First, and foremost, we dedicate this text to our families without whose love and support we never could have completed this project. To our spouses, Scott Ainsworth, Linda Deines, Marlene Plumlee, and Doug Larson, and to our children, Heather, Dusty, Jennifer, Jeff, Matt, Sarah, Ashley, J. D., and Robyn, we love you and we thank you for your patience. We would also like to thank the studets of Kansas State University who used previous drafts of this textbook and gave us valuable suggestions for improvement. Finally, we would like to thank our development editors, Leslye Givarz and Kelly Lee, our executive editor, Jeff Shelstad, and the production and marketing departments at Irwin.