BOOK REVIEW - ELON MUSK

Elon Musk

                            

 Dreamt at 18 to Reach the Sky, Docks with ISS at 49

 Schedules  Landing on Mars at 55

                                                                                                                                    Elon Musk

                                                                                                                                    By Ashlee Vance,Penguin

                                                                                             Pages 392

Price Rs 699

 " Do you think I'm Insane"?

That's the question Elon Musk 22nd richest man in the world worth 38.5  billion dollar asked his biographer ,Ashlee Vance;  that's the starting line of the book under review

Just as for the proverbial frog its well is the universe , the population at large thinks whatever is known and familiar is the world;  anyone talking about things unknown, unheard, are insane. That's why   many inventors like Galileo and others were called insane an were harassed and punished.. Musk asked the question just to ascertain if this Johnny going to understand what I say or dismiss them as fancies of an insane soul. In the latter case no us wasting time.

In fact, inventors/discoverers like Galileo Elon are absolutely certain of what they talk. Bt the people at large just think these things area mad person's reveries. Elon was a victim of  ridicule for all his projects.  They nick named him "part cow boy, part space boy". Just a few more  examples chosen out of many in this book; Tesla car  is now a roaring success; even  Ratan Tata says "It is quite conceivable that a leading car would be Tesla ,rather than Ford, GM, or Mercedes!". Can you imagine that in 2008 when Tesla project was in trouble there was a campaign: " Tesla Death Watch" with a dozen entries a day and, on one day 50  anti-Tesla articles appeared. His other projects were also topics of ridicule.

What are the take aways from Elon"s Project management.

• Inventors and entrepreneurs should remain steadfast on own plans and convictions and not get swayed by the short-sighted public, particularly the 'professional doubters and sceptics

• Inventors' loyalty should be firm for the project and worse comes to worse better to seek a partner or part with the project so that the dream is realised, albeit  by others When Tesla was in deep trouble Elon met Larry page of Google and after a brief discussion had a shake-hand deal to pass on the project to Google.

• After the tension of Tesla's death campaign was over, Elon and his team launched a vigorous marketing campaign; in the same year Tesla was named Car of the year.

• The stories about the other projects are similar 'ridicule to reverence'.  SpaceX had several reverse but finally 'Dragon' Elon's dream space unit did land on the ISS making SpaceX the only private company to reach the ISS.

• The Hyperloop too was a laughing stuff till President Obama "fell in love with the Project". It is also off the ground and progressing well.

• Solar City is too, is likely to be the largest supplier of electricity to the USA, and a proposal from UK is under negotiations

• Elon is basically an inventor to the core. He would have been immortalised even with one of his creations, yet, his search for the new is still on. He has launched Neurolink project  aiming brain implants to cure deformities as well as to enhance mental abilities. It is dubbed it as a 'wizard Hat'. Thus not only he has the wizardrous capability but wants to grow wizards. And that's not all; his ultimate dream is to make humans as interplanetary species and  establish a colony on Mars by2025. 

Lessons from Elon's Personal Life

• Elon was born in Pretoria in South Africa..during his schooling there, at the age of 12 Elon designed a video Game called 'Blaster'. In this game you have to destroy an alien space freighter carrying deadly hydrogen bombs and Status Beam Machine. The PC and Office Technology Magazine published the game,". The idea In this game Elon reveals was to save the world". It was a result of fantasy and reality so blended that they were inseparable .Elon says may be a result of reading too many comics.

• The making of Elon's personality and zest for innovation also resulted from his compulsion to read. he authour reveals that he finishes reading all the books in the school library and asked them to buy more. When new books were not added Elon read the Encyclopaedia Britannica. For the  Easter celebrations Elon would prepare bombs using loal  chemical compounds and put them in canisters for hand made rockets which exploded and flew high.Here  are the seeds of SpaceX idea.

• Elon found that the African ethos was not conducive to realise his dreams; he was keen to go to the USA..He left for Canada at 18 years ofage on way to the USA usin  He had to do hard labour in Canada; he worked as a vegetable vendor , a log cutter with a saw and even in  a boiler room of a lumber unit for 18 dollars an hour,.

• After all these trials and tribulations he went to three universities still working for fees and living. At one workplace he would sleep in bin bag. He repeated this  in 2019  to meet the production goal. All were working extra hours ; he too stayed overnight and slept on the  factory floor.  A whirlwind traveller and always engrossed in the future projects his family life has  not been so peaceful. He married thrice. Now he and his girl friend have a baby.  He tries to have a better work-home balance

• Awards and Recognition

• Member ,United States National Academy of Science and Space   

• R&D Magazines Innovator of the Year

• INC Magazines Entrepreneur of the year

       

 

The book contains very interesting  photographs covering various aspects of Elon's life. In fact, they reveal several aspects of his moods, interests as well as relationships,. Add a few more and it could be a 'Photo Biography' of Electrifying Lively and an Optimistic Netizen.