In this collection of forty vignettes, biologist Harold Morowitz delights in discovering scientific principles behind such everyday phenomena as doing laundry or registering a car with the DMV. The title essay reflects on the circumstances that caused the name of Joseph Ignace Guillotin to become connected to a mechanical contraption he neither invented, built, nor used. While he relies on the disciplines of science to illuminate life on earth, Morowitz celebrates -- with wonder and wit -- the world's unfathomable mysteries.