ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO express my heartfelt thanks to my friends and colleagues at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a place for quantum leaps in space and time. Their constant encouragement and steadfast support kept me going as I struggled to prepare this manuscript. Once again, they made me realize how fortunate I am to be a part of this unique community. A special thanks is due to Mike Lazaridis, Perimeter’s founder and the most visionary supporter our field ever had, and to those who ensure the institute maintains the highest standards of management and communications, including Michael Duschenes and John Matlock.

Throughout this project, Alexandra Castell lent me continuous assistance. Natasha Waxman played a major role researching and helping to prepare early drafts, ably assisted by Erin Bow and Ross Diener. Daniel Gottesman, Lucien Hardy, Adrian Kent, Rob Myers, Lee Smolin, and Paul Steinhardt generously read drafts and provided invaluable comments. I have benefitted from discussions with many scientific colleagues on these topics, including Itzhak Bars, Laurent Freidel, Stephen Hawking, Ray Laflamme, Sandu Popescu, and Xiao-Gang Wen. Malcolm Longair very kindly shared with me the proofs of his fascinating new book on the historical origins of quantum mechanics, Quantum Concepts in Physics. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your wisdom. Naturally, whatever errors and misconceptions remain in this book are entirely my own. Many thanks to Chris Fach and Erick Schnetter for help preparing the illustrations.

A huge thank you to all my partners in the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) project, and to all our wonderful students. Let me mention in particular Barry Green and Thierry Zomahoun. It is a constant pleasure to work with you and for you. I thank you for your patience and understanding during the writing of this book, and for your tireless commitment to our shared cause.

Philip Coulter at the CBC and Janie Yoon at House of Anansi Press deserve special gratitude for stepping in with inspirational advice at a critical time. Janie in particular found the right combination of praise and tough love to keep me on track. If this manuscript is at all readable, it is due to your heroic efforts.

And last but first, big hugs to Corinne and Ruby without whom I would be lost.