When I first entertained the idea of writing this book I was overwhelmed with self-doubt. I want to especially thank K.C. Cole and Maria Popova for empowering and supporting me with some important tools and encouragement to get through writing this book. I also want to thank Mark Gould, one of the world’s most brilliant social theorists, for his ongoing support and collaboration on theorizing the sociology of science with me. To my editor, the magician TJ Kelleher—thanks for yet another amazing journey. Thanks to Lara Heimert, Kelly Lenkevich, Sharon Kunz, Liz Wetzel, and the Basic, Perseus, Hachette team for helping to bring this book into reality. Thanks, Brandon Ogbunu, for your inspiration, guiding me through the very first stages of writing, and continuing to be a soundboard all the way through. Thank you Glenn Loury for writing The Anatomy of Racial Inequality and for your constructive criticisms that made this book stronger. Thanks to David Spergel for reading and providing scientific guidance on the manuscript. Thanks, Indradeep Ghosh, for your frank insights and guidance, Joao Magueijo, for many discussions, and Jaron Lanier, for co-writing a chapter and teaching me how to think outside the box. Finally, thank you to members of the Alexander Theory Group at Brown University.
Thank you Jerome Alexander, Salvador Almagro Moreno, Asohan Amarasingham, Sarah Bawabe, Willis Bilderback, Brown University, Will Calhoun, Liam Carpenter-Urquhart, Saint Clair Cemin, Colin Channer, Dwayne Ray Cormier, Everard Findlay, Batia Freedman-Shaw, Ashok Gangadean, Melving Gibbs, Heather Goodell, Jeff Greenwald, Leah Jenks, Ned Kahn, Brian Keating, Dagny Kimberly, Jaron Lanier, Janna Levin, Evan McDonough, Fernanod Pezzino, Vernon Reid, David Rothenberg, Susan Sharin, Jim Simons, Lee Smolin, Richard Snyder, Greg Tate, Greg Thomas, and Eric Weinstein.