Embryonic stem cell research. Evolution versus intelligent design. The transformation of medicine into "healthcare". Climate change. Never before has science been so intertwined with politics; never have we been more dependent on scientific solutions for the preservation of the species.As at home with Galileo and his daughter in Florence as he is with Diderot in Enlightenment France, William and Alice James in fin-de-siËcle Boston, or the latest research on the genome, Gerald Weissmann distills the lessons of history to guide us through our troubled age. His message is clear: "Experimental science is our defense - perhaps our best defense - against humbug and the Endarkenment."