Customer Reviews

The Coming Biotech Age: The Business of Bio-Materials

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Being an avid investor, and heavily invested in technology, I was looking to expand into other areas of technology such as biotech which is how I was drawn to this book. This book is great for the Biotech beginner and provides a good overview of the opportunities in biotechnology from Healthcare to Agriculture. Although the author may be a bit too zealous in his promise for biotechnology, and the coming biotech explosion, he does offer compelling evidence that this is the next wave of technology and every long-term investor should consider biotechnology (preferably via a mutual fund) as an addition to their existing portfolio. The only negative I found with this book is that the author is a bit repetitive in his use of the some examples. In fact, the reader will get 90% of the useful information in about the first 6 chapters plus one or two at the end. Overall, I would recommend this book for those who are interested in investing in biotechnology or just have an interest in science. It's an easy read, not too technical, and provides a good overview of many of the potential opportunities in this exciting field.

If you're a newshound and biotech is your passion, then you've probably already read this book and just don't know it yet. If you're new to the field and looking for a one-stop source to get you up to date, this book is for you. Some of Oliver's material was new to me, such as the advances being made in material science, and he led me to consider the possibilities of intertwining the organic and inorganic (on a molecular level, the two are practically indistinguishable). Sounds strange I know, just think biological computers and the creation of life from inorganic material. And I must admit that his enthusiasm is contagious as he pounds the table for biotech, but if you step back and try to gain perspective, you have to recognize the massive legislative and public opinion barriers. While Oliver acknowledges that the biotech era is fettered by issues that the industrial era and the information era were not, he passes over the resistance too quickly, assuming that the science will progress against all odds. The book also lacked a sense of history (but who needs history when we're living in the future?). If you would like a solid education in the history of molecular biology as well as a deeper than superficial working knowledge of genetics, I cannot speak highly enough of "Time, Love, and Memory".

In the past 8 weeks I've read the following books in addition to the title reviewed here:
The Biotech Investors Bible (superb!)
Instant Biology (outstanding! amazing!)
from ALCHEMY to IPO (decent)

The Biotech Age is reminscent of 3rd grade textbooks.
I really wouldn't call this collection of printed type
a book. A professor from Vanderbilt who has little insightful
information -- you'd be better off reading randon articles
on lifesciences from the Internet. OK, to this point
I've berrated the book and the author. All I can say
is that there simply wasn't much in the book. I can't
say I learned anything from this guy and yet I learned
so much from the other books.

At last, a comprehensive and comprehendible treatment of the implications of biotechnology for the business world! Richard Oliver's book, The Coming Biotech Age, does an excellent job of conveying, in a non-technical way, the most significant impacts that biotechnology will have on the future of both the life sciences and the materials sciences. As a management consultant with training in economics, I appreciated Oliver's focus on the economics of biotechnology and biomaterials, rather than on the scientific principles or ethical issues surrounding them. Other works have covered these dimensions adequately, and so Oliver has stepped in to fill a clear need--educating businesspeople about how biotechnology will impact their business in the near future.

Though it is not a scientific work, Oliver's book succeeds in bringing rigour to the biotechnology question as well. He introduces several principles, which he calls "laws of bioeconomics," which are well-supported and suggest major impacts on the economy. One could ask whether they are really worthy of being called "laws," and whether they will prove to have as big an impact as Oliver suggests. I'm not sure whether anyone could really answer this, and even Oliver himself suggests that he could be accused of being the first "BioAstrologer" because of the enthusiasm he expresses for his views. Of one thing I am certain, however, and that is that Richard Oliver has written a piece of essential reading for forward-looking businesspeople who want a glimpse into "The Next Big Thing."

It is poorly written, doesn't present any new ideas, and draws no new conclusions.

Anyone who has been reading the newspaper will know everything the author offers, and more.

The concept that is mentioned throughout, bioterials, is never expanded on or documented.

I am purposely reading this book slowly because i am so excited by its contents I am learning and enjoying the brilliance of this easy yet sophisticated read. Richard Oliver puts biotech on the front burner like never before. The information is written in a way where you get all the facts but the reading is fun and informative. Imagine five years from today when biotech information will double daily...this book will open your eyes to future developments which will make our lives and our children's lives different and better. If you want to know about the future of biotech, and/or want to know how to approach the group as an investor, don't hesitate.

The book brushes but does not paint and is written on an 8th grade level. Buy it for your young children if they are interested in the business or promise of biotech. A much better book is, The Biotech Investor's Bible by Wolfe.