Textbook-like in its readability, but nonetheless enlightening and instructional about the art of making predictions.
An ambitious manual explores what it takes to create a desirable future.
Predicting the future may be nothing more than a dream for many, but having an impact on how things turn out is distinctly possible, writes Nahum (Predicting the Future, 2014). He believes that humans “generally take a structured approach” to influencing future events. They assess their present lives, set targets, plan, and take actions to realize their goals. The broad objective of Nahum’s intriguing work is to shed light on and perhaps formalize this future-making process, providing tools and techniques for achieving success. The comprehensive book begins with a discussion of the relationship of the present and the past to the future. The past takes on special meaning, asserts Nahum, both because it leads to the present and allows readers to learn from history. Subsequent chapters delve into events and circumstances that impact the future, focusing on how to use observations to make predictions, how to create or change “trajectories” that decide outcomes, and how to manage things that can go wrong. The content is often captivating and compelling, yet stylistically, the text can at times devolve into somewhat wordy, esoteric explanations. For example: “Because our environment has the intrinsic propensity to manifest rapid, unpredictable changes, it is a triumph that our species has been able to identify and cordon off portions of it that are both smooth and stable.” This is not to say that the guide is not filled with useful information. The process for evaluating any situation, for instance, is broken into five logical steps, each of which is not just simply described, but augmented with finely constructed examples as well. In fact, these examples, liberally sprinkled throughout the book, are what really illuminate the text and enrich its relevancy. Also helpful are the “Main Takeaway Points,” interspersed sections that summarize the material in bullets, and the final chapter, which offers a review of the volume’s strategies. Thirteen appendices are useful but provide far more detail than average readers could comfortably consume.
Textbook-like in its readability, but nonetheless enlightening and instructional about the art of making predictions.Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4808-5587-8
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
