We involved certainly dozens—perhaps hundreds—of people in making this book. Originally, its purpose was to get people trying things. That worked far better than we could have anticipated. The brush fire we started almost accidentally 10 years ago has spread rapidly so now it’s out of control, roaring away through North America and Europe with a smaller but intense outlier burning in Japan.
We need to thank you all for the things you tried, the people you told, and above all, for being communicative, telling us what you’re doing. A handful of people really stand out but it was hard to decide whom to thank first. So we’ll go in order of height.

Linda Smiley, who after her success with The Hand-Sculpted House has been an almost invisible support to the whole project. She has suffered dozens of overenthusiastic filthy pyros in her house, constant experiments and rebuilds, smoke, firewood shortage, and singed clothes. Thank you Linda.
Barton Trickel. “If it can’t be done, Bart can do it.” Thanks Bart!
Art Ludwig, our Secret Weapon in the high-end billionaire zone, who has used his creativity and analytic expertise to offer new thoughts about how Rocket Mass Heaters (RMHs) may fit into the twenty-second century. Thank you Art.
Dennis Kuklok, illustrator, writer, cartoonist, who with great clarity of mind always asks the most difficult questions. Thank you Dennis.
Michael G. Smith, for unwavering patience and follow-through, 15 years editing The Cob Web, and being a great friend. Without Michael, there would be no Cob Cottage Company. Therefore no publishing, no network, possibly no Rocket Mass Heaters. Thank you Michael.
Shannon Dealy, who set up a website for Cob Cottage Company before anyone had ever heard of such a thing in the early 90s and has mothered it ever since.
Flemming Abrahamsson in Denmark, who snatched the baton and promoted Rocket Stoves in Europe. Thank you Flemming.
Larry Winiarski, who 30 years ago helped Ianto better understand the physics of fire. Thank you Larry.
Kiko Denzer, for the Introduction, wonderful storytelling about his stoves, persisting when the air was smoky and the forecast chilly (in his house, that is), for constant advice and support. Thank you Kiko.
Max and Eva Edleson. Max grew up in Indonesia and built for years in Argentina, so he knows fire very well. Now he and Eva build mass heaters, teach pyrotechnology, and run “Firespeaking.” Thank you Max and Eva.
Tammy Van, who has been Cob Cottage’s office manager since 2010, stoking her RMH daily. She manages the Bandon, Oregon, demonstration site for RMHs and cob, offering workshops there. Thank you Tammy.
Larry Jacobs, who owns Jacobs Farms and is central to Del Cabo Organic Co-op. With partner Sandra Belin, Larry ran the Lorena Stoves project in Guatemala after Ianto ran off to California. In Oregon Larry was in on the earliest ancestors of RMHs, 35 years ago. Thank you Larry and Sandra.
Peter van den Berg, punctilious researcher in The Netherlands, constantly in dialogue with RMH developers worldwide. He’s been tinkering in his lab to combine the best of Rocket Stove tech with the scalability and precision of masonry stoves. Peter is very active in the online RMH discussions, bringing practicality, experience, and science as well as lots of creative, original, testable ideas. Thank you Peter.
Lasse Holmes, who read this book, showed up on the forum with his good ideas and is now in here in significant ways. He’s also the best brewer in Alaska and was a gracious host to Leslie last winter. Thank you Lasse.
Bernhard Masterson, who lives with an RMH in his self-built cob house and is a professional teacher instructing on cob, Natural Building, and ceramics. Thank you Bernhard.
Kirk “Donkey” Mobert, who started the first Rocket Mass Heater online forum 10 years ago. In the true spirit of open source, it thrives, encouraging experimentation, inquiry, and base jumps. He’s enormously generous with his time and expertise. Thank you Kirk.
Erica Wisner, physicist, RMH instructor, innovative analyst and communicator, the perfectly balanced partner of…
Ernie Wisner, wild man, strongman, storyteller, supporter and friend of Cob Cottage and the RMH project for almost a decade. Both Ernie and Erica teach together around North America and live so close to Canada that on a clear day they can see the polar bears. Thank you Erica and Ernie

Oh, about height. Just kidding, even tall people are okay, really. –Ianto Evans, 2014