As Chris Harvey writes in his review of the first episode of Brian Cox's new series,
Wonders of the Universe (BBC Two): The first law of thermodynamics stipulates that when a TV scientist tries to slip the phrase “second law of thermodynamics” into a sentence, a large proportion of viewers start wondering what’s happening on
MasterChef.
"Life as we know it," Professor Cox explained at one point, "is only possible for one thousandth of a billion billion billionth, billion billion billionth, billion billion billionth of a percent" of the lifespan of the universe. And of that barely conceivable fraction, a human life occupies only a tiny space. You wonder whether it's really worth getting up in the morning. At least that is the way which Tom Sutcliffe put it in "Time flies with the star trekker,"
The Independent, 7 March 2011. I'll let you read the rest of his critique at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...4-2234160.html