First off, I want to thank everyone who didn’t just live this story, but took time out of busy, robot-forging lives to tell me all about it, and to share the primary documents—photos, emails, letters to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and more—that restored color to sepia memories.
All that would have meant little, though, if not for many others who made me just enough of a reporter and writer to weave together their tales. Of the many stories I wrote for WIRED magazine, few would have been much good if not for the sharp pencils and blunt criticisms of Joe Brown, Chuck Squatriglia, Adam Rogers, Andrea Valdez, Sarah Fallon, and Scott Thurm. They and others have made me the journalist I am, and I shall remain in their debt. Aarian Marshall, another terrific person I’m glad to call a friend as well as a colleague, not only helmed WIRED’s transportation desk while I took book leave, but offered invaluable insight and guidance on early drafts of this project.
Rich Dorment guided me through the oral history project on the first DARPA Grand Challenge that made me realize just how much of this history sat untold. And when I couldn’t stop retelling the stories I’d heard in the process, my good friend Nick Stockton responded with a thought that hadn’t occurred to me: “You should write a book.” Amid bouts of stress and doubt, Sarah Frier and Tim Higgins, friends writing their own books, provided encouragement and the vital reminder that I wasn’t alone. Ryan Loughlin was my coproducer of a mini-documentary on the three DARPA Challenges, and a butt-saving archivist of interviews I had feared lost. The New York Mets kept their 2019 season alive just long enough to provide a distraction when I needed it. Here’s to next year, as always.
My agent, Eric Lupfer, helped shape a rambling sentence of an idea into something somebody might call a book proposal, and offered crucial advice on a years-long journey. Jacob Shea did the vital, often thankless work of fact checking this book. I apologize to him for my not quite perfect record keeping. I can’t imagine a more helpful editor than Bob Bender for this, my first book. I appreciate especially his guidance on how to triage my many concerns, from valid (some) to insignificant (most). Thanks also to Johanna Li and the rest of the team at Simon & Schuster for their help getting this book from my brain to readers’ hands.
Tim Wyman-McCarthy couldn’t care less about cars or robots, but he did more than let me prattle on about this book, even while I flossed. He listened, offered steady encouragement and critiques, and displayed a talent for asking just the right question: the one that provokes thoughtful silence. My love and thanks to him, even if he did it just for a bit of quiet.
My parents, brothers, and the rest of my family have spent the most time of anyone dealing with and shaping me. With no real way to pay back that sort of debt, I’ll settle for a simple thank-you.