“Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants,
so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any
sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high
and raised up by their giant size.” (John of Salisbury, 1159). This is particularly true of
the research that we carry out and then write about. It is most important that our readers
know how we got to where we are now, what others have written about the topic and the
gaps they have left that we are trying to fill.