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Turner Entertainment Group

Ricoh's California Research Center

It has been particularly rewarding for me to work with this group of contributors -- all of whom were chosen because of their preeminence in their respective subfields. I have known a few of them personally for many years; Azriel Rosenfeld was on my dissertation committee. Others I met serving on panel discussions. I'll never forget the time I came dressed in a suit while fellow panelist Marvin Minsky showed up in a Pac Man T-shirt. Yet others I knew primarily through their books -- Dan Dennett and Don Norman, for example -- and still others are inventors of products I use regularly (e.g., Steve Wolfram's Mathematica). At our meetings and dinners in Stanford, Urbana, and Cambridge, and through frequent written messages, we passed many ideas back and forth. Although I had strong ideas about what I wanted them to write, they all had the good sense to ignore me when appropriate. At times I felt like someone trying to herd cats.

Even at a distance, there was a great sense of camaraderie. As we approached one of the important publishing deadlines, one contributor, who was still late with a chapter, replied to my frantic entreaties thus: "Dave, I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over." A later message read, "I still have every confidence in the success of my chapter," which at first brought bemusement but then a diffuse sense of dread.

It has been a privilege to correspond with Arthur C. Clarke, whose work inspired us all. Throughout the preparation of this book he has been gracious, enthusiastic, and helpful.

Although I did my writing and editing at home, often late into the night and on weekends, I would like to thank my colleagues at the Ricoh California Research Center for their support of our ongoing research, which influenced this book in numerous ways: Greg Wolff, K.V. Prasad, Michael Angelo (yes, that's his real name), Morten Pedersen (visiting from the Technical University of Denmark), Stanford graduate students Vicky Lu, Chuck Lam, and (especially) Marcus Hennecke (by the time this book is released, Dr. Hennecke!). Thanks also go to Director Peter Hart for making CRC such a great place to work.

This book was improved indirectly by a large number of people. One colleague pointed out a used bookstore selling an out-of-print book about the filming of 2001; an acquaintance asked a "naive" question that ultimately led to a new section in a chapter; a student told me about a 2001 World Wide Web site; an intrepid cab driver took me through the blizzard of '96 to interview Marvin Minsky. Piers Bizony, whose book on the filming of 2001 both inspired and informed me, made several transatlantic phone calls and helped me track down photographs. I also had a somewhat eerie telephone conversation with Douglas Rain, the Canadian actor who played the voice of HAL. Thanks go also to the efficient staff at Turner Broadcasting for their assistance providing stills from the film.

An extra-special thanks goes to my editor at the MIT Press, Bob Prior. He was the only person in the publishing industry who "got" the idea of HAL's Legacy instantly, as proven by his enthusiastic response to my proposal. Michael Rutter, also at the Press, helped obtain illustrations and kept track of numerous production details. Sandra Minkkinen helped to orchestrate the editing and production process for the entire project, and copy editor Roberta Clark improved the text immeasurably.

Deep appreciation goes to my immediate family -- Nancy, Alex, and Olivia -- for putting up with my many late nights and weekend hours working on the book. I am happy to say that groggy Saturday mornings after marathon editing sessions are now a thing of the past, and we can spend more time doing what we all love so much: hiking Mount Tamalpais and the Marin headlands and kayaking on Squibnocket Pond.