Sustainable Development Possible with Creative System Engineering [Paperback]

Walter Sobkiw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2008

Our Science, Innovation, Technology, and Engineering are breaking down just when we need it to ramp up. Few realize that sustainable development has always been part of human development and that it was these elements and how effectively they worked which allowed for our life on earth. If we fall down in these areas our only alternatives are war, revolution, and genocide as famine and want grip a naturally increasing human population. This little book is a call back to the fundamentals of Science and Art to solve our most complex problems. Today, our organizations are not capable of the challenges that must be addressed in our rapidly approaching future. It raises some difficult questions and proposes a surprising solution from our recent past. This book is for everyone everywhere as we all engage in trying to build everything - from software to cities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Could it be that a reasonable approach to deal with Global Warming is offered in this new book, Sustainable Development Possible with Creative System Engineering? This book is definitely an interesting read. It is for artists, teachers, managers, engineers, teenagers, politicians, waitresses, doctors, lawyers, retail clerks, scientists, moms, dads, everyone. --Review 1

Philadelphia Art Museum and Water Works is the front cover for this book. It makes some bold claims and proposes a rather simple solution to tackle our problems in the next 100 years. It uses the image of the Philadelphia Art Museum and Water Works on top of a Las Vegas Nevada sky to challenge us and show us a possible way to our future.

Its premise is that Our Science, Innovation, Technology, Engineering and Art are breaking down just when we need it to ramp up. It goes on to state that sustainable development has always been part of human development and that it was these elements and how effectively they worked which allowed for our life on earth.

From the book back cover the text reads: Imagine a place where you can create things and make decisions where there are no hidden agendas and all stakeholders are treated equally. How would potential approaches surface, how would they be narrowed and selected, how would decisions be made. What tools and techniques would be used if they were not the greatest moneyed interests, the most politically powerful, or the most dangerous? --Review 2

What do Howard Hughes, the movie Flashdance and the Beatles have to do with Global Warming and Sustainable Development? They are all part of the discussion in this really creative book. It makes some bold claims and proposes a rather simple solution to tackle our problems in the next 100 years while casually referencing some movies, music, theater, and books from 431 BC to today. --Review 3

The Las Vegas Nevada sky is on the front cover. It uses the image of the Las Vegas Nevada sky behind the Philadelphia Art Museum and Water Works to challenge us. It ends with the interesting question of what the beautiful Las Vegas Nevada sky and this new city will look like in 100 years. A great ending of the previous chapter which was a paper to President Roosevelt. This incredible paper helped create our modern world that we currently enjoy. Could this book provide the same road map to our future? --Review 4

From the Author

Hi, My Name is Walt and I wrote this book because I believe it can help us deal with the climate and energy crisis. I called it "Sustainable Development Possible with Creative System Engineering" because really that is what we are dealing with and even though engineering is in the title the book is for artists, teachers, managers, engineers, teenagers, politicians, waitresses, doctors, lawyers, retail clerks, scientists, moms, dads, everyone. Please take a look at this really important book and pass the word to everyone you know. Thanks Walt --Author Comments

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Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: CassBeth (June 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615216307
• ISBN-13: 978-0615216300
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,279,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars author doesn't follow his own advice..., October 3, 2009

By 

Erin S. Kenzie - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sustainable Development Possible with Creative System Engineering (Paperback)

Flipping through this book you can tell that the author is passionate about the topic and trying to make a difference, which of course is admirable, but the book itself comes across as a rambling series of opinions with no references to the academic literature. The author advocates for more emphasis on science, but doesn't himself follow the standard scientific procedures of putting your work into the context of existing work on the topic, citing claims, and presenting information in an impartial way. The author also extensively quotes his own posts on internet message boards. All in all, there are many much better resources on systems thinking and sustainability. The author's ideas might be good, but the unprofessional format ruined any chance he had at being taken seriously.

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely read for engineers and non-engineers alike, May 25, 2009

By 

Donald M. Bravo - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sustainable Development Possible with Creative System Engineering (Paperback)

In my opinion the author's work could not be more timely. I would say that engineers and non-engineers alike would be well served to read the book. It is a short read and yet extremely rich in depth and scope. I will attempt to present what I believe to be a few of the key concepts:

We need more leadership and less management to successfully address future challenges; research is paramount to the success of our future endeavors; sustainable solutions draw on 5,000 plus years of civilization--not just the latest trends or technologies; a cohesive systems approach methodology will be required to provide lasting, sustainable results into and beyond the next century; libraries and the premises upon which they were founded are increasingly threatened as "for-profit" organizations continue to corner and capitalize on information that was once free to the people; if well-meaning individuals work together, without hidden agendas, the results can be astounding when conditions are right--"magical" if you will; systems engineering is an open, honest approach to problem solving adopted in the past by great minds, such as Benjamin Franklin as an example offered by the author, but increasingly threatened by the myopic, self-serving interests of the top-down approaches adopted in many of today's organizations.

This is a brief review--not a comprehensive summary. I mentioned here, what I believe to be, only some of the essentials presented in the book. If you like to think about the "bigger challenges" facing us today and tomorrow, this is probably a book for you. I found the thesis highly credible and deserving of attention.

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone must read this book, February 7, 2009

By 

cjrs - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sustainable Development Possible with Creative System Engineering (Paperback)

There are many books that talk about decision making but this one lays out an approach that not only has a successful track record but has roots going back to Benjamin Franklin. This technique, formal tradeoff analysis of alternatives, is simple and elegant based on what some may call common sense yet we forget it solved many of our past problems and can be used to solve our new problems. This book introduces the reader to tradeoffs, architectures, modeling, requirements, and then moves into the difficulties of actually accomplishing these tasks in the new dysfunctional organizational settings of today. This book may share library shelf space with Freakonomics, Blink, How We Decide, etc but this book offers a clear and doable proposal and plan for what to do immediately to help us get going with all that needs to be done. A great book!