The nature of knowledge: the challenges of knowing what is knowable in the universe -- The knowledge of nature: the challenges of discovering the contents of the cosmos -- Ways and means of nature: how nature presents herself to the inquiring mind -- The meaning of life: the challenges and triumphs of knowing how we got here -- When the universe turns bad: all the ways the cosmos wants to kill us -- Science and culture: the ruffled interface between cosmic discovery and the public's reaction to it -- Science and God: when ways of knowing collide.