Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli prowess in technology is the subject that started George Gilder on the path to writing The Israel Test, and it is the subject also that Gilder will emphasize in the upcoming Gilder/Forbes Telecosm 20009 conference in Tarrytown, New York November 10-12.
In Israel last week to promote his book and to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gilder talked to many old and new friends in the remarkable Israeli technology industry that now is second only to America's. Among the topics he investigated was the invention of new long life batteries at Technion, "the MIT of Israel."
The batteries seem destined to revolutionize electronics and eventually to lead to the long-sought, long term electric automobile battery that was discussed this past week, also, at the "Beyond Oil" conference sponsored by the Cascadia Center at Microsoft's Redmond, WA campus.
(Reminder to the media: Gilder is director of Discovery Institute's Technology and Democracy program, and Cascadia is a center within Discovery Institute.)
"Bibi" Netanyahu, in his meeting with Gilder, apparently expressed enthusiasm about the varied themes of The Israel Test, which he recently read; not just the explanations for Israel's dramatic contributions to technology in the past decade, but also Gilder's original insights about Jews, Israel, capitalism and the nature of creativity.
Gilder has lined up a stellar cast for Telecosm 2009, a project co-produced with Forbes, and he says he expects the political and cultural vibrations to nearly equal the investment and technology interest this year. The annual Telecosm conference is not a program of Discovery Institute, although a number of our fellows, in addition to George Gilder, take part.
In Israel, The Israel Test already is the number one book (in English) on Israel.
