Philosophy and Wonder

Bill Bryson “For you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you.”

An Atom “The bad news is that atoms are fickle and their time of devotion is fleeting - fleeting indeed. Even a long human life adds up to only about 700,000 hours.”

Sand Painting Nothing stays the same and everything is always changing.

Life Is Tenuous “Of the billions and billions of species of living things that have existed since the dawn of time, most percent - are no longer around.”

Human Evolution “The average species on Earth lasts for only about four million years, so if you wish to be around for billions of years, you must be as fickle as the atoms that made you.”

Ancestry Tree “Consider the fact that for 3.8 billion years every one of your forebears on both sides has been attractive enough to find a mate and lived long enough to reproduce.”

Hydrogen to Helium “With the slightest tweaking of the numbers the universe as we know it and we need it would not be here.”

Sun To Earth Ratio “Virtually all of it percent of the mass of the solar system - went to the sun.”

10,000,000,000,000,000! “After just forty- seven doublings, you have ten thousand trillion cells in your body and are ready to spring forth as a human being.”

A Hundred Billion Brain Cells “It has been estimated that you lose five hundred of them an hour, so if you have any serious thinking to do there really isn’t a moment to waste.”