In going from the left side of the frame to the right, Rowland comes down from the heights of mathematical abstraction and purity to grapple with a thousand practical details. He shifts from the heady realms of physics to the grind of practical engineering. The content of this writing is not grand and theoretical, but detailed, practical, and specific. It consists of rough drawings of planned inventions, wiring diagrams, and columns of experimentally determined coefficients and graphed approximations based on a series of meticulous observations and minute calculations. We have left the beauty and scope of general insights to grapple with the nitty-gritty ordeal of lab experiments.
Inspiration gives way to perspiration.
The grand sweep of an informing idea must come to grips with the technicalities of execution. Just as it did on the left side of the frame, the form of the writing reflects its meaning. The penmanship is tiny, crabbed, and pinched. Squeezed horizontally into a series of short, confined lines, its style is careful, niggling, and crowded. As the cramped style tells us, the translation from one realm to the other is never easy.