'Garry Trompf is Emeritus Professor of the History of Ideas in the Department of Studies in Religion, School of Letters, Art and Media, and Adjunct Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies, School of Social and Political Sciences, at the University of Sydney. His better known works include The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought and Payback: The Logic of Retribution in Melanesian Religions. He is the Senior Editor of The Gnostic World project.' (Source : Free Mind : Essays and Poems in Honour of Barry Spurr)