Acknowledgments

The support and love of my family and friends have been amazing. They have arranged family dinners, tennis dates, ski trips, and sleepovers to accommodate my work commitments, always with encouragement and understanding. Many of them have declared a desire to have a signed copy, but I remind them that this is not a coffee table book or an autobiography! I am grateful as well to Dr. James Gordon, Chair of the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at USC, for his encouragement and mentorship throughout this project, especially when the deadlines seemed ominous and the schedule unmanageable.

Throughout this process, I was constantly amazed at the patience, support, and encouragement of the McGraw Hill crew, especially Michael Weitz and Karen G. Edmonson. They were incredible mentors to me through this entire process. Every request from me was thoughtfully considered and wisely granted or denied. Otherwise the finished product would be twice as long and at least a year late! The art department at McGraw Hill, led by Armen Osvepyan, was creative and accommodating, no matter how complex the illustrations needed to be. Their awesome creations are what make this atlas able to transfer complex concepts into simple but effective learning tools. Ritu Joon and her staff at Thomson Digital were terrific at formatting the text and illustrations in order to make the book flow smoothly for the reader. I am deeply indebted to everyone whose minds and hands help bring the project to completion.

Thanks are also extended to my colleagues at Keck Hospital at USC who were cooperative in gathering information, making suggestions, and taking on extra patients when I was working on the book. They are an exceptional group of clinicians who constantly challenge me to be a more complete professional.