Off we go into the wild blue yonder—not for space colonies, at least not yet—but to solve the energy crisis, create new jobs above and below, mine the moon, shuttle to low orbit way-stations between here and the asteroids, tend to solarpower satellites, and fulfill other dreams of power and glory. Ben Bova is both a science-fiction and a science writer, and he's also worked for aerospace companies. He can review America's and Russia's space programs with cogency and accuracy. What mars this generally articulate and easy-to-understand explanation of space how-to is the overenthusiastic, often belligerent voice. Bova would like to woo the environmentalists and liberals to the space cause, but he does this by calling them Luddites; and his kind of good guys are "Prometheans." Moreover, there is such an air of manifest destiny about his stance—space is there for us freeenterprise smart ones to exploit; so let's dump our radioactive waste, get the gold and silver and power out—that one's moral feelings are offended. Noting those qualms, it must also be noted that Bova is fun to read on the feasibility of burning hydrogen gas in our cars right now; on the potential of magnetohydrodynamic sources of energy (controlled nuclear fusion); on the promise—and problems—of Solar Power Satellites that would beam microwaves at huge earth-based antennas. He does not omit the possible hazards of microwaves, nor the danger of military takeovers of peacetime space stations. Indeed, probably the most telling argument in the book is that civilians ought to get into the act, exercising as much power and control over the uses of space as they can; if they don't, space will be totally lost to the military. That, at least, is an argument that will not be lost on environmentalists—who might otherwise be tempted to leave the book to enthusiasts altogether.
Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1981
ISBN: 0671458051
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1981
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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