To Albert Einstein, without whose theory this book would not have been possible. Or necessary.
To Anglada Escudé, who led the team who discovered Proxima Centauri b, the planet named Anglada in this story.
To Wikipedia, without which this book would have been exceedingly hard to write.
To Poul Anderson, who coined the word “asterite” in his story Industrial Revolution. That word was formerly used to denote objects from the belt when no one had ever exited Earth’s atmosphere; he called the people that.
To Red Skelton for the word “kadiddlehopper.”
To dihydrogen monoxide, without which I just couldn’t live, honestly.
To my late cousin Dave Rayfield, who started me on the road to becoming a magician. AI is a David Copperfield style magic trick. Computers can’t think.
To my late friend Ralph Wiebe, a World War Two Navy man whom I was friends with towards the end of his life. Ralph was too stubborn to see a doctor about the pain in his side until his appendix burst. He died a month later at age eighty seven.
To the mental scientists and statisticians I worked with for the Illinois Department of Human Services, from whom I learned an awful lot. We were trying to cure poverty. We failed.
To my daughter Patty, a psychology major, for checking the psychology for me.
To my Grandpa Leonard, who never used the bathroom my Uncle Bud built for my Grandma, using the outhouse all his life.
To the
940s stoners, for coining the word “muggles” that J. K. Rowling co-opted and changed the meaning of.
To Sir Clive Sinclair, who designed the primitive TS-1000 computer I wrote Artificial Insanity on, an AI program. It would answer any question and might deliberately piss you off. It was designed to make you believe it was a sentient asshole.
To the songwriters who wrote the songs referenced and quoted in this book:
 
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 2000 Light Years From Home
John Fogerty, Bad Moon Rising and Willie and the Poor Boys
Bobby Scott and Bob Russell, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
Paul McCartney, Hi Hi Hi
Van Morrison, Moondance
Led Zeppelin and Ian Stewart, Rock and Roll
Sammy Hagar, Space Station #5
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Stairway to Heaven
Bee Gees, Stayin’ Alive
Lennon and McCartney, Strawberry Fields Forever
Robbie Robertson, The Weight
Steve Marriott, Thirty Days in the Hole
Willie Dixon, Whole Lot of Love
 
And whoever wrote Turkey in the Straw