The preparation of a manuscript that gives birth to a book requires the cooperation and assistance of many people. First and foremost, I must thank my family for enduring those long nights and for missing weekends while I drafted and redrafted the manuscript and reviewed proof pages. As an ‘old fashioned’ author, I prefer the pen and paper to the modern convenience of the word processor. Although this may appear peculiar when writing on modern technology, my lifestyle of plane hopping, finding incompatible electrical outlets when traveling throughout the world and the extra weight of a portable computer makes pen and paper a most convenient mechanism of expression. Due to my method of writing I am indebted to Mrs Carol Ferrell who worked on the first edition of this book, and to Mrs Linda Hayes and Ms Junnie Heath, who worked on the second edition. Once again, I am indebted to the fine effort of Mrs Linda Hayes who also worked on the third edition of this book. Linda, as well as Junnie and Carol, were responsible for turning my handwritten manuscript revisions into the word processing files that were used for the creation of each edition of this book. Last but not least, one’s publishing editor, editorial supervisor and copy editor are the critical link in converting the author’s manuscript into a book. Thus, I would again like to thank Ian McIntosh and Ann-Marie Halligan for providing me with the opportunity to author three editions of this book, and Robert Hambrook and Sarah Lock and Sarah Corney for their fine efforts in moving my original and revised manuscripts through the production process.