I AM PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL TO THE MANY PEOPLE WHO MADE it possible for me to write this book. First and foremost, to my amazing wife, Alexis, who was supernormal in her support, love, and patience as this project evolved from an idea to an obsession, and finally a reality. Her impeccable eye for style and simplicity also saved me many times from straying into arcane technicalities and tedious prose. The book was born when my dearest friends, Jed Rubenfeld and Amy Chua, insisted that I stop talking and start writing about the science by which I have been so captivated over the past several years. Throughout the writing of this book they have been extraordinarily generous with their comments, suggestions, and enthusiasm for the project. Without their exceptional insight and unwavering encouragement, this book would never have come to be.
The greatest challenge in writing a book about something as complex as the workings of the mind and brain is to make it readable and engaging without oversimplifying the science. If this book has managed to strike that balance, it’s only because of the brilliant guidance of my agent, Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, and the extraordinary talents of my editor, Henry Ferris, and his team at William Morrow.
A remarkable group of scientists and scholars generously shared their time, insights, and findings with me in the course of my research for this book. Many of them also read, provided detailed comments, and helped me fact-check drafts of the chapters. My special thanks go to Coren Apicella, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Anne Becker, R. James Blair, Ray Blanchard, Hans Breiter, Randy Buckner, Sue Carter, Dante Cicchetti, Leda Cosmides, Stacy Drury, Alice Flaherty, John Gunderson, Takao Hensch, Steven Hyman, Martin Kafka, Jerome Kagan, Kenneth Kendler, Karlen Lyons-Ruth, Richard McNally, Mohammed Milad, Ben Neale, Charles Nelson, Roger Pitman, Barbara Pober, Harrison G. Pope Jr., Scott Rauch, Kerry Ressler, Joshua Roffman, Rebecca Saxe, Carl Schwartz, Alexandra Shields, Jack Shonkoff, Regina Sullivan, Helen Tager-Flusberg, John Tooby, Danielle Truxaw, Jerome Wakefield, Larry Young, and Leslie Zebrowitz. I am especially grateful to my friends Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, who have inspired my excitement about the human mind ever since I met them more than thirty years ago. They also allowed me to spend time with them and their colleagues at the UCSB Center for Evolutionary Psychology, which was crucial in developing and alpha-testing ideas for this book. I am grateful to Tracy and Eric Novack for generously lending me their home in the woods of Vermont where chunks of this book were written. James Hong and Jim Young graciously shared background information on the story of their Am I Hot or Not? website. I am indebted to Mike Bornstein for allowing me to share his remarkable story, and to Walter Austerer, Mary Carmichael, Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, Anne Dailey, Stephen Gilman, Linda Kraft, Dave Mendenhall, Alisha Pollastri, Lidia Rosenbaum, and Malorie Snider for invaluable comments and feedback on earlier drafts of the book. I am tremendously thankful to Leslie Gaffney for her help with illustrations, and Stefanie Block and Patience Gallagher provided essential assistance with library research. Any misstatements, oversimplifications, or failed attempts at humor are entirely my own.
I have been privileged to work with people who make every day an adventure in learning and discovery (well, almost every day). My particular thanks to Jerry Rosenbaum and Maurizio Fava for their leadership, friendship, and unflagging support and for creating an environment of remarkable collegiality in the MGH Department of Psychiatry; and to Jim Gusella for his invaluable guidance, wisdom, and leadership of the MGH Center for Human Genetic Research. I am also deeply grateful to my fellow scientists, trainees, and research staff in the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit. Their enthusiasm, dedication, and intellectual energy are a constant inspiration to me, and I can’t imagine a community of people I’d rather spend my working hours with.
And, finally, my eternal gratitude and admiration go to Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller—my role model for resilience, compassion, and intellectual curiosity. Thank you for that and for everything else.