Voice

Several people who read all or part of the book when it was being prepared for publication mentioned to me that one of the reasons that this book should be published was the "voice" in it, that is, how the feeling of the writing was somehow appropriate for the children and young adults who would read it. Perhaps this is true - you can judge for yourself. Below are a few quotes from the book.

From the Preface: "… you learned about the world using your senses …, but then you also used your mind, connecting what you saw with things that you knew. And they weren't just dry thoughts in your head, like adding numbers. Your thoughts were connected to a kind of feeling, a feeling that could be described as awe or wonder: a kind of amazement at what you thought about. Sometimes that feeling can be quite strong. It's a good feeling, and often it is connected to a feeling of how remarkable it is that you are here witnessing it all. However, for most people, it doesn't occur very often. That doesn't mean that observing and thinking about the world around you has to be a dry or boring affair the rest of the time. What you almost always can do, by learning and observing and thinking as deeply as possible, is come to a better appreciation for the incredible nature of nature. And then every once in a while you may have an experience of wonder like those described above."

From Chapter 1, Section 1: "One of the basic ideas of this book is that learning some of the extraordinary things about the world will help you have a sense of wonder about the world. But here it's important to remember that learning about the world is not an abstract process. It's you who is learning about the world. And you, an example of a human organism, are one of the most incredible and complex things that exists in the universe. So it will be helpful to first examine how you learn about the world."

From Chapter 2, Section 5: " Now think of all the worlds listed in both this section and the last section: the worlds that are smaller than you and the worlds that are larger than you. You obviously couldn't exist without the worlds that are inside you. You also couldn't exist without the worlds that you are a part of. Without the galaxy there wouldn't be any suns and without our sun the planet earth would just be a cold dead planet. But thanks to all the links in the vast hierarchy of the universe the earth is instead a beautiful blue and green orb floating in space and teeming with life!"

From Chapter 3, Section 1: "But life is also wondrous because so much is not understood about it: When did life start? How did it start? Are very small things (like molecules in cells) alive? Are very large things (like the earth) alive? Is the universe alive? What is life? All sorts of people, from religious leaders to philosophers to scientists have been wondering (and sometimes arguing) about questions like this for thousands of years, so don't expect any final answers. But like many before you, you too can begin to think more deeply about the many questions that arise about life."

From Chapter 4, Section 1: "But it's not the same kind of effort you make in studying for a test or cleaning your room. It's kind of like what can happen during a long summer vacation. It's raining and you're bored and you complain to your mother or to your father that there's just nothing to do. And maybe your parent (being very clever) bundles you up in a raincoat and out you go to the park in the rain. There, armed with a good magnifying glass, you look at raindrops - as they roll down a leaf, or drip off a branch, or splatter in a puddle, their tiny circular waves making patterns as they cross each other. Raindrops can be really fascinating! And after getting thoroughly soaked, despite the raincoat, you find a little store and have hot cocoa and donuts. That's the kind of effort you need to keep making as you get older."