Science and the self-image of society; icon and understanding; the fractured image; Einstein versus Frankenstein; science; technology; anti-science; explaining things; engineering things; "pure" and "applied"; genetic explanation evolution and creationism; natural selection and the selfish gene; survival of the fittest; altruism, homosexuality and sterility; irreducible complexity and the biochemical; sociobiology and evolutionary psychology; memetics; genetic engineering genetic screening; genetic information; genetic modification; environmentalism; the precautionary principle; genetic research; the slippery slope and the sanctity of life; playing God, secular versions of the sacred; genetic trespassing; rights and equality; human cloning; reproductive technologies; designer babies; procreative responsibility and the ethics of abortion; playing God without God.