As
the Future Catches You
by Juan Enriquez
Review by Richard Rusczyk
This
book will not teach you any
MATHEMATICS
But it does convey many interesting
STATISTICS
These
statistics all point the same direction...
If
you embrace Mathematics,
Science,
and Technology,
you will probably
Live
Long and Prosper.
If
you do not, you probably will
Not.
For
example...
|
Job
|
US
Median Salary (1997)
|
| ALL
OCCUPATIONS |
$22,734
|
| Engineering
Managers |
$72,675
|
| Electrical
Engineers |
$59.155
|
| Geologists |
$52,395
|
| Computer
Engineers |
$50,606
|
| Chemists |
$43,971
|
| Biology
Scientists |
$43,701
|
The
trend is even stronger for countries
than for individuals.
Another
example - In the mid 1900s, Singapore was so poor and
weak its leaders asked Malaysia to absorb Singapore as
part of its country. Luckily for today's citizens of Singapore,
Malaysia said... NO.
So
Singapore decided to EDUCATE ITS CITIZENS. The result
is predictable...
By
1985, Singapore produced $8,116 per person. Their ex-masters,
the British, produced $11,237.
By
1999, Singaporeans passed the Brits in productivity.
Go
Singapore. Now what are they doing?
Launching
a multi-billion dollar life-science initiative.
(but more on this later)
Many
Latin American countries are even DEMOCRACIES, but
their economies are still getting smaller
and smaller because they have failed
to educate their citizens.
In
short...
SIZE
DOES NOT MATTER
Resources do not matter
|
Small, Few
Resources
|
Wealth Generated
Per Person (1999)
|
Large, Resource
Rich
|
Wealth Generated
Per Person (1999)
|
| Taiwan |
$16,100
|
Congo |
$710
|
| Andorra |
18,000
|
Nigeria |
970
|
| Israel |
18,300
|
Angola |
1,030
|
| Liechtenstein |
23,000
|
India |
1,800
|
| Netherlands |
23,100
|
Indonesia |
2,800
|
| Hong Kong |
23,670
|
Kazakistan |
3,200
|
| Iceland |
23,500
|
China |
3,800
|
| Denmark |
23,800
|
Russia |
4,200
|
| Belgium |
23,900
|
Brazil |
6,150
|
| Monaco |
27,000
|
Colombia |
6,200
|
| Switzerland |
27,100
|
South Africa |
6,900
|
| Singapore |
27,800
|
Venezuela |
8,000
|
| Bahamas |
30,000
|
Mexico |
8,500
|
| Luxembourg |
34,200
|
Saudi Arabia |
9,000
|
Developing
your BRAINS matters.
| Country |
People
per patent produced (1998) |
| United
States |
2,955
|
| Japan |
3,914
|
| Switzerland |
5,244
|
| Taiwan |
5,812
|
| Canada |
8,227
|
| Germany |
8,778
|
| South
Korea |
13,653
|
| France |
14,658
|
| United
Kingdom |
16,568
|
| Australia |
22,169
|
| Singapore |
25,735
|
| Spain |
127,273
|
| Venezuela |
772,414
|
| Argentina |
778,261
|
| Mexico |
1,267,532
|
| Brazil |
1,869,318
|
| India |
10,647,319
|
| Indonesia |
21,610,345
|
Bottom
line: An individual in one of the richest countries produces
390 times what an individual produces in the poorest countries.
And this gap is getting larger.
And the changes are coming faster . . .
It
was 35 years between the invention
of the telephone and its penetration into 25 percent of
American homes. The television took 26.
Radio 22. PCs 16. The Internet 7.
Now
the fast changes are coming in the life sciences. The
sequencing of the human genome happened years faster than
anyone anticipated, and the patent office has been unable
to keep up with patent requests... But...
You'll
have to read the book
to get more details. But be prepared - Enriquez's delivery
is ODD. Having read...
This
review.
You have received a taste of what it's like to read ...
This
book.
And
while the format seemed odd at first, by the end of the
book it felt natural for conveying the information Enriquez
had to offer - and there's loads of that. While he sometimes
dips into titillating but not terribly informative futurology,
the vast majority of the book conveys what the world is
like now and what it recently has been and leaves the
reader to draw conclusions about the future.
The
book gave me a renewed appreciation for the importance
of mathematics education...
Perhaps
after you read the book, if anyone asks you why you are
studying math, science, or technology, you will tell them
to do
the same.