A Brief History of Time From the Big Bang to Black Holes Stephen Hawking New Edition Paperback (18 Aug 2011) | English

 

According to some accounts, a journalist told Eddington in the early 1920s that he had heard there were only three people in the world who understood general relativity. Eddington paused, then replied, ‘I am trying to think who the third person is.’

[...] the laws of science do not distinguish between the forward and backward directions of time. However, there are at least three arrows of time that do distinguish the past from the future. They are the thermodynamic arrow, the direction of time in which disorder increases; the psychological arrow, the direction of time in which we remember the past and not the future; and the cosmological arrow, the direction of time in which the universe expands rather than contracts. [...] And the reason we observe this thermodynamic arrow to agree with the cosmological arrow is that intelligent beings can exist only in the expanding phase.

Up to now, most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. On the other hand, the people whose business it is to ask why, the philosophers, have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories. [...] However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist.

Animal Farm A Fairy Story - Penguin Modern Classics George Orwell (author) New edition Paperback (24 Feb 2000) | English

 

But a few days later Muriel, reading over the Seven Commandments to herself, noticed that there was yet another of them which the animals had remembered wrong. They had thought that the Fifth Commandment was ‘No animal shall drink alcohol’, but there were two words that they had forgotten. Actually the Commandment read: ‘No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.’

All Business is Local: Why Place Matters More than Ever in a Global, Virtual World By: Quelch, John Publisher: Portfolio Penguin

 

Whether it’s a matter of designing store layouts, figuring out where to locate retail facilities, localizing marketing, or aligning sales force territories, [...] At all levels, place still matters.

Modern communications may enable individuals to build and join virtual communities that cross borders, but we are much more likely to use those resources to connect with our neighbor next door than a person on the other side of the world.

The physical landscape, the buildings, the relation to surrounding places, and how people perceive and behave all contribute to the gestalt of a particular place.

If a place does not position itself, it is at the mercy of the unpredictable news cycle. The basic steps involved in developing a clear positioning are to identify the audiences the place wishes to address (such as tourists, overseas consumers, and foreign direct investors); assess the perceptions these audiences currently hold; develop a superiority claim about what the place offers that others don’t; and articulate the reasons why the superiority claim should be believed.