









































J Global Clinical Engineering Vol.6 Issue 2, 2024  28

A metaphor for the choices we have experiences, the 
phrase “the road less traveled” refers to unconventional 
and uncertain choices made. But why engage with review 
of a book with such a title here in Clinical Engineering 
discipline journal?

The first part of this book starts by the author with 
“Life is difficult.”  And we, the practitioners working in 
healthcare delivery, know that first-hand. We also un-
derstand that Engineering refers to any type of science 
concerned with the design, construction and use of 
machines, systems, and structures. Engineering practi-
tioners come from various backgrounds, cultures, and 
experiences. Mostly, the field of engineering attracts 
individuals who are intellectually curious, analytically 
minded, and passionate about making a difference through 

technological innovation and problem-solving.  What 
unites them is their passion for creating, overcoming 
challenges, and making a positive impact on the world. 
However, from my experience in general, clinical engi-
neering practitioners’ shy emotion-associated verbal 
expression and Dr. Peck, the author, writes in the intro-
duction to his book “… perhaps because it was needed, 
despite its flaws, there is no question in my mind that 
as I wrote the book in the solitude of my cramped little 
office I had help. I really cannot explain that help, but 
the experience of it is hardly unique. Indeed, such help 
is the ultimate subject of the book itself.”  As Dr. Peck 
continues “…once we truly understand and accept it – 
then life is no longer difficult.” My reason for selecting 
to write review about THIS book, that most readers will 
not expect to find in engineering periodical, is that the 
encouragement and guidance THIS book provides may 
be helpful to our readers. “When my patients lose sight 
of their significant and are disheartened by the effort 
of work we are doing, I sometimes tell them the that 
human race is in the midst of making an evolutionary 
leap. “Whether or not we success in that leap…is your 
personal responsibility”, and mine””  

This book, Road Less Traveled is the best-known 
work of Dr. Peck, a psychiatrist and best-selling author, 
educated at Harvard and Case Western Reserve, who 
helped found the Foundation for Community Encour-
agement, and published The Different Drum and People 
of the Lie books.

The Road Less Traveled was first published in 1978 
and has since sold over 6 million copies and has been 

Book Review

By Yadin David
GCEA President

Road Less Traveled,(25th Edition)
M. Scoot Peck, M.D.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 978-0-7432-3825-0 (hard copy)
315 pages
Book price: $18 US at Amazon

http://www.globalce.org
http://www.globalce.org


29 J Global Clinical Engineering Vol.6 Issue 2, 2024

translated into over 20 languages. It is a description 
of attributes that make a fulfilled human being, based 
largely on his experience as psychiatrist and a person.

The book has four parts. In the first, Dr. Peck examine 
the notion of discipline, which considers essential for 
healthy emotional, spiritual, and psychological health. He 
writes about having balance on such notion as delayed 
gratification and accepting responsibility for oneself 
actions, dedication to the truth. About Openness to 
Challenge, the author advises the reader to “continuous 
and never-ending process of self-monitoring to assure 
that our communications – not only words that we say 
but also the way we say them the…” are especially mean-
ingful in the era of texting and instant messaging. In the 
journey of life, the author advice, mandates negotiation 
of the curves and corners of our lives where we must 
continually give up parts of ourselves, but strangely as 
it seems “…most people choose the alternative and elect 
to stop by some distance…” creating significant pain. 
“Giving up” is the essence of balancing and is one of the 
major forms, according to the author, this book teaches, 
so the reader may achieve well-balanced patterns of 
behavior, personality traits and a whole better lifestyle.  

In the second part he raises the questions about love, 
emotional dependency, and explain the term “falling in 
love”. The author states that “we are incapable of loving 
another unless we love ourselves.” And “Love is effortful.”

In the third part he writes about spirituality growth, 
religion and their role in therapy and maturity. “…among 
the members of the human race there exists an extraor-
dinary variability in the breadth and sophistication of 

our understanding of what life is about.” The author 
argues that “We must continuously expand our realm of 
knowledge and our field of vision through the thorough 
digestion and incorporation of new information” as “The 
process of expansion of knowledge has been a major 
theme of this book.” Similarly, clinical engineering prac-
titioners must adopt learning as lifelong commitment. 

The fourth and final part concerns grace, human 
spiritual growth, mental health, discussing scientific 
thinking, and the conscious world around us. The author 
suggests that “It is hardly remarkable that we sicken and 
die; what is truly remarkable is that we don’t usually 
sicken very often and we don’t die very quickly.” Perhaps 
avoiding giving credit to the role of advances in science 
and engineering in it. Continuing to explain that “There 
is a force, the mechanism of which we do not fully under-
stand, that seems to operate routinely in most people to 
protect and encourage their physical health even under 
the most adverse conditions.” Towards the book’s end, 
under the Miracle of Evolution the author suggests that 
the human race is in spiritual progression. For ours and 
our children’s future - I hope he is correct.

After reading the book, I felt that I can examine and 
gain deeper self-knowledge thus attempting to eliminate 
my shortfalls. Similarly, I felt it may help other trained 
engineering professionals to better understand their 
challenges, and if there is path for improvement that 
they can prescribe to, then it was worth publishing this 
review of a non-technical book helping everyone to em-
brace qualities that according to Dr. Peck leads to better 
health, better relationships, and richer life experiences.

Copyright © 2024. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY): Creative Commons - 
Attribution 4.0 International - CC BY 4.0. The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright 
owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction 
is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

http://www.globalce.org
http://www.globalce.org
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

