Introduction: the Golem 1. Edible knowledge: the chemical transfer of memory 2. Two experiments that 'proved' the theory of relativity 3. The sun in a test tube: the story of cold fusion 4. The germs of dissent: Louis Pasteur and the origins of life' 5. A new window on the universe?: the non-detection of gravitational radiation 6. The sex life of the whiptail lizard 7. Set the controls for the heart of the sun: the strange story of the misssing solar neutrinos Conclusion: putting the Golem to work Index.