Acknowledgements
I am grateful, first and foremost, to all of the authors who contributed their words and insights to this volume. They worked under tight deadlines, juggling many other commitments, and were exceedingly patient with all of my many editorial suggestions. Through their eyes, I have come to a much deeper understanding of Earth’s environmental history over the past half century. I wish also to thank the group at Open Book Publishers, whose outstanding (and very rapid) work made this book a reality. Alessandra Tosi was enthusiastic about this project from the start, and marshaled the team to keep things moving forward throughout. Both Alessandra and Adèle Kreager provided excellent editorial suggestions, while Luca Baffa developed a beautiful design and layout, and Laura Rodriguez helped spread the word about this project far and wide. During the early phases of this project, Margot Young, Mark Turin and Jesse Finkelstein provided much needed advice and inspiration. Finally, I wish to thank my family for support and patience as I set aside weekends, evenings and early mornings to find time to work on this project amidst a sea of other responsibilities. I hope they agree that the result was well worth the effort.