Introduction and Acknowledgments xi
PART I: THE I OF THE BEHOLDER
The Emperor and Enron
3
Normalization
6 (3)
Blindsighted
9
Uncertainty
12
Murmurs
15
Eclipse
18
Humility
21
Inside Out
24
Weird Science
27
Love and Bosons
30
Seeing
34
Moving Mountains
37
Uncommon Sense
41
Seeing Stars
44
Calibration
47
Word Problems
50
Naming Names
53
Context
56
Purpose
59
Soul Food
62
Lies
66
PART II: STUFF
Surprises
71
Roots
74
Stuff
77
Surfaces
80
Wind
83
Clouds
86
Patterns
89
Recycling
92
Simplicity
96
Complexity
100
Dazzle
103
Energy
106
The Real World
109
Magnetism
112
Sand Castles
116
Resistance
119
Happenstance
122
Ghosts
125
Symmetry
128
Imperfection
132
Numbers
135
Symbols
138
Geometry
141
Coincidence
145
Change
148
Constants
151
Holes
154
Time
157
PART III: DOING IT
Play
163
Failure
166
Answers
169
Questions
172
Nuisance Value
175
Boundaries
178
Toy Models
181
Mind and Matter
184
Pomp and Circumstance
189
Happy Birthday, Walter
192
An Outrageous Legacy
195
Beethoven and Quantum Mechanics
198
Alan and Lucretius
201
The Sun Painter
204
Invention and Discovery
208
Red
211
Objectivity
214
Wherever You Go, There You Are
220
Metaphor
223
Literal Truth
227
Far-Out
230
Connected
233
Dubious Discoveries
236
Deja Vu
239
Credit
242
Claims
245
Fail Safe
248
PART IV: ``POLITICAL'' SCIENCE
The Physics of Peace
253
Default Lines
257
(In)security
260
Feedback
263
Neutrality
266
Dreamers
269
Natural Law
273
Popular Science
276
The Science of Art
279
Small Potatos (sic)
282
The Geometry of Fairness
285
Faster
288
Unnatural
291
Apocalypse Soon
294
Transparency
297
Oops
300
Index 303

Presents a collection of essays that explore a variety of scientific subjects in the fields of physics, cosmology, astronomy, and mathematics