Preface

When my German publisher told me that my book was going to be translated into English I was delighted: no work for lots of fame. This view was more than naive. Despite the translator's excellent job, the number of errors and omissions uncovered by the reviewers was quite a revelation.

So I had to take the challenge and rewrite parts of a book that I had already deemed finished and of high quality. What you hold in your hands now is maybe 70% translation and 30% new, updated, and improved material. And still I feel guilty for not having been able to seize all of the reviewers' suggestions.

As the book changed shape and went through heavy restructurings, my life did as well. Thanks to all who supported me in one process or another. These include the reviewers of both the German and the English versions: Frank Adler, Achim Bangert, Markus Barchfeld, Ekard Burger, Frank Cohen, Herbert Ehrlich, Eitan Farchi, Tammo Freese, Dierk K nig, Andreas Leidig, Erik Meade, Steve Metsker, Rainer Neumann, Christian Popp, Ilja Preu , Stefan Roock, Michael Ruppert, Roland Sand, Martin Schneider, Thomas Singer, Andreas Schoolmann, Robert Wenner, Timothy Wall, and Frank Westphal; Angelika Shafir, who succeeded in translating not only the facts but also the spirit of the original text; Tim Cox and Stacie Pierce of Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, who value quality much higher than publication speed; Peter Fr hlich, co-author of the German version, who persevered through our discussions about language and style; all the people forming andrena objects, a more than suitable place to develop new ideas and to confront these ideas with reality; and Bettina and Jannek, who will hopefully help me fill many pages of our shared personal "book" with happiness and sadness.