John Boyd was probably the 20th Century's greatest strategic thinker. A jet fighter pilot in the Korean war combat trainer, he managed to cross a number of other disparate disciplines including engineering, physics, evolutionary biology, epistemology and military history. From these threads he constructed a series of presentations he gave over many years to various military groups that have profoundly influenced the development of strategic thinking in the US and overseas. Famous adopters of his Boyds ideas have included the US Marne Corps. They also heavily influenced US operations in the First Gulf War. Unfortunately, Boyd never formally published his thinking.

Boyd's Observe, Orient, Decide and Act Loop concept distills in a very simple and memorable concept a great deal of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom about how people and organizations can better manage and process information about the world to make effective decisions in competitive environments. This has certainly helped my understanding of how knowledge is constructed and works in living entities and people.

Frans P.B Osinga is an officer in the Royal Netherlands Air Force and was a jet fighter pilot before completing this study as part of his work for a PhD thesis. In this compact book Osinga has done an excellent job of searching out and explaining how Boyd came by his wisdom, as well as providing an excellent summary and analysis of Boyd's major presentations. I recommend the book to anyone interested in military strategy and history, organizational management, or the theory of knowledge, ( )