Prologue: Why your car never seems to be ready when they promised -- Describing the universe -- The measure of all things -- Reality checks -- All things great and small -- The incomplete toolbox -- Impossible constructions -- The Hope Diamond of mathematics -- Never the twain shall meet -- Even logic has limits -- Space and time: is that all there is? -- Information: the Goldilocks dilemma -- Murphy's law -- The disorganized universe -- The raw materials -- The unattainable utopia -- Cracks in the foundation -- The smoke-filled rooms -- Through a glass darkly.