The primary goal of the book is to trace the historical origins of "rationalism" and argue for a version of relativism and cultural diversity.

[6] He continues by situating his relativism within a historical tradition including Herodotus, Protagoras, and several democratic theorists.

The second chapter argues that Xenophanes, who was praised by Karl Popper for inventing scientific rationalism, never provides an argument against the Homeric gods.

[7] Rather, Xenophanes begs the question and assumes that defenders of the Homeric worldview accept that there can be a single God.

[8] This is followed by several chapters that are reprinted essays on various topics including the role of theories in simplifying nature (a theme that would be explored in more detail in Conquest of Abundance), creativity, progress in the sciences, arts, and philosophy, Mach's principle, incommensurability, Aristotle's theory of mathematics, and critical reviews of some of Popper's books.