The Coming Biotech Age: The Business of Bio-Materials [Hardcover]

Richard W. Oliver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 1999

Biotech companies are quickly becoming the new economic engines of growth and innovation and businesses must prepare now for the post-information biotech age. This practical guide presents an accessible overview of the business of biotechnology and its vast implications and opportunities for all types of industries.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Thanks to the impending completion of the human genome project and related endeavors, virtually everyone agrees, biotechnology will have as much economic and social impact on the start of the new century as the Internet had on the end of the last one. But Richard Oliver, a Vanderbilt professor and former marketing executive, makes even that prediction look restrained, as he broadens the playing field and assesses the future in The Coming Biotech Age. Focusing on what he calls "bioterials," Oliver provocatively projects nothing but good times from developments in biology and advanced materials--which encompasses technologies and businesses "whose aim is to understand, alter, or direct the function of a wide set of organic cells, including plant, animal, and human," as well as those "aimed at 'conquering' inorganic materials" likewise to meet commercial needs. Some may find the book too one-sided, as Oliver generally glosses over opposition to the revolution by simply dismissing those who challenge its inevitability or possibilities. Readers comfortable with this proselytizing position, however, will immediately pick up on his enthusiasm and grow to believe (as Oliver does) that this is the story of the 21st century. --Howard Rothman

From Booklist

Oliver, a Vanderbilt University management professor, has already heralded a future driven by biotechnology and biologically engineered materials in The Shape of Things to Come: 7 Imperatives for Winning in the New World of Business (1998). Now he is even more emphatic and enthusiastic, boldly reasserting that the "bioterials age" will supplant the information age and that its new products will be more important than the car and the computer. Expanding the definition of "bioterials" to include all engineered materials, Oliver explains what the new products will do. He examines their impact on medicine, agriculture, and industry, and he posits the "three laws of BioEconomics." Although the "manipulation of organic matter" and reengineering the body clearly raise ethical issues, Oliver's concern here is primarily economic. He does, though, include a chapter on "BioEthics" and issue a warning that all citizens must become "BioLiterate." David Rouse

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 266 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1st edition (November 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071350209
• ISBN-13: 978-0071350204
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,917,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Major Disappointment, April 7, 2000

By 

Deward J. Houck "fully credentialed" (Lakeside, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coming Biotech Age: The Business of Bio-Materials (Hardcover)

It should have received zero stars, but 1 star is the minimum allowed. As an attorney with a keen interest in patent law, and student of biochemistry at UCSD, I purchased The Coming Biotech Age with great expectectations. It was a major disappointment. Filled from cover to cover with platitudes. The author supports nothing with sources. He repeats himself throughout the book such that a ten page essay by a college freshman would have been its equal. Further, it is filled with falsehoods. Diamond is NOT the most dense substance known to man. Bioterial discoveries and/or patents will NEVER reach the point of doubling on a daily basis. Much better are The Golden Helix by Arthur Kornberg and The Business of Biotechnology by R. Dana Ono. At several points in the book Oliver explains that this techno age will be vertical rather than horizontal as the economies in the past. He's not talking logical vertical. He simply means that the growth will be steeper on his arbitrary time scale and so the line goes more up. This book should be a major embarassment to the author. It was probably written in a very busy weekend. No substance, just gee whiz hyperbole. I don't think I'll be reading any of Oliver's other books. Then there's his invention of the word "bioterials" for bio technology and advanced materials . . . The fly leaf notes Oliver's past is in marketing. It shows. We're being sold a bill of goods. All sizzle, no steak. May I recommend snake oil sales.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Total Nonsense, Don't Be Fooled, September 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Coming Biotech Age: The Business of Bio-Materials (Hardcover)

This is literally the worst book I have ever read, and I've read many. As a scientist involved in Biotechnology I urge you not to be fooled by this utter nonsense.

Uninformative - this book provides practically no real information or explanation on what biotechnology and biomaterials are. Instead, much of the book focuses on the history of technological revolutions, where the bio revolution fits in this historical context, and makes highly speculative assertions that the biotech revolution will surpass other revolutions, without any credible explanation why.

Unhelpful - If you are an investor trying to figure out specific opportunities and where the successes and failures in Biotech will be, this book has nothing to offer you. It basically says that everything that has anything to do with bio will be wildly successful and will change everything about our lives in a very short time.

Grossly inaccurate technically - If you are trying to learn the basics about biotech and biomaterials, this book will not help you. It uses a lot of exciting sounding technical jargon with no real explanations. For example, one chapter has the term "Subatomic Materials" in its title. What are subatomic materials? I found no explanation in the book. Why not? Because there is no such thing as a "subatomic material", it is just one of many meaningless terms hurled at the reader without any attempt at a useful explanation.

If you bought into the dot com hype and wish to be fooled yet again, this book is for you. I personally believe strongly in the future of biotech, but this book is an absurd fantasy by any rational measure of history, science, or business reality.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If there is another book on this topic, read it instead., September 14, 2000

By 

Biotech/Materials Scientist with Business Int... (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Coming Biotech Age: The Business of Bio-Materials (Hardcover)

Deward J Houck's unfavorable review of this book is accurate. The book says little beyond: "I would like to share some anecdotal evidence that supports this widely believed idea: biotechnology and advanced materials design will soon have a big impact on the econonomy and society. I can't share enough evidence to help you think about these topics on your own, but believe me: I am a visionary." The writing clearly conveys a deep non-understanding of the technologies involved, and the book contains little novel vision of the impact those technologies will have in economics or social policy. Glaring technical mis-statements and mis-spellings throughout the middle of the book indicate the work is poorly researched in the biotech areas. The BioAstrology section really wasn't necessary, nor was most of the book. If there is another book on this topic, read it instead.