Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal featured on the cover of High Performance Computing is the Northern harrier (also known as the hen harrier or marsh hawk). Unlike most other hawks, this harrier likes to hunt exclusively on the wing--cruising up to 100 miles a day--and prefers roosting and nesting on the ground. Hunting forays over field and marsh consist of long, low glides powered by intermittent flaps, with an occasional pause to hover briefly. (The Harrier aircraft is named for this characteristic.)

This species is one of the most acrobatic and agile of raptors. During courtship, males perform spectacular aerobatics, marked by tumbling, drifting upside down, 200-foot spiral dives, stalls and wingovers.

Northern harriers prey on a variety of animals--predominately small mammals, birds and reptiles--which they detect with their keen sense of hearing (they are considered the diurnal counterpart of the short-eared owl). An owl-like facial ruff helps reflect sound (such as squeaking mice) to the harrier's sensitive ears. This bird of prey ranges over most temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Edie Freedman and Kathleen Wilson designed the cover of this book using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover layout was produced with Quark XPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font.

Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary was the production editor and project manager for this book. Mary Anne Weeks Mayo copyedited the book, Kristin Barendsen proofread the book, and Madeleine Newell and John Files provided quality control reviews. Nicole Gipson Arigo handled the final week of the production process. Seth Maislin wrote the index, and Robert Romano created the illustrations in Adobe Photoshop 4.0 and Macromedia Freehand 7.0. The inside layout was designed by Edie Freedman and modified by Nancy Priest. It was implemented in gtroff by Lenny Muellner, using ITC Garamond Light and ITC Garamond Book fonts. This colophon was written by Michael Kalantarian.