1. Evolutionary dramas -- 2. Do science and religion compete? -- 3. Demarcation disputes -- 4. The irrestible escalator -- 5. Choosing a world -- 6. The problem of direction -- 7. Scientist and superscientist -- 8. Dazzling prospects -- 9. Black holes: Jacques Monod and the isolation of 'science' -- 10. Freedom and the Monte carlo drama -- 11. Scientific education and human transience -- 12. Mixed antitheses -- 13. Science, scepticism and awe -- 14. The service of self and the service of Kali -- 15. Who or what is selfish? -- 16. Dreaming or waking -- 17. The limits of individualism -- 18. The vulnerable world and its claims on us