"...the universe is concentrated into a single point, infinitely hot & dense. During the first billionths of a second, the universe goes through a brief phase of accelerated expansion, growing from the size of an atomic nucleus to the size of a volleyball. After a millionth of a second, the primeval universe is a violently expanding fireball, about 10 billion miles in radius. It is filled with protons, neutrons & electrons - the building blocks for atoms - as well as billions of tiny particles called neutrinos. After one minute the universe, about a million billion miles across, has become a giant thermonuclear reactor, building the nuclei of helium atoms from the hydrogen nuclei created in the big bang....etc"

"The story of mankind begins in the tropical forests of at least 65 million years ago. By then the first primates, the order of mammals to which Man belongs, had appeared. These tiny creatures of the night gradually developed hands for gripping branches, preying upon insects & testing fruit for ripeness. Since complex hand-to-brain nerve `wiring' was required for these tasks, the capacity to explore with the hand may have contributed to an inquiring & expanding brain..."