Assumption-Based Planning: A Tool for Reducing Avoidable Surprises (RAND Studies in Policy Analysis)

Unwelcome surprises in the life of any organization can often be traced to the failure of an assumption that the organization's leadership didn't anticipate or had "forgotten". Assumption-based planning (ABP) is a tool for identifying as many as possible assumptions underlying the plans of an organization and bringing them explicitly into the planning process. This book presents a variety of techniques for rooting out those vulnerable, crucial assumptions. It also presents steps for monitoring the vulnerable assumptions of a plan by taking actions to control them where possible and preparing for potential failure where control is not possible.

Business & Money

Dewar, James A.

Economics

Cambridge University Press

Chemically propelled rockets can lift less than 5 percent of their take-off weight into orbit, a fact that could forever limit the space program. Nuclear-powered rockets, however, with their superior thrusting power and speed, are radically different. So argues James A. Dewar in the only comprehensive history ever written of the nuclear rocket project. It is a story of political battles over the space program's future, involving Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, and a readable account of its technical successes, a story perhaps more interesting and certainly more important, Dewar believes, than the history of atomic and H-bomb development. Dewar maintains that only by reestablishing a nuclear rocket project can the nation have a space program worthy of the 21st century, one that makes reality of the hopes and dreams of science fiction.

To the End of the Solar System: The Story of the Nuclear Rocket

Science & Math

Astronomy & Space Science

Univ Pr of Kentucky

RAND has embarked on a three-year effort, sponsored by the National Intelligence Council's Strategic Estimates Program, to chart the course of changes brought about by the information revolution over the next 10 to 20 years. As a first step, RAND convened in November 1999 an international conference on political/governmental, business/financial, and social/cultural trends. Across the diverse conference discussions,  a shared vision emerged of an information revolution future of more "information work" and new business models, an increase in electronic commerce, challenges to the nation state, creation of a number of sub-, trans-, and supranational groupings, more porous borders, and new fault lines within and between nations. The world can expect increasing disparities (winners and losers), concerns about privacy, and effects on national cultures.

The Global Course of the Information Revolution: Political, Economic, and Social Consequences (Documented Briefing)

Anderson, Robert H.

Bikson, Tora K.

Hundley, Richard O.

Green, Jerrold

Reference

RAND Corporation

Jargon-free and ideal for scientists and laypersons alike, this study is a comprehensive history and analysis of nuclear rocket propulsion systems. Detailing a two-decade periodspanning the 1950s through parts of the 1970sby profiling the U.S. government’s Rover and NERVA programs, a complete history of the development of nuclear propulsion capabilities for space exploration is provided. Eyeing future possibilities, this reference identifies the technological requirements necessary to perform the deep space missions now being planned by NASA and presents a discussion on the political and social issues surrounding nuclear rocket development.

To the End of the Solar System: The Story of the Nuclear Rocket (Apogee Books Space Series)

Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc.

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Books by Dewar, James A.