Over three or four years this short book has been through several drafts, some radically different from their predecessors. I keep shifting my views, partly because when pushing at the boundaries of one’s understanding breakthroughs periodically occur, but more so because colleagues have pointed out contradictions, mistakes, and foolish detours. I feel privileged to be the beneficiary of many of my colleagues’ willingness to share their extraordinary knowledge, but if my intellectual debts are mountainous, then, unlike monetary ones, they are not onerous because they have been accumulated through so much generosity.
Many of the ideas in this book have emerged in the course of an engagement over the last few years with Bruno Latour, who did me the honour of reading two entire drafts. They were bruising encounters, but deeply provoking and sympathetic to the project and a quite different book emerged as a result.
Bron Szerszynski read an early draft and was kind enough to point me in some fruitful directions. Lisa Sideris provided a truly thought-provoking commentary that helped me resolve some weaknesses and contradictions in the argument. Adrian Wilding read certain key sections and was especially helpful with the philosophical references in the text. My friend Kjell Anderson read an early draft and provided a boost. Stephen Muecke posed some awkward questions to which I have tried to respond. Two anonymous readers provided both encouragement and challenges.
Conversations and email exchanges with an ever-generous Will Steffen have greatly extended and deepened my grasp of Earth System science. Jan Zalasiewicz has set me straight on various aspects of the science. My understanding of the development of this new science has been heavily influenced by my association with Jacques Grinevald, a wise collaborator who helped me see many things more clearly.
Dipesh Chakrabarty generously took time out from his pressured academic life to read a draft and pose challenging questions that forced me to make some big changes. His intellectual influence can readily be seen in the text. Thought-provoking exchanges with Alf Hornborg, Christophe Bonneuil, and Ingolfur Blühdorn helped shape my ideas, strengthen the arguments, and provide impetus to develop the ideas further.
My colleagues Stephen Pickard, Scott Cowdell, and Wayne Hudson very kindly gave their time and wisdom when they read a draft and told me of its weaknesses and strengths. My daily association with them at George Browning House is a blessing, for they create a rich and open-minded intellectual environment. Finally, I must thank Charles Sturt University for providing me with the freedom and support to pursue a speculative project like this one.
While the published text has been improved beyond measure as a result of the commentaries and advice from those I have mentioned, none is responsible for any of the remaining views.