I begin by thanking my agents Katinka Matson and John Brockman, not only for their personal support of my work but for what they have done to help shape the genre of science writing into a “third culture” on par with other cultural traditions. In today’s society if you want to be a literate, well-read person, you need to read science books. That is good news for science, scientists, and science writers. We can all thank John and Katinka for what they have done to help bring about this salubrious situation. And thanks as well to my editors, initially John Michel at W. H. Freeman, then David Sobel and Paul Golob at Henry Holt/Times books who inherited the project, and finally Robin Dennis who saw it through to completion and helped shape it into a much more readable treatise. I also acknowledge Carol Rutan for constructive copyediting of the manuscript, Lisa Fyfe for the powerful cover design, Victoria Hartman for interior design, and Chris O’Connell for overall production.
A number of people were gracious enough to read parts of this book during its development and/or provide critical feedback on some of the ideas developed within. David Sloan Wilson and Steven Pinker provided valuable information on the group selection debate in evolutionary theory; the late Stephen Jay Gould encouraged a conciliatory attitude toward religion and cautioned me about taking evolutionary theory
too far in attempting to explain the origin of morality; Jared Diamond confirmed for me many aspects of the human condition in a state of nature based on stories he related about his experiences with the indigenous peoples of New Guinea; Daniel Dennett for clarifying the free will-determinism debate; Robbin Gehrke and Rob Moses, over countless dinner conversations on morality, religion, politics, and economics, helped me hone my thinking on moral issues; most importantly, in endless dialogue over just about everything, my colleague and confidant Frank “the Tank” Sulloway has taught me more about human psychology than any book could, and his knowledge and experience in research design is reflected in the results of the morality survey, presented in the epilogue to this book.
Special thanks go to Skeptic magazine art director Pat Linse for her important contributions in preparing the illustrations, graphs, and charts for this and my other works, as well as for her unmitigated and deeply appreciated friendship and support. The skeptical movement in general owes a debt of gratitude to Pat for her behind-the-scenes work that has irrevocably shaped modern skepticism into a viable social movement.
I also wish to recognize the staff of the Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine. First and foremost is our office manager Tanja Sterrmann, for getting the job done so efficiently, and especially for her unadulterated good cheer that creates a pleasant working atmosphere for all; thanks too go to Matt Cooper for his work on the morality survey, for his critical feedback on moral issues, and for his valuable help in the Skeptics Society. Thanks also go to senior editor Frank Miele; senior scientists David Naiditch, Bernard Leikind, Liam McDaid, and Thomas McDonough; our Web meister Nick Gerlich; contributing editors Tim Callahan, Randy Cassingham, Clayton Drees, Steve Harris, Tom McIver, Brian Siano, and Harry Ziel; editorial assistants Gene Friedman, Sara Meric, and the late Betty McCollister, one of the most humane humanists in the history of that movement; photographer David Patton and videographer Brad Davies for their visual record of the Skeptics’ Caltech Science Lecture Series; and database manager Jerry Friedman. I would also like to recognize Skeptic magazine’s board members: Richard Abanes, David Alexander, the late Steve Allen, Arthur Benjamin, Roger Bingham, Napoleon Chagnon, K. C. Cole, Jared Diamond, Clayton J. Drees, Mark Edward, George Fischbeck,
Greg Forbes, the late Stephen Jay Gould, John Gribbin, Steve Harris, William Jarvis, Lawrence Krauss, Gerald Larue, William McComas, John Mosley, Richard Olson, Donald Prothero, James Randi, Vincent Sarich, Eugenie Scott, Nancy Segal, Elie Shneour, Jay Stuart Snelson, Julia Sweeney, Frank Sulloway, Carol Tavris, and Stuart Vyse.
Thanks as well for the institutional support for the Skeptics Society at the California Institute of Technology go to David Baltimore, Susan Davis, Chris Harcourt, and Kip Thorne; Larry Mantle, Ilsa Setziol, Jackie Oclaray, Julia Posie, and Linda Othenin-Girard at KPCC 89.3 FM radio in Pasadena have been good friends and valuable supporters for promoting science and critical thinking on the air; thanks to Linda Urban at Vroman’s bookstore in Pasadena for her support; Robert Zeps and John Moores have been especially supportive of both the Skeptics Society as well as the skeptical movement in America, and Bruce Mazet has been a good friend to the skeptics who has influenced the movement in myriad unacknowledged ways. Finally, special thanks go to those who help at every level of our organization: Stephen Asma, Jaime Botero, Jason Bowes, Jean Paul Buquet, Adam Caldwell, Bonnie Callahan, Tim Callahan, Cliff Caplan, Randy Cassingham, Shoshana Cohen, John Coulter, Brad Davies, Janet Dreyer, Bob Friedhoffer, Michael Gilmore, Tyson Gilmore, Andrew Harter, Terry Kirker, Diane Knudtson, Joe Lee.
I would also like to acknowledge John Rennie and Mariette DiChristina at Scientific American for providing skepticism a monthly voice that reaches so many people, as well as for keeping me on my toes about accuracy, style, and succinctness. I look forward each month to writing my column more than just about anything else I do in my working life.
Finally, I thank my daughter Devin who is now old enough to begin thinking about moral issues and helped me see clearly and through a child’s eyes how the world should be; and to my life partner Kim … for everything.