It would be diversionary and probably impossible to list all scientists (or mathematicians or logicians) who have excited my imagination and contributed directly or indirectly to my thought. However, the outstanding individuals are Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Charles Darwin (1809-1882), James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Ernst Mayr (1904-2005), and the creators and developers of quantum mechanics and modern physical cosmology.