Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

No More Teams! Mastering the Dynamics of Creative Collaboration

By Scott J. Pearson | November 21, 2021November 21, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

I wanted to read this book because I frequently saw it cited in contemporary business and management books. It talks at length about how to foster creative collaboration through the use of technology. It presaged a vision of a workplace with abundant computerized interactions. More impressively, it did so without foreseeing most of the impact of the Internet. Of course, the technologies described in this book are dated. Indeed, most of them are now in…

Healthcare History HIV/AIDS Politics

To End a Plague: America’s Fight to Defeat AIDS in Africa

By Scott J. Pearson | November 19, 2021November 19, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

In the 1990s, scientists made significant advances to limit the impact of HIV upon human lives… in the West. However, HIV continued to flourish in sub-Saharan Africa, and it remained for the new millennium to limit its reach there. Bass’s book tells the story of the American effort in this quest that spanned multiple presidencies across both political parties. She concludes with its impact on the COVID pandemic. The effort to defeat HIV/AIDS is so…

Management-Business Research-Education Writing-Communication

The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need

By Scott J. Pearson | November 13, 2021November 13, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Many small businesses, non-profits, individual researchers, and larger institutions depend on grants to fund their activities and livelihoods. Whether from private foundations or governmental entities, these funds are given through a competitive process. Through market forces, this process seeks to align funders’ desires with projects that achieve results. This book seeks to demystify this process and provide readers with a “leg up” to write better grant proposals. Karsh and Fox’s work is primarily geared towards…

Biography-Memoir

2 – 3 Tears: One Woman’s Dauntless Pursuit of Love

By Scott J. Pearson | November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

It’s hard to describe this memoir. The hardships survived by Klimt are clearly difficult, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the depths of struggle she has endured thus far in her life. I finished this book in about five hours across two days – a testament to the intrigue built by the author’s story. She’s had everything thrown at her – from chronic pain to cancer to repetitive bad romantic relationships to difficult parental situations…

Fiction-Stories History

The Last Rose of Shanghai: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | November 7, 2021October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

The genre of historical fiction is as well-known for romances as it is for stories set in World War II. This book takes those simple premises but upends them by adding so much more to produce a beautiful product of art. Its setting – Shanghai, China, during the war – is unusual as are its main protagonists, a Chinese businesswoman and a Jewish refugee. Apparently, Shanghai, long-known for its prowess as an international business culture,…

Biography-Memoir Cooking

Lineage: Life & Love & Six Generations in California Wine

By Scott J. Pearson | November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Wine as a topic can intimidate and make even sophisticated people feel like novices. I, for one, fully admit that I more frequently make jokes involving wine than actually imbibe a glass. Nonetheless, I appreciate the significance of the ancient drink. Mirassou, whose family helped bring European wine to California six generations ago, writes about his experiences making wine in the state’s Livermore Valley. This place is more famous for its tech industry (Sandia and…

Healthcare History Society

No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States Since 1880

By Scott J. Pearson | October 28, 2021October 28, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

The human response to venereal disease has always had a strongly social component. Not only is there biology involved; other factors also include prostitution, gender dynamics, sexuality, fear, and moralisms. In this work, Brandt identifies all of these impacts and constructs a narrative of how Americans have reacted to this disease since the underlying biology had begun to be unearthed in the late 19th century. He does so meticulously and comprehensively so that no important…

Biography-Memoir History

Franklin & Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship

By Scott J. Pearson | October 26, 2021October 26, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) and Winston Churchill both remain among some of the most towering figures in twentieth-century history. Without them, democracy might only be a relic of history. Without them, the lingua franca of the world might be German instead of English. Rather, their friendship, forged by need and trial, led to an end to great European wars and to the blossoming of hopes of world peace. It also cemented the Anglo-American alliance as a…

Biography-Memoir Society

Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness

By Scott J. Pearson | October 22, 2021October 22, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

For four years, Coates served as a federal prosecutor for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in the District of Columbia. This gave her an up-front view on social ills plaguing America. As the title reveals, she, herself black, wrestles at length in this book with the dynamics of race and justice in the legal system. Her analysis does not provide easy answers. Someone surely is not guilty just because he/she is black, but neither…

Economics Management-Business Religion-Philosophy

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

By Scott J. Pearson | October 17, 2021October 17, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

For my job, I work in a technical field with high-level people in medical research who make important decisions that impact many. Thus, though I am not a primary decision-maker, anything I can do to better understand their mindsets and the impact of their decisions benefits my organization and my career. It is with this perspective that I approach this book. In it, Taleb uses a rare philosophical approach to business by addressing how we…