While a published book usually only lists one name on the cover, there are an enormous number of people whose collective efforts are required to make that final product, who need to be thanked within. In the case of this book, the list starts with my agent, Erin Hosier, for finding this book a place.
Several of the ideas in this book got a “trial run” of sorts on my blog for Forbes; thanks to Alex Knapp for the opportunity to write for them. Some of the finer points were also clarified thanks to discussions with other scientists, in particular Ash Jogalekar, Nelia Mann, Doug Natelson, Michael Nielsen, Dave Phillips, Tom Swanson, and Mark Walker. The book is more accurate than it would’ve been without them; any remaining errors are my fault, not theirs.
Thanks to my editors, Alexa Stevenson at BenBella and Sam Carter at Oneworld for helping sharpen and focus the argument, and to copyeditors Scott Calamar and James Fraleigh for making it look like I understand grammar and punctuation. And thanks to Paul Nash and the rest of the production team for making the finished product look great.
This is my fourth book, and in some ways has been the most difficult to write. Enormous thanks are due to my family, without whose support none of this would be possible. I especially want to thank Kate Nepveu for patient listening, beta reading, and putting up with my odd work schedule and general air of distraction. And thanks to Claire and David for providing great excuses to step away from the computer now and again.