Robert Reich served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration and this is his eighth book to date. He is University Professor at Brandeis University and Maurice Heller Professor of Social and Economic Policy at Brandeis’s Heller Graduate School. This twelve chapter book is a thoughtful treatment of the contemporary economy and the various ways it is affecting the lives of all Americans.

Part one, entitled "The New Work", deals with five aspects of present day jobs. Reich makes the point that it is becoming increasingly more difficult for Americans to be "making a living and making a life". In this portion of the book, he explains how new technologies continuously alter how work is organized and rewarded. In the second part, he delves into the many ways in which the new work impacts on the lifestyles of Americans through changes in their families and communities. Reich deals with the implications he perceives regarding personal and social choices.

Early on, he cites statistics revealing that 17 percent of Americans change jobs every year and 40 percent of American children have attended more than one school by second grade. The heart of this trend is that new technology is expanding choices and making it easier to find jobs and switch to something better. In Chapter Two he points out that this accessibility has a major downside – it makes everyone less secure. On the other hand, it spurs innovation. Reich does a thorough job of providing an explanation. Interestingly, he points out that construction, health care, publishing, and education still are far removed from the cutting edges of innovation.

Chapter Three, "Of Geeks and Shrinks" is one of the most interesting portions of this work. At the core of innovation, he explains, lie two distinct personalities, each with different inclinations, talents, and perceptions of the world around them. The "Geek" falls in one of the following categories or some combination of them: artist, inventor, engineer, financial wizard, scientist, writer, or musician. This sort of person sees new possibilities in a particular medium and enjoys exploring and developing them. But it takes a second type of personality, the "shrink", to enable commercial innovation to come to fruition. This kind of person has the ability to be highly original in identifying possible wants and latent desires of people. The geek is analytic and the shrink is empathic. The truly master entrepreneur has both qualities. Successful organizations find ways to combine these two types of persons in a team so as to enable cross-pollination to happen.

"The Obsolescence of Loyalty", the subject of Chapter Four reveals some disturbing elements. Reich points out a more accurate way of classifying workers: creative workers (25%); routine production (20%); in-person services (30%), government employees and others (25%). Creative workers make up the highest salary category while others are falling further behind. Reich’s point is that all jobs and earnings are becoming less secure.

Reich continues with the reduction of job security in Chapter Five, "The End of Employment as We Knew It". The heart of this chapter is that the notion of a ‘steady’ job is coming to an end. His treatment of the subject, from its history to where he believes it is heading, is well done.

The changes in lifestyles resulting from alterations in the work world are detailed in five chapters. As a whole, the scenario is not a particularly cheerful one. Reich points out that hard work, in large part, is the outcome of the decrease in job security. This, in turn, makes it important for workers to "sell" themselves to potential employers. An outcome of all of the above, by decreasing quality time spent in family settings, is the reduction in the birthrate and the increase in single families. Another outcome of the lifestyle changes is that people now "purchase" attention for their family members since they don’t have the time to personally deal with them. This extends from day care for the young and the elderly, to home upkeep, "eating out" or bringing "take out" food home. In Chapter Ten, "The Community as Commodity", Reich skillfully explains the manner in which people select where they live is increasing the separation of classes.

In the final part of the book, the author turns from dwelling on the difficulties to addressing a number of choices individuals can make in response to them. He lists six personal options that individuals could consider; although none of them seem to be easy. Ways in which individuals can benefit from the advantages of the new economy, while holding its excesses and injustices at bay, is the topic of his closing chapter. Four broad options the author presents are: (a) Cushion people against sudden economic shocks; (b) Widen the circle of prosperity; (c) Give caring attention to those who need it the most; and (d) Reverse the mechanisms for sorting out people.

In summary, the book is full of interesting information about the economy, how its present status came about, and some predictions of where it is heading. All of this is coupled with ramifications for people and society. Much of the news is not particularly good, but the message needs to be heard. Notes to document many of Reich’s contentions are provided for those desirous of more information on a specific subject. The Index is usable for tracing particular items of interest. It is well written and a good read.

This book review was contributed by Lynne M. Gilli, Chief, Career and Technology Services Branch, Division of Career Technology and Adult Learning, Maryland State Department of Education and Angelo C. Gilli, Sr., President, IDEAS, Inc. Pasadena, Maryland.

Holmes brings the subject of dust to center stage from its role in the actual building of our world to the microscopic arena where it influences our weather and spices the air around us. While on an assignment in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, she learned from the expedition geologist, in response to her comment about the prevalence of dust around her, that the entire earth’s atmosphere has a veil of dust enveloping it. With her curiosity thoroughly aroused, she embarked on writing this book. She begins with the declaration that there are countless individual pieces of our world that are constantly disintegrating. To use her words: included are skin flakes, rock flecks, tree bark, bicycle paint, lampshade fibers, ant legs, sweater wool, brick shards, tire rubber, hamburger soot, and bacteria. She went on to comment that dust is a double-edge sword: some of it is a menace to the earth and life, while some of it is beneficial to various living creatures and things. Dust has made many scientists curious. With the focus of attention on it, the ongoing progress of science is revealing the secret lives of various varieties of dust. Already known to date is that the bigger grains of dust are not as harmful as the tiny versions, many of which are lethal. In spite of this dilemma, dust is indispensable. For example, a sky full of dust permits the establishment and maintenance of the water cycle. Fungi, along with other little bits of life, break down a variety of substances, thereby helping to keep the earth healthy and green. In the final analysis, dust is unavoidable and the secret to our past is contained in it.

In Chapter Two, ‘Life and Death Among the Stars’, Holmes describes the origin and nature of today’s space dust. The behavior of asteroids and comets regarding the generation of space dust and its implications are the topic of Chapter Three ‘A Light and Intriguing Rain of Space Dust’. According to the author, our planet presently collects a hundred tons of space dust daily. According to her findings, the oldest grains inside a piece of dust contain stories of the long-gone stars that produced them. Chapter Four is devoted to the dust found in deserts and its effects upon the world. Investigators now theorize that the dust of deserts, such as the Gobi, was and still is generating a combination of wind, salt, and ice. The Sahara is the master duster of the present age, hurling perhaps 600 million to three billion tons of dust into the sky annually. Another major dust generator is the volcanoes, which Holmes nicely addresses in the fifth chapter: ‘A Steady Upward Rain of Dust’. Furthermore, as pointed out in the sixth chapter, these dusts are spread around the world on a continuing basis.

"Did Dust Do In the Ice Age?" is the theme of Chapter Seven. Holmes devotes nineteen pages to responding to the question. There appears to be a distinct possibility that dust had much to do with the advent and eventual receding of the Ice Age. Falling dust, as stated in Chapter Eight, has both virtues and hazards to our earth. On the positive side, falling dust builds richer soils and feeds tiny forms of life found on land and sea. However, there are varieties of dust that are killing coral, poisoning food chains, and settling directly into our bodies. Scientists of 150 years ago, such as Charles Darwin, published a list of the many dustfall reports written by his contemporaries.

Chapters Nine and Ten call attention to the more negative impacts of dust in the world. The author notes that all neighborhoods have distinc tive odorous characteristics directly associated with the kinds of dust that predominate in them. Examples include the smells associated with active volcanoes, farms, and industrial complexes. Interestingly, Holmes points out that all communities are dust, whether they be urban, suburban, or rural. The differences lie in the kinds of dust endemic in each. The possible relationship between indoor and outdoor dust with allergies is treated in Chapter Ten.

In the final chapter, ‘Dust to Dust’, Holmes strives to make the point that people come from dust and, sooner or later, their bodies return to dust. In her endeavor, she focuses on death and describes what occurs to one’s body after death. Considerable time, perhaps too much time, is devoted to cremation. It seems this chapter could have been omitted since it adds very little to the overall treatment of dust in our world.

The author provides extensive details, more than are perhaps necessary, in describing the people from whom she obtained information for this book. She also included many more scientific names when describ- ing various aspects of dusts than the reader needs to know. Other than that this is a well written book which is simple to follow. A useful Index for easy subject location and a thorough Bibliography are provided for those readers who desire to delve further into the subject.

This book review was contributed by Lynne M. Gilli, Chief, Career and Technology Services Branch, Division of Career Technology and Adult Learning, Maryland State Department of Education and Angelo C. Gilli, Sr., President, IDEAS, Inc. Pasadena, Maryland.

BOOK REVIEW

Lynne M. Gilli and Angelo C. Gilli