THE LAST LECTURE--BOOK REVIEW

THE LAST LECTURE BY RANDY PAUSCH ; PUBLISHED BY HYPERION ; PAGES 207; PRICE -$ 21.95
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Randy Pausch was an American professor of computer science, human computer reaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a best-selling author who achieved worldwide fame for his " The Last Lecture" speech at Carnegie Mellon University.
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This has been brought out in a book form by his friend Jeffrey Jaslow.
Pausch was an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science from 1988 until 1997. In 1997, Pausch became Associate Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design, at Carnegie Mellon University. He started the Building Virtual Worlds course at CMU and taught it for 10 years. He worked with Google, Adobe, Electronic Arts (E A) and Walt Disney Imagineering, and pioneered the Alice Software Project. Pausch was the author or co-author of five books and over 70 articles.
The Pittsburgh City Council declared November 19, 2007 to be "Dr. Randy Pausch Day." In May 2008, Pausch was listed by Time magazine as one of the World's Top-100 Most Influential People.
Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and after an unsuccessful attempt to halt it he was told in August 2007 to expect a remaining three to six months of good health On July 25, 2008, Pausch died at his 47th year. He is survived by his wife Jai, and their three children, Dylan, Logan and Chloe.
Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture", titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” at CMU on September 18, 2007. This talk was modelled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk," i.e., "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?"
During the lecture, Pausch was humorous, alternating between wisecracks, insights on computer science and engineering education, advice on building multi-disciplinary collaborations, working in groups and interacting with other people, offering inspirational life lessons, and performing push-ups on stage.
His " The Last Lecture" has attracted wide attention from the international media, became an Internet hit, and was viewed over a million times in the first month after its delivery. On October 22, 2007, Pausch appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show where he discussed his situation and recapped his "Last Lecture" for millions of TV viewers. The Walt Disney owned publisher Hyperion has paid $6.7 million for the rights to publish a book about Pausch called The Last Lecture co-authored by Pausch and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Zaslow.
Each year at a series known as The Last Lecture, a Carnegie Mellon University faculty member is asked to deliver what would hypothetically be a final speech to their students before dying. It is a wonderful tradition in which both speaker and listeners take a moment to reflect upon what matters most in this life. In September 2007, the speaker, 47-year-old computer science professor and father of three, Randy Pausch, didn't have to imagine that he was confronting his imminent demise because, in fact, he was. Pausch had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, at the time of his Last Lecture, had only been given three to six months to live. Pausch's speech, entitled "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," was every bit inspirational as the man himself. Rather than focusing on dying, it was a speech about living, about achieving one's dreams and enabling the dreams of others, about truly living each day as though it were your last.

With a desire to elaborate on his ideas in print form, but not wanting to take precious time away from his children, Pausch, a self-avowed efficiency nut, spent fifty-three daily bike rides on his cell phone headset conveying his thoughts to Zaslow who helped shape the stories into book form.
The book under review is a slender book that can be read in two or three sittings. The book overflows with stories and aphorisms. Randy Pausch recounts fulfillment of his childhood dreams and the principles he learned along the way. Pausch's strong beliefs included inter-alia "life's brick walls are there to show us how badly we really want something," the notion that "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted," and a quotation from the Roman philosopher Seneca who said that "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." Pausch is a thoroughly entertaining storyteller and presents the highlights of his brilliant career bursting with the joy of living even as a cloud of death was enveloping him. The book deals with his struggles with cancer taking it as a challenge he must and will overcome. He has great faith in creative solutions and he refuses to be buckle under any threat—even to his life.
Though Pausch wrote this book for his three children to hear him after his departure the book’s wisdom is of universal value. Reading this swan-song will help resuscitate the lagging and lapsing faith in humanity. Pausch will rank with Helen Keller, Stephen Hawking and other great persons who were struck by serious ailments but overcame them by sheer will power. “The Last Lecture” is one of the great inspirational works of the twenty first century.
P.P.Ramachandran