Secret of the Universe begins with an introduction of three questions asked by the sages: How did all this get here? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Parent or guardian with reflective answers of their own to these questions of magnitude sets the stage for the book to then ask a young person to perform a simple mental exercise of introspection and self-awareness, "Young man, young woman, close your eyes and listen to yourself speak the word, Hello." The thoughts and attention of a young person are now aware of and focusing upon that "thing" in the back of their eyes. Pages turn and a robot named Murgatroyd is introduced. Murgatroyd is from the future and, like the young reader also possesses a thing in the back of its eyes. Murgatroyd constructs for the reader a simple Cartesian mathematical model describing how "that thing in the back of the eyes" is related to everything else within the universe. (Math fans and fans of Rene Descartes, hooray! We did it! :)
I imagine Secret of the Universe to spark the minds of many young folk with an interest in mathematics. I suppose parents will be peppered with questions they have no answers for at the moment. Were I to someday read that Secret of the Universe was an inspiration to the future man or woman who wrote the Noble Prize-winning paper detailing to the world the systems and methods inside a collection of neurons that give rise to "that thing in the back of our eyes," I will sleep well that night.
I imagine Secret of the Universe to spark the minds of many young folk with an interest in mathematics. I suppose parents will be peppered with questions they have no answers for at the moment. Were I to someday read that Secret of the Universe was an inspiration to the future man or woman who wrote the Noble Prize-winning paper detailing to the world the systems and methods inside a collection of neurons that give rise to "that thing in the back of our eyes," I will sleep well that night.
