Flitch beam wooden beams, and have been largely supplanted by more recent technology. “Flitch” originally referred to a slab of bacon, which was cut into strips lengthwise. Similarly, a wooden beam was flitched by cutting it lengthwise; one half was then rotated 180 degrees both longitudinally and laterally to ensure that any defects were separated. In the 18 century, before the availability of steel beams, pine beams were flitched with hardwood such as oak. With the availability of affordable steel, flitch beams became a way to strengthen long-span wooden beams cost-effectively while taking up less space than solid wood. An 1883 article
What a piece of work is a man lines written by Montaigne: However, rather than being a direct influence on Shakespeare, Montaigne may have merely been reacting to the same general atmosphere of the time, making the source of these lines one of context rather than direct influence. What a piece of work is a man "What a piece of work is man!" is a phrase within a soliloquy by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition. The soliloquy, spoken in the play by Prince Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act