There are three stages in scientific discovery. First, people deny that it is true, then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.
Bill BrysonRead
Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this ancient remnant of the Big Bang. The next time you complain that there is nothing on, remember that you can always watch the birth of the universe.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the cosmic significance of static on a television, linking it to the remnants of the Big Bang.
Bill Bryson emphasizes that the seemingly trivial experience of television static is actually a window into the universe's origins, reflecting that even in boredom, there exists a profound connection to the cosmos. This perspective encourages us to look beyond the mundane and recognize the extraordinary wonders woven into the fabric of our daily lives, reminding us of our place in the grand scheme of existence.
Themes
CosmosBig BangUniverseTelevisionStatic
In practice
Example use cases
During a science presentation, to illustrate how we're connected to the universe.
More from Bill Bryson
All quotes →For most of us the rules of English grammar are at best a dimly remembered thing. But even for those who make the rules, grammatical correctitude sometimes proves easier to urge than to achieve. Among the errors cited in this book are a number committed by some of the leading authorities of this century. If men such as Fowler and Bernstein and Quirk and Howard cannot always get their English right, is it reasonable to expect the rest of us to?
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I became quietly seized with that nostalgia that overcomes you when you have reached the middle of your life and your father has recently died and it dawns on you that when he went he took some of you with him.
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Open your refrigerator door, and you summon forth more light than the total amount enjoyed by most households in the 18th century. The world at night, for much of history, was a very dark place indeed.
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The universe is not only queerer than we suppose; it is queerer than we can suppose
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Those who sniff decay in every shift of sense or alteration of usage do the language no service. Too often for such people the notion of good English has less to do with expressing ideas clearly than with making words conform to some arbitrary pattern.
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