Throughout recorded history, the human has vacillated between belief in the idea that nature is subject to our willful control and that it is wild, dangerous and uncontrollable. This critical text examines our presumption of mastery, particularly the role of Newtonian science and modern science upon the Western philosophy of nature. Biological and ecological case studies reveal the ways in which nature places limits on our knowledge and actions, stymieing attempts at mastery. Programmatic proposals to control nature via genetic engineering and planet management come under specific attack.