A BOOK LIKE THIS depends on the help of many people, from those whose work I have made use of to those who actually took the time to read the manuscript and offer comments. It is a pleasure to thank Gisbert Fanselow, Vyvyan Evans, Caleb Everett, Peter J. Richerson, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Geoffrey Pullum and Philip Lieberman for helpful, often highly critical comments on portions of this manuscript. I especially want to thank Maggie Tallerman, for reading and commenting on just about every page. None of these readers agrees with me completely – some very little, in fact. I therefore absolve them of all responsibility for what follows, only thanking them for invaluable help. A special thanks goes to my editor at Profile Books, John Davey, for helping me shape this book in my head several years ago. Phil Marino and Bob Weil at Liveright provided me with the most helpful and detailed editorial suggestions that I have ever received. If this book is a success in any sense of that word, Phil, Bob and John are a large part of the reason. As always, it is a pleasure to thank Max Brockman, who has been a supporter and wonderful agent for years.
I thank Kristen Nill, my indefatigable and ever-thoughtful assistant for securing permissions for the illustrations in this book and for maintaining my calendar.
This work and much else are only possible because of the support and love of Linda Wulfman Everett.