Read me…(It’s all in the subtitle, or I’d like to disagree with Aristotle’s principle of moderation in all things)

You will have noticed that this book is “An Introduction with Attitude”—a subtitle that has been chosen with care. This book is pervaded with the expression of attitudes-my attitudes. “With Attitude” also has connotations of assertiveness and of a forcefully held position, and this book most definitely “comes from a certain direction”. Since both characteristics are rather unusual in academic textbooks this calls for some explanation. Certainly, if you do not bother to read this chapter you may find it difficult to understand what I am about and what this book is about.