Introduction to the Cambridge University Press Edition

Summary

I imagine it is hard to write a book; I am not sure I could ever do that. But since I discovered the medium of email in 1990, I have never stopped writing. I write, rewrite, and hone my ideas almost exclusively with the aid and clarifying influence of that wonderful tool. The influence may be subliminal, but it is there overpoweringly: if you really want to get an idea worked out for yourself, make it understandable to another mind through correspondence, where your face cannot be seen, but your voice must be heard – do it over and over again, gearing each presentation to each individual mind. Connect the idea to every aspect of life you can. If you stand the test, you are making progress, and often unbeknownst to yourself, transforming the initial seed of an idea into a more resilient and compelling structure. This collection of emails, graciously reprinted by Cambridge University Press with the encouragement of Simon Capelin, is predominantly a record of my honing one such idea – The Paulian Idea – as I came of age with the field of quantum information. If I can entertain the reader along the way, that is just as well too.