The essays in this book were originally published as follows:
“Our Biotech Future,” The New York Review of Books, July 19, 2007
The letter responding to “Our Biotech Future” was published in The New York Review of Books, September 27, 2007, and is reprinted here with the permission of Wendall Berry.
“Writing Nature’s Greatest Book,” The New York Review of Books, October 19, 2006
“Rocket Man,” The New York Review of Books, January 17, 2008
The letter responding to “Rocket Man” was published in The New York Review of Books, February 14, 2008, and is reprinted here with the permission of Bernard Lytton.
“The Dream of Scientific Brotherhood,” The New York Review of Books, May 10, 2007
“Working for the Revolution,” The New York Review of Books, October 25, 2007
“The Question of Global Warming,” The New York Review of Books, June 12, 2008
The letter responding to “The Question of Global Warming” was published in The New York Review of Books, October 9, 2008, and is reprinted here with the permission of Robert M. May.
“Struggle for the Islands,” The New York Review of Books, October 23, 2008
“Leaping into the Grand Unknown,” The New York Review of Books, April 9, 2009
The letter responding to “Leaping into the Grand Unknown” is reprinted here with the permission of Frank Wilczek.
“When Science and Poetry Were Friends,” The New York Review of Books, August 13, 2009
“What Price Glory?,” The New York Review of Books, June 10, 2010
The letter responding to “What Price Glory?” is reprinted here with the permission of Steven Weinberg.
“Silent Quantum Genius,” The New York Review of Books, February 25, 2010
“The Case for Far-Out Possibilities,” The New York Review of Books, November 10, 2011
“Science on the Rampage,” The New York Review of Books, April 5, 2012
“How We Know,” The New York Review of Books, March 10, 2011
“The ‘Dramatic Picture’ of Richard Feynman,” The New York Review of Books, July 14, 2011
“How to Dispel Your Illusions,” The New York Review of Books, December 22, 2011
The letter responding to “How to Dispel Your Illusions” was published in The New York Review of Books, January 12, 2012, and is reprinted here with the permission of Daniel Kahneman.
“What Can You Really Know?,” The New York Review of Books, November 8, 2012
“Oppenheimer: The Shape of Genius,” The New York Review of Books, August 15, 2013
“How to Be an Underdog, and Win,” The New York Review of Books, November 21, 2013
“Churchill & the Bomb,” The New York Review of Books, April 24, 2014
“The Case for Blunders,” The New York Review of Books, March 6, 2014