Further thoughts about “My Place in Space and Time.”

In writing this book, I am capitulating to my life-long appreciation for odd facts. Like Autolycus in Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, I have always been a “snapper-up of unconsidered trifles.” In addition to this element of my character, my work as an editor has made me acutely aware of the need to support assertions and always go back to original sources, both of which have required a RIDICULOUS amount of research.

Maybe somebody who knew me better than I know myself could have predicted I would someday undertake a work like this. I certainly had no idea I would do so! Now I have to find a publisher who believes in it and readers sympathetic to its ambitions. Neither of these are guaranteed in a world where an ignoramus with contempt for facts and expertise is being inaugurated as US president as I am typing these words.