The primary stimuli for what became the contents of this book were deeply embedded in the combination of a fulfilling and privileged professional life, textured by strong family supports and the author's curiosity about the mysterious underpinnings of the natural universe. The distinction between the human and the merely bestial seems to lie in language (both spoken and written), the mystery of curiosity and the compulsion to pass acquired perspectives on to others of our species; surely a trilogy of traits to be celebrated in every way possible.