| The Unforgettable Fire | 1 |
| The Corner of the Eye | 12 |
| Making Science Work | 18 |
| Alchemy | 29 |
| Clever Animals | 35 |
| On Smell | 40 |
| My Magical Metronome | 45 |
| On Speaking of Speaking | 49 |
| Seven Wonders | 55 |
| The Artificial Heart | 64 |
| Things Unflattened by Science | 68 |
| Basic Science and the Pentagon | 81 |
| Science and "Science" | 89 |
| On the Need for Asylums | 95 |
| Altruism | 101 |
| Falsity and Failure | 108 |
| On Medicine and the Bomb | 114 |
| The Problem of Dementia | 120 |
| The Lie Detector | 127 |
| Some Scientific Advice | 133 |
| The Attic of the Brain | 138 |
| Humanities and Science | 143 |
| On Matters of Doubt | 156 |
| Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony | 164 |