In these essays, Professor Seitz, President Emeritus of Rockefeller University, and one of the developers of modern semiconductor physics, investigates the role of science in modern society, its origins, and its development.

1 The Brain Matrix: Our Window on the World.- 2 Technology Without Modern Science.- 3 Crucial Steps in the Evolution of Science.- 4 The Divine Fire Crosses the Atlantic Ocean.- 5 Basic Science in the Asian Countries.- 6 The Future of Science.- 7 The Next Million Years-A Half Century Later.- 8 A Physicist's View of Living Systems.- 9 Nuclear Science: Promises and Perceptions.- 10 Science, Technology and the Environment.- 11 Fraud, Piracy and Priority in Science.- 12 Big Science-Small Science.- Name Index.