John Aldrick graduated from Melbourne University with a degree in agricultural science and a postgraduate diploma in education. He taught in secondary schools and later gained a master’s degree in tropical geomorphology from the University of New England. He worked in state and territory government departments across Australia and in the CSIRO, then as a freelance consultant with international consulting companies around the underdeveloped world as a natural resources assessment and management specialist.

In his early years, he experienced the usual introduction to religion, with attendance at Sunday school and as a choir boy. Later, out of interest but without much enthusiasm, he investigated and discussed the basic tenets of theology with his peers, which was of little merit. During his education, he was taught rigorous scientific discipline and the need for claims to be evidence-based, which resulted in him acquiring a form of tunnel vision, favouring objectivity and rationality over belief and opinion. It was not until later in life that this constraint in his thinking became apparent and induced a reappraisal. Following extensive reading, mature consultation and sporadic attendance at church, he gained the inspiration for this book. Sources are cited throughout the text.

He also spent decades of his professional life in the assessment and management of natural resources across Australia and internationally, which instilled in him a deep and abiding love of nature in all its forms.