Psychohistorical Crisis

Acknowledgments

A. E. van Vogt, Isaac Asimov, and Poul Anderson opened up the avid mind of a teenager to the vast reaches of Galactic Empire. Jim Lambek taught me enough mathematics to think about the problems that psychohistory posed. David Hartwell collared me at Readercon and convinced me to take this story off the shelf where it had been moldering. Gregory Bedford had useful suggestions for the short version that appeared in his Far Futures anthology. While I wrote this longer version David’s insights into the craft of novel writing proved invaluable. He also induced me into feeding his cats at Pleasantville, where I might write undistracted—except for his vast collection of books. Moshe Feder took on the hard job of keeping my slow hand moving with comments and suggestions as he watched over my shoulder via e-mail. And bless the unsung heroes in the Tor production group who gracefully taught me the grammar rules my rebellious teenage mind had refused to learn and who managed to find a way to display an impossibly long title. And Tom Doherty for being there and making books like mine possible.