Of course the machine can support human thinking, but can the machine also replace it? At which point does the application of mechanistic models for the description and comprehension of life phenomena reach its limits? This volume discusses the provoking and problematic role machines play in numerous disciplines of the natural sciences. It is written in a non-technical style and will be accessible to a wide readership of scientists and laymen interested in the scientific perspectives and logical foundations of the machine concept, a notion that has been so influential in western thinking.