the heatingnand cooling systems. No longerncan the maintenance engineern(formerly the janitor) be callednto go below to check the boUer:ntemperature control is conductednfi-om a remote location, tiedninto the building thanks to microprocessorntechnology. This setupnis a part of the energy-conservationnpush, a program whereinn”clean” forms of energy are beingnsought.nA picture that emerges in Trevorn1. Williams’s laudable historyn(which is long enough to providenan adequate overview ofntechnology in his given timenframe and brief enough to benactually read through and notnmerely consulted like an ency­nIN FOCUSnThe Counseling RacketnWilliam Safiire & LeonardnSafir: Good Advice; Times Books;nNew York.nHelen Gurley Brown: HavingnIt All: Love-Success-Sex-nMoney . . . Even If You’renStarting Wifft Nothing; simon &nScliuster; New YorknThere is at least one—andnusually more—volume of advicenon the bookstore shelves to solvenvirtually every difficulty knownnto matikind. One may leam hownto: get through high school, findna job, dress for success, parent,npull one’s own strings, cope withnmidlife crises, etc., etc., etc.nMessrs. Safir[e] apparentlynnnclopedia) is one wherein selfsufficiencynand self-reliance becomenimpossible. The complexitynof things—^TVs, Corvettes,ndouble-knit leisure suits—givesnrise to experts, who are thennorganized into bureaucracies.nPeople, individuals, moral impulses?nSuch concerns sink undernthe weight of cost-effectivenstructures. Those who aren’tncurrently talking at)out then”reindustrialization” of Americanare talking about “post-industrial”nAmerica. If the latter are correctn—^and the number of productsnmanufectured in Japan, Korea,netc. indicate that they are—thennservice industries will be key innthe US. The result will be thatnthe 21st century wUl be givennover to bureaucrats, planners,ntechnicians, and manicurists.nThe effects of this on enduring—nnot economic—human valuesnmust be sought out, described,nand addressed lest man becom^nbelitded by what he has wroughtn(GSV) Dnthought that was not enough;nthey have collected the essencenof all that advice between justntwo covers by way of pithy quotationsnfl-om both the living andnthe dead and organized it intonalphabetized categories. The categories,nof course—^loyalty, luck,npatriotism, revenge, sex, temptation,ntrust, etc.—have been vnthnus always. The quotes have beennaround a while, too. Many ofnthem are fi-om such venerablenpersonages as Lord Acton, Aesop,nSt. Augustine, Beethoven,nAmbrose Bierce, Edmund Burke,nJesus Christ, etc. And since eclecticismnhas become a virtue, to balancenthe sages Messrs. Safir[e]nhave included dimwits rangingn^iif31nMay 1983n