B6
EZ BD BookWorld TECHNOLOGY REVIEWBY WILLIAMROSEN
It’s alive! And it wants to evolve.
WHAT TECHNOLOGY WANTS By Kevin Kelly Viking. 406 pp. $27.95
I
n 1802, the British phi- losopher and Christian apologist William Paley publishedabookentitled “Natural Theology, orEv- idences of the Existence and Attributes of the Dei- ty collected from the Ap-
pearances of Nature.” In it, he famously propounded the notion that, just as awatch whose “sever- al parts are framed and put to- gether for a purpose” presuppos- es the existence of a watchmaker, so too does the existence of life on earth, far more complicated than any timepiece, presuppose the existence of a creator.Paley’smet- aphor is one in a long line of attempts to explain the organic world in the language of technol- ogy, from Plato’s contention that the four primal elements were constructed from solid geometri- cal figures—particles of fire were tetrahedrons; particles of earth, cubes — to the idea, beloved of artificial intelligence researchers, that the human brain can be understood as a sort of digital computer. In “What Technology Wants,”
Kevin Kelly, former editor of Wired magazine and author of half-a-dozen previous books, in- verts the tradition, in a brave attempt to demonstrate that the same forces that have shaped life through the 4 billion years of its existence on earth also drive the courseandsubstance of technolo- gy. His central argument — that the “technium” (his word for the world of technology) deserves to be regarded as the seventh king- dom of life, along with plants, protists and animals — is an
ALEX NABAUM FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
than the sun; to the heart of an Amish community, whose rela- tionship to technology turns out to be far more complex and re- vealing than generally under- stood; to the interior of the cabin —and the mind—of Ted Kaczyn- ski, the “Unabomber,” whose manifesto seems to Kelly one of the most acute analyses of tech- nology ever written. This approach isn’t without
onies and bird nests as “animal technology.”) One of Kelly’s formative expe- riences was working on Stew- art Brand’s original “Whole Earth Catalog,” and “What Technology Wants” deliversmany of the pleasures of a won- derful catalog, with page
after page of entries, each one more appealing than the last, assembled by someone with an insatiable curiosity: the origins
The “technium” (Kelly’s word for the world of technology) should be considered the seventh kingdom of life, along with plants, protists and animals.
ambitious one, but one thing that Kelly does not lack is ambition. So vast is his technium that it in- cludes almost anything “pro- duced by a mind,” which means it includes not only steam turbines and semiconductors, but also paintings, literature, music and dance. (Actually, since his defini- tion of mind is even vaster, he describes coral reefs, termite col-
of multicellular life, the nature of language acquisition and devel- opment, the geometry of protein- folding, patterns of invention in the ancient world, free will as exhibited by subatomic particles, finite versus infinite games, and the aesthetic and moral dimen- sions of technology. As with a catalog, the lack of a narrative structure (or even an obvious destination) is beside the point and, in any case, is more than balanced by some truly fascinat- ing detours: from the surface of a computer chip that processes more ergs per gram per second
some weaknesses. A catalog is, after all, written to sell you some- thing, and the book tends, there- fore, to cherry-pick those scien- tists—frequently a controversial minority in their own disciplines — who support Kelly’s positions. And—this is not really a criticism —he is far better at describing the technium than at prescribing any policies for managing or improv- ing it. Nonetheless, for most readers,
Kelly’s polymath erudition and infectious confidence — he is to garden-variety technological op- timists what Olympic champion Usain Bolt is to the best runner in the seventh grade — will prove more than sufficient. Though “WhatTechnologyWants” spends a lot of time arguing that technol- ogy has become almost indepen- dent of humanity, it doesn’t really depend on the idea that a bird’s wing and a semiconductor are both inevitable results of the same process. In fact, as with Paley’s watch, the existence of such an exuberant book is the best possible argument for the existence of an equally exuberant creator.
bookworld@washpost.com
William Rosen is the author of “The Most Powerful Idea in theWorld: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention.”
KLMNO
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2010
FINANCE REVIEWBYSTEVEPEARLSTEIN
Felix the Fixer keeps some secrets I
DEALINGS A Political and Financial Life By Felix Rohatyn Simon & Schuster. 292 pp. $27
n my next life, I want to come back as Felix Rohatyn. I’m envious of just about every aspect of the reward- ing, challenging and glam-
orous life described by Rohatyn in his new autobiography except for, perhaps, writing those long, ponderous essays for the New York Review of Books. And what makes “Dealings” such a pleasure to read is that you can tell Ro- hatyn enjoyed writing it as well. There was the dramatic, and
lucky, escape from the Nazis as a young French Jew. And tutoring Edith Piaf in English. And work- ing with the ad legend Bill Bern- bach to turn around Avis Rent-a- Car with the “We Try Harder” campaign. And, of course, negoti- ating some of the biggest corpo- rate acquisitions in history: ITT- Hartford Fire, GE-RCA,Matsush- ita-MCA and KKR's leveraged buyout of RJR-Nabisco. Here’s a man who, at various
times, rescued Wall Street, Lock- heed Corp. and New York City from financial collapse. He’s known anyone who was anyone onWall Street, in Hollywood and inWashington, and on any given day he could be found hobnob- bing with Woody Allen at Elaine’s; sharing a power break- fast with the governor at the Regency; chatting over the back fence with casino-hotel magnate SteveWynn, one of his Sun Valley neighbors; talking in whispered tones with former Walt Disney Co. presidentMichael Ovitz at the Four Seasons; or getting the in- side scoop from political heavy- weights Bob Strauss and Vernon Jordan at theHay Adams. Then there’s the apartment on
Fifth Avenue with the park view, the cottage on Long Island and that house in Sun Valley, along with the ski trips to Zurs, Austria. And when he finally had done everything he wanted to do on
©BRENDAN MCDERMID / REUTERS
Felix Rohatyn’s business dealings have taken him fromWall Street to Hollywood toWashington to Paris, where he wasU.S. ambassador.
Wall Street, Rohatyn managed to wangle the best job in govern- ment — U.S. ambassador to France — but only after turning down the offer to become presi- dent of theWorld Bank. Inthe recounting of such a rich
life, allowancemust bemadefor a certain measure of name-drop- ping and boastfulness, particu- larly from an author who fesses up freely to numerous lapses in judgment. His attempts to dis- suade the Justice Department from bringing an antitrust suit against the ITT-Hartford Fire merger earned him a grilling be- fore a Senate committee, a minor role in Nixon’s impeachment and the moniker of “Felix the Fixer.” He admits now to giving Univer- sal Studio’s Lew Wasserman bad advice when he recommended that Wasserman turn down a takeover offer from Disney, then to have compounded the error by negotiating the sale of MCA/Uni- versal to the Japanese, who never figured out what to do with it. And if you look closely at the pictures of executives fleeing from Lehman Brothers with box- es of personal items in hand just after the 2008 bankruptcy, you
may findoneofRohatyn,whohad only recently signed on as a con- sultant after returning from his ambassadorial duties in Paris. Along with the mild self-criti-
cism there is also some self-con- gratulation. Rohatyn revels in the release of Oval Office transcripts that prove it was President Nixon himself who ordered the head of the antitrust division to drop the Hartford Fire case even before Rohatyn first showed up at the Justice Department. (“You son of a bitch.Don't you understand the English language. Drop the god- damn thing. Is that clear?” Nixon tells Richard Kleindienst, the top antitrust official.) And he stresses too strongly that Gerald Ford’s defeat in the 1976 presidential electionwasdue tothepresident’s refusal to bail outNewYork City. Rohatyn understands that au-
tobiographies are wonderful ve- hicles for evening up the score with those who have done you wrong. He fingers former Trea- sury Secretary Robert Rubin and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan for blocking his nomi- nation as the Fed's vice-chairman after they spread false rumors about his “soft money” predilec-
3books on religion
tions; Rohatyn goes on to note wryly that Greenspan came to embrace his view of the potential for high growthandlow inflation. Rohatyn also exposes the treach- ery of socialite and diplomat Pa- melaHarriman, who was the first to bring up the idea of his suc- ceeding her as ambassador to Paris before turning around and lobbying to give the plum job to veteran diplomat Frank Wisner. Those who shake their heads at the very mention of the corrupt financier Ivan Boesky will love Rohatyn’s tale of their lunch at the Four Seasons. Still, “Dealings” ends up as
something of a letdown. Rohatyn leaves out too many of the be- hind-the-scenes details of his deal-making, along with candid assessments of most of the finan- ciers and politicianswhoplayed a role in his life. He also skips over the painful episode of his break with his partners at Lazard Freres, the investment bank where he grew up professionally and played such a prominent role for so many years. Most disappointing, however,
is Rohatyn’s inability to draw connections and distinctions be- tween his own deal-making and the greed and self-dealing that he now blames for having corrupted Wall Street. His chapter-ending reflections generally range from trite to banal, and even when he occasionally musters outrage over a financial services industry that has become an “electronic game” divorced from real-world value creation, he never quite explainswhy or how it came to be or who among his many friends, acquaintances and competitors was responsible. Rohatyn has given us a mem-
oir that is more kiss than tell, delightful in the reading but in the end less profound and inci- sive than one would have expect- ed from someone who saw so much and lived so large.
bookworld@washpost.com
Steven Pearlstein is a business columnist for The Post.
From private houses to statehouses, Americans have very
different views about religion and how it should affect civic life. Here are three books that suggest answers.
1
America’s Four Gods:WhatWe Say About God—&What That Says About Us by Paul Froese and
Christopher Bader (Oxford Univ., $24.95). The authors, both associate professors of sociology at Baylor University, undertook a daunting task: to unearth what Americans believe about God by crisscrossing the country, canvassing thousands, joining worship services and speaking with religious communities. The study found correlations between what people think of God and how they live their lives. Is He authoritative, benevolent, critical or distant? (Or is He a She?) The authors conclude that “our picture of God is worth a thousand queries into the substance of our moral and philosophical beliefs.”
2 3
The AmishWay: Patient Faith in a PerilousWorld, by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt and
David L.Weaver-Zercher (Jossey-Bass, $24.95). For most Americans, the Amish call to mind black buggies, unusual clothing and masterfully crafted furniture. Tack on the “no electricity” edict, and you’ve painted a picture of a reclusive society. That picture was complicated, however, by the horrific slaying of five Amish schoolchildren in Lancaster County, Pa., in October of 2006 and what happened soon after—the Amish forgave the killer. How could they?Why would they? In addressing those questions, the authors point out that there are over 40 subgroups of Amish and no central governing body. But they are all bound by a central tenet: patience.
A Cheerful&Comfortable Faith: Anglican Religious Practice in the Elite Households of
Eighteenth-Century Virginia, by Lauren F. Winner (Yale Univ., $45). Those with a keen interest in the role of religion in early America will find a wealth of informed scholarship and evocative descriptions in this volume.Winner, an assistant professor at Duke Divinity School, takes the novel approach of using domestic items (from needlework to silver to cookbooks) to reveal how Anglicanism was ingrained in the daily lives of the landed gentry, shaping their world view on everything from slavery to baptism.
—Christopher Schoppa
schoppac@washpost.com
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