Dedication

To the Concept of a Benevolent God

who wills us all to ill-will no one

and

To the Idea of an unprejudiced respect

for creative works of knowledge

Calling Gracious Understanding

This book has more than its share of gaps. Unbeknownst to us, a table with misaligned columns, an exhibit misplaced, a figure mislabled, a credit footnote missing, a typo survived, an unedited sentence, and so on. Substantively, press deadline compelled us to forego some content that needed more time for development. Some 5000+ authoring hours later, the book is still a work far from perfect, limited by time, resources, and, plainly, author capabilities (referring only to myself, BM). Gracious readers, choosing the book with a mind calm and curious, will find the work, with all its flaws, rewarding, this we are told.