Skip Rung, President of Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, shares what he’s been reading.
Skip Rung, President of Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, shares what he’s been reading.
| Abelard to Apple: The Fate of American Colleges and Universities By Richard A. DeMillo “I was interested in this book because I knew Rich DeMillo when he was Hewlett-Packard’s CTO, and because I perceive Oregon’s public universities have ironically benefited from a 20-year head start absorbing economic pain.” |
 | The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman By Richard P. Feynman “I am on a huge Feynman kick — because of [his] classic and accessible lectures on the principles of modern physics and the enormous font of creative energy, humanitarian wisdom and intellectual honesty.” |
Innovation Economics By Robert D. Atkinson and Stephen J. Ezell “The latest in a long line of publications (such as Rising Above the Gathering Storm by the National Academies) to warn against the consequences of American competitive decline, and with as little likelihood of being heeded by the rolling disaster that is Washington DC and American culture. Atkinson and Ezell make a sobering case that a supportive business environment (tax, regs, etc.) and smart public investment/industrial policy are both required to arrest the sobering decline in manufacturing investment and opportunity for the next generation. Neither of the main flavors in American politics are succeeding or likely to succeed at this. If you are already on Prozac, don’t read this book. | |
| A Feast for Crows By George R. Martin “When my mind can’t handle any more business plans or non-fiction, and I’m still too caffeinated to sleep, I’ll resort to fiction, such as slogging through a little more of the 4th book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I’m not 100% sure I like it, but I read the first three books and, well, perhaps you know the old joke about drinking from a spittoon…. Is Martin the “American Tolkien”? Maybe, but he can’t hold a candle to the original.” |
