How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion Can Lead to a Lifetime of Success
by James Marcus Bach
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Readers' rating:
Published Sep 2009
208 pages
Genre: Advice
Publication Information
The volatility of the job market and the limitless opportunities afforded by the internet have forever changed people's attitudes about schooling. In this world of rapid technological development, people are becoming successful, making money and finding personal satisfaction through non-traditional means. Ideas have become more important than training; innovation is more important than credentials. The ability to educate oneself - to learn how to learn - is crucial.
James Bach, the son of bestselling author Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull,) understands that. Like so many young people, James struggled in school, eventually dropping out at age sixteen. A few years later, he was leading a team at Apple Computer. Now an internationally recognized expert in the field of computer software testing, James has written Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: a groundbreaking book that shows how anyone can create their own education on their own terms. It is nurturing our individual curiosities and relishing the learning process that will lead anyone - from children struggling in school to professionals looking to jumpstart their careers - to success.
In his unique pithy and anecdotal style, and combining his personal story with proven methodologies, James describes the relentless, whimsical, low-intensity learning process he calls "buccaneering." Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar demonstrates that it is the people who chart their own course, who never stop learning, who will come to dominate this new world.
"An informative and entertaining account of how to acquire a great education and a good job without classroom instruction...a healing balm for parents whose children are struggling in school, providing both with helpful tools." - Publishers Weekly
"In straightforward language, James Bach details his methods, which could convert America's million-plus yearly dropouts into a new source of national wealth." - John Taylor Gatto, author of Weapons of Mass Instruction, former New York State Teacher of the Year
"Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar is about the thrill of taking responsibility for your own thinking. James Bach demonstrates that the pursuit of intelligence is what makes you intelligent, more than any inborn IQ or formal certification. His story is shameless, reckless and inspiring while his unique methods transfer competency to every reader. Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar is a wicked smart book about becoming wicked smart." - Stan Slap, president/CEO of slap, an international consulting group
This information about Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James Bach is an expert in the field of computer software testing who has taught critical thinking and software testing to rocket and nuclear scientists at such places as the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He lives in Eastsound, Washington with his wife and son.
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