Sennett’s book revolves around the relationship between manual skills and social action, in accordance with a research approach intertwining sociology, art, literature and communication. Getting things done for their own sake has fed the development of refined techniques and has led to the birth of modern scientific knowledge. Blacksmiths, goldsmiths, luthiers effectively interpreted the convergence between material knowledge and manual skills. The synergy between theory and practice is not just about manual labor jobs: according to Sennett, the perfect craftsman is the one capable of governing himself and accomplishing autonomy through compliance with rules. The craftsman can make perfect violins, chisel refined watches and build everlasting bridges or palaces, as well as he being an upstanding member of society. Sennett focuses on Roman engineers as much as on Renaissance goldsmiths. Thus, he shores up printmakers’ work in Paris in the eighteenth century, as well as farmers growing up in industrialized London. Furthermore, he celebrates the invention of telescopes, microscopes and scalpels, in line with an historical path highlighting differences between techniques and expression, art and craftsmanship, knowledge and communication. This research engagement focuses on the building practices employed in Pompeii and the Renaissance genius of Giorgio Vasari. Furthermore, in his work Sennett encompasses car makers and the computer engineers such the inventors of Linux. We experience new forms of diffused craftsmanship, because, as Sennett points out, “what we are is what our body can do”.