Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge
Cass R. Sunstein
Oxford University Press (USA)
We admit it's the title of this book that got us interested.
Information? Utopia? We all understand the power of knowledge and
information, and more than a few authors have killed countless
trees explaining their financial value. But the author is a
distinguished law professor at the University of Chicago, a place
famous (or infamous) for growing and encouraging the work of big
thinkers. Thus, we should not be surprised that Sunstein has given
us a book about how the Internet has become so much more than all
but the most prescient of us could have imagined. The power and
curse of collaboration are probed, as well as how the net
influences all manner of public discourse. The results are informed
as well as informative. But Sunstein is no cheerleader. His
skeptic's eye works well as he notes that the evolution has just
begun.
The Panic of 1907: Lessons Learned from the Market's
Perfect Storm
Robert F. Bruner and Sean D. Carr
Wiley
After months of TV, radio, print, and online analysis, and comments
about the state of affairs in the global economy, it's easy to tune
it out. Most of us are not outwardly affected by the hanky-panky in
the market. One hundred years ago, a perfect storm of events and
actions in the financial markets came together to trigger a
worldwide banking crisis. Some would argue that kind of panic,
despite government policies and institutions, could happen again.
And, although the institutions with which we bank and invest have
taken a shot to the gut from subprime lending and the related
derivatives meltdown, it hasn't done most of us any lasting damage.
But it is exactly those kinds of events, especially when stacked
one on top of another and occurring in the same timeframe, that can
trigger violent changes in the world's markets.
Bo's Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the
Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership
Bo Schembechler, John Bacon, and John U. Bacon
Grand Central
Pretty much every successful coach in college and professional
sports (and a few failures) has written a book about leadership.
Some, like John Wooden, have written several. We have found that,
in general, if you respect the particular coach you will tend to
take his concepts as useful if not revolutionary. At the University
of Michigan, the late Bo Schembechler managed to amass 13 Big Ten
football crowns and is the winningest coach in the school's
history. The coach was well known for using personal anecdotes as
lessons for his players. In his book he describes what workplace
learning pros would consider active listening. We like Bo, so this
book appealed to us. But if you are more of a baseball or
basketball fan, or a Bo hater, this one won't work for you.
The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told: 100 Tales
from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy
Rick Beyer
HarperCollins
At some point about January 3rd or so, almost every newscast, blog
entry, newspaper story, and NPR feature will be about the 2008
United States presidential campaign. Already we are trying to
devise ways to avoid all of that "public discourse" (read: insults,
lies, exaggerations, and more lies). One way to feel connected to
the process without actually being overrun by the election might be
to pick up this quirky book. The author, a documentary producer,
has collected some great stories about the men who have held the
highest office in the United States. These 100 stories are mostly
unfamiliar tales, and although some have the makings of entries in
Ripley's Believe it or Not, they are clever and well-written. We
plan on giving this book as a holiday present to several of our
history-loving friends.