Includes bibliographical references.

Santa Maria -- Feeling is seeing -- Quantum cascades -- Water -- Single molecules -- Cracks -- Nanotubes -- Vibrating viola string -- Prism and diffraction -- Duality -- Interference -- Quantum apple -- Molecular dominoes -- The cell in silhouette -- Laminar flow -- The wet fantastic -- Fingers -- Soap bubbles -- The cell as circus -- Robosome -- Bacterial flagella -- Life as a jigsaw puzzle -- As the wheel turns -- Quantum dots and the cell -- Sequencing DNA -- Molecular recognition -- Harvesting light -- The elegance of simple animals -- Antibodies -- Virus -- Writing with light -- Eleanor Rigby -- Abacus -- Counting on two fingers -- Babbage's computing engine -- Computers as waterworks -- Microreactor -- Templating -- Catalyst particles -- Christmas-tree mixer -- Self-assembly -- Synthetic nose -- Millipede -- e-paper and the book -- Lateral-flow assay as crystal ball -- Testing drugs in cells -- Cooling the fevered brain -- Phantoms -- Privacy and the nest -- Soot and health -- Robots -- Fog -- In sickness and in health -- The internet -- Reverse osmosis membrane -- Nuclear reactions -- Flame -- Fuel cell -- Solar cell -- Plants and photosynthesis.