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Chapter one
Frankenstein


The Philosopher Who Says We Should Play God
Why ethical objections to interfering with nature are too late.

The Mystery of Human Uniqueness
What, exactly, makes our biology special?
Chapter two
Creatures

Are Animal Experiments Justified?
A neuroscientist confronts his anguish over experimenting on animals.

Tantalizing Creatures with Male and Female Genes
Gyandromorphs overturn traditional theories of sexual development.

Only Street Dogs Are Real Dogs
Purebreds don’t satisfy the biological definition of a species.
Chapter three
Agency

Yes, Determinists, There Is Free Will
You make choices even if your atoms don’t.

The Deepest Uncertainty
When a hypothesis is neither true nor false.

Evolution Is Really Not That Into Sex
Plants and animals have reproduced without sex for eons. So why did nature bother?
Chapter four
Transformation

Can We Revive Empathy in Our Selfish World?
An experiment shows how to rebuild human compassion.

He Gave Away $30 Million Because It Felt Good
James Doty just may embody the altruism he studies.

Dude, Where’s My Frontal Cortex?
There’s a method to the madness of the teenage brain.
Chapter five
Home

The Worth of an Angry God
How supernatural beliefs allowed societies to bond and spread.

The Thrill of Defeat
What Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner taught me about being scooped.

The Ancient Rites That Gave Birth to Religion
Sacred beliefs likely arose out of prehistoric bonding and rituals.
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“Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” —Jules Verne
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