I thank Marguerite Avery and her colleagues at the MIT Press for their wonderful support
and collaboration, including Judy Feldmann, Gita Manaktala, Cristina Sanmartin, and
many others. I feel very fortunate to have worked with them now over five books and
many years, beginning with Larry Cohen, the editor who gave me my first chance
and never stopped supporting and helping me. My admiration and thanks know no bounds.
St. John ’ s College in Santa Fe has been an ideal home in which the questions and
thoughts that led to this book could grow in an open, sympathetic environment. The
emphasis on questioning and discussion, the absence of the usual disciplinary barriers, the
great books we read together all encouraged me in my quest. I am profoundly grateful to
my colleagues and fellow students; I hope this book can show something of what this
remarkable college can foster.
I thank the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for their support at a forma-
tive stage in this project. Melissa Franklin, Alexander Rehding, and Anne Shreffler gra-
ciously welcomed me as a visitor to Harvard, enabling me to use their libraries, swim in
their pools, and discuss my ideas with new interlocutors.
I sincerely thank those who kindly read and commented on parts of the book: Jed
Buchwald, H. Floris Cohen, Sean Gallagher, Jean-Fran ç ois Gauvin, Owen Gingerich,
Marie Louise G ö llner, Justin Grosslight, James Haar, Myles Jackson, Thomas Mathiesen,
Andrei Pesic, Benjamin Wardhaugh, and especially Curtis Wilson, whose memory I here
honor with deep gratitude. Special thanks to Veit Erlmann, Alexandra Hui, Julia Kursell,
and Victoria Tkaczyk, who generously read the whole work and gave me good advice.
I especially thank Gerald Holton for his continued encouragement over many years.
This book owes a special debt to Alexei Pesic, whose creativity and skill has opened
new doors in allowing readers to have direct access to the sound examples through a single
touch in the iBook version he designed. These new possibilities owe everything to his hard
and devoted work.
Andrei, Ssu, and Alexei are the inspirations for all I do and the ones whose love and
support make it possible and worthwhile.
barré
(Barré)
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