Google Scholar and the Varsavskys
I was born in Argentina. My background is German, Ukrainian, Polish and predictably Jewish. When I was growing up in Buenos Aires there were mainly two main kinds of Jews, the businessmen and the intelectuals. The Varsavskys were clearly on the intellectual camp. My father Carlos Varsavsky had a PhD from Harvard in astrophysics and he exemplified the Varsavsky type. Now while being an intellectual was and still is very prestigious there was no money in it. In America scientists struggle but are not poor. In Argentina they were then and they are now. Maybe this is why I grew up thinking that men does not live by science alone and decided to make a living out of investing in science rather than practicing it. This was not easy. My grandmother on my mother side, Ora Waisman, before she died in 1994 made me promise that I would get a PhD. I did go half way and in 1996 I became a professor of entrepreneurship at Instituto de Empresa and have been teaching in the fall ever since. But that is as far as I went with academia. I used to think I could get away with this. That my work was very relevant as evidenced by the enormous number of citations that Martin Varsavsky got at Google. But then Google came up with Google Scholar and there all the other Professor Varsavskys beat me by a great margin and rightly so. I am sorry Ora! I did what I could. I just LOVE starting businesses. I hope you understand. Entrepreneur first, scholar second.
Posted on General | 5:36 pm
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Posted by - - April 2, 2006 2:46 am - #
You could translate that like: “Promise me you will get the best from yourself”
Posted by José Luis Mesa - April 2, 2006 12:05 pm - #
Hi Martin,
I think just like you.
Right now I’m about to finish a PhD with stages at both Melbourne and Cambridge, UK. After that I think will be the right time to change the pathway from Science to Entrepreneurship. Actually, I’m already doing that.
If you want things you don’t have, just change your pathway. It is a brave decision, but I can’t imagine the life without challenges and new avenues.
Regards
Posted by Xavier - April 2, 2006 6:46 pm - #
Maybe you can obtain a Doctor Honoris Causa… That’s could be enough for Ora.
Posted by teleken - April 2, 2006 6:56 pm - #
May i be so bold as to stat to all that read this,
i grew up on the streets of a big city. drop out of school and 15 years old. and begged for money for food, I had no real family but my mother did see that if i didn’t get away from the life style i was living i would surely end up on the wrong side of the tracks. she sent me to move in with my farther at age 16. he live 2000 mile, (Now that tough love) from where
i was living it would be the first time in my life that i Had every seen him. That one change saved my live,giving me a positive roll model in my live.
I never understood what school could do for me until i was 40 years old i wish i could have comprehended the idea of education and schools
at a younger age. i had so many good ideas that
i want to developed.I then started to look for other that Had good ideas i wanted to be apart of them putting my efforts to help there ideas grow
and in my way grow with them also. i never made it big in my own business, But i have help other reach there goal.I felt good knowing i help them
succeed. and helping them they helped me to also succeed.I respect those Entrepreneur’s that are big dreams i see people get older and give up believing in goals that they had as a young person,
and fell sorry for then and tell myself i must stay true to my goals and dream no mater what age.
I found over time that making profit is the live
blood of a capitalistic eco system. and subsidizing can only work for awhile. people want
ownership of things that mean growth, that more ownership they fell the harder they are willing to invest the time and money in to it. Martin from reading some of your posts i see that your
Head and heart are in the correct place. thank you
for making this platform for communication
I love the concepts of communication i see it as a
art more the away of just communicating, Communication to me is ownership of free speech.
I thing the missing link every one is looking for is the concepts of (communication)
Martin if you think the post is off topic fell free to not posted it and just Delete it.