Includes bibliographical references (p. [389]-397) and index.

Introduction: The Emerging Third Culture -- Ch. 1. "A Package of Information" / George C. Williams -- Ch. 2. "The Pattern of Life's History" / Stephen Jay Gould -- Ch. 3. "A Survival Machine" / Richard Dawkins -- Ch. 4. "Biology Is Just a Dance" / Brian Goodwin -- Ch. 5. "Why Is There So Much Genetic Diversity?" / Steve Jones -- Ch. 6. "A Battle of Words" / Niles Eldredge -- Ch. 7. "Gaia Is a Tough Bitch" / Lynn Margulis -- Ch. 8. "Smart Machines" / Marvin Minsky -- Ch. 9. "Information Is Surprises" / Roger Schank -- Ch. 10. "Intuition Pumps" / Daniel C. Dennett -- Ch. 11. "The Thick Moment" / Nicholas Humphrey -- Ch. 12. "The Emergent Self" / Francisco Varela -- Ch. 13. "Language Is a Human Instinct" / Steven Pinker -- Ch. 14. "Consciousness Involves Noncomputable Ingredients" / Roger Penrose -- Ch. 15. "An Ensemble of Universes" / Martin Rees -- Ch. 16. "A Universe in Your Backyard" / Alan Guth -- Ch. 17. "A Theory of the Whole Universe" / Lee Smolin -- Ch. 18. "The Synthetic Path" / Paul Davies -- Ch. 19. "Plectics" / Murray Gell-Mann -- Ch. 20. "Order for Free" / Stuart Kauffman -- Ch. 21. "A Dynamical Pattern" / Christopher G. Langton -- Ch. 22. "The Second Law of Organization" / J. Doyne Farmer -- Ch. 23. "Close to the Singularity / W. Daniel Hillis.