The upright thinkers: the human journey from living in trees to understanding the cosmos

Our drive to know. A starving man's hunger for knowledge ; The human odyssey of discovery

Curiosity. Lizards don't ask questions ; From handy man to wise man ; What infants ask, but chimps don't

Culture. Humanity's first church ; Knowledge, ideas, and values go viral ; Human and primate culture

Civilization. From the Savannah to the city ; How the charms and headaches of neighbors led to the new arts of writing and arithmetic ; The invention of law, from peasant (Don't vomit in streams) to planet (Don't stray from your orbit)

Reason. Bad crops and angry gods ; A new framework for looking at the world ; The mystery of change and the tyranny of common sense ; Aristotle, the one-man Wikipedia

A new way to reason. Trusting your eyes over your ancestors ; Castrated boars and universal laws of motion ; The tactless Professor Galileo

The mechanical universe. The good, the bad, and the ugly : Isaac Newton ; The bet that turned Newton from alchemy to authoring the greatest scientific treatise ever written ; The force of Newtonian thinking

What things are made of. From embalming to alchemy ; The similarities between burning and breathing ; Lavoisier loses his head ; Mendeleev and his periodic table

The animate world. Cells and the complexity of life ; A recipe for making mice and the revolution of the microscope ; Tragedy, illness, and Darwin's secret research

The limits of human experience. The billion billion tiny universes in a drop of water ; Cracks in the Newtonian worldview ; Accepting an unseeable reality ; Planck and Einstein invent the quantum

The invisible realm. The insights of a dreamer ; The crazy ideas of a pale and modest young man ; The early quantum laws, "awful nonsense, bordering on fraud"

The quantum revolution. Heisenberg's new physics ; The bizarre reality of the quantum universe ; The empowering and humbling legacy of a new science

Epilogue. The advance of human understanding as a succession of fantasies ; The importance of critical and innovative thinking ; Where we are and where we are going.

Our drive to know; A starving man's hunger for knowledge. The human odyssey of discovery

Curiosity; Lizards don't ask questions. From handy man to wise man. What infants ask, but chimps don't

Culture; Humanity's first church. Knowledge, ideas, and values go viral. Human and primate culture

Civilization; From the Savannah to Uruk. How the charms and headaches of neighbors led to the new arts of writing and arithmetic. The invention of law, from peasant: "don't vomit in streams" to planet: "don't stray from your orbit"

Reason; Bad crops and angry gods. A new framework for looking at the world. The mystery of change and the tyranny of common sense. Aristotle, the one-man Wikipedia

A new way to reason; Trusting your eyes over your ancestors. Castrated boars and universal laws of motion. The tactless Professor Galileo

The mechanical universe; The good, the bad, and the ugly: Isaac Newton. The bet that turned Newton from alchemy to authoring the greatest scientific treatise ever written. The force of Newtonian thinking

What things are made of; From embalming to alchemy. The similarities between burning and breathing. Lavoisier loses his head. Mendeleev and his periodic table

The animate world; Cells and the complexity of life. A recipe for making mice and the revolution of the microscope. Tragedy, illness, and Darwin's secret research

The limits of human experience; The billion billion tiny universes in a drop of water. Cracks in the Newtonian worldview. Accepting an unseeable reality. Planck and Einstein invent the quantum

The invisible realm; The insights of a dreamer. The crazy ideas of a pale and modest young man. The early quantum laws, "awful nonsense, bordering on fraud"

The quantum revolution; Heisenberg's new physics. The bizarre reality of the quantum universe. The empowering and humbling legacy of a new science

Epilogue; The advance of human understanding as a succession of fantasies; the importance of critical and innovative thinking; Where we are and where we are going.