These lectures are routinely videotaped. I knew what I was doing that day.

Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children.

If I were a painter, I would have painted for them. If I were a musician, I would have composed music.

But I am a lecturer. So I lectured. I lectured about the joy of life, about how much I appreciated life,

even with so little of my own left. I talked about honesty, integrity, gratitude, and other things I hold dear.

And I tried very hard not to be boring. This book is a way for me to continue what I began on stage.

Because time is precious, and I want to spend all that I can with my kids, I asked Jeffrey Zaslow for help. Each day, I ride my bike around my neighborhood, getting exercise crucial for my health.

On fifty-three long bike rides, I spoke to Jeff on my cell-phone headset. He then spent countless hours helping to turn my stories

– I suppose we could call them fifty-three " lectures" – into the book that follows. We knew right from the start:

None of this is a replacement for a living parent. But engineering isn't about perfect solutions; it's about doing the best you can with limited resources.