Introduction
Scottish motivational writer Samuel Smiles held that most of the great discoveries come not from a policy of deliberate ‘invention’ but from instinctively noticing things that other people merely see.
IT is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life.
“Sir,” said Johnson, on one occasion, to a fine gentleman just returned from Italy, “some men will learn more in the Hampstead stage than others in the tour of Europe.”*
It is the mind that sees as well as the eye.
One of the vergers in the cathedral at Pisa, after replenishing with oil a lamp which hung from the roof, left it swinging to and fro; and Galileo, then a youth of only eighteen, noting it attentively, conceived the idea of applying it to the measurement of time.**
Fifty years of study and labour, however, elapsed, before he completed the invention of his Pendulum, — the importance of which, in the measurement of time and in astronomical calculations, can scarcely be overrated.
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), essayist, scholar and (with his friend and biographer James Boswell) travel writer, who compiled a unique, influential and occasionally witty English dictionary.
** Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), a brilliant Italian scientist who made major contributions in, among others, astronomy, mathemetics and engineering.
Précis
Victorian writer Samuel Smiles quotes Dr Johnson, to the effect that we learn very little from what we see, and nearly everything from what we notice. As an example, he tells how Galileo deduced his laws of the pendulum, of such incalculable importance of modern science, after observing a chandelier swinging in the cathedral at Pisa. (56 / 60 words)
Victorian writer Samuel Smiles quotes Dr Johnson, to the effect that we learn very little from what we see, and nearly everything from what we notice. As an example, he tells how Galileo deduced his laws of the pendulum, of such incalculable importance of modern science, after observing a chandelier swinging in the cathedral at Pisa.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, besides, may, or, since, until, whether.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Complete. Invention. Swing.
2 Close. Eye. Success.
3 He. Return. Study.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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