Special Relativity gave us space-time. General Relativity in effect gives us matter-space-time …. It is the matter that bends, or distorts, the fabric of space-time ….

It is quite astonishing how old ideas keep turning up in new guises as we probe back to the moment of creation.

“I only know what it is that’s wrong with him; not why it is.”
“And what is it?” asked Lucy fearfully, expecting some harrowing tale.
“The old trouble; things won’t fit.”
“What things?”
“The things of the universe. It is quite true. They don’t.”

The passengers came crowding into the restaurant car and took their seats round the tables. They all bore more or less the same expression, one of expectancy mingled with apprehension.

Everywhere, people had theoretical models based on ideology, rather than facts ….

The most elegant theories could be shattered by a single inconvenient fact.

[T]he fictional detective is a catalyst ….

Concepts like “time” are not handed to us unambiguously by the outside world but are invented by human beings trying to make sense of the universe.

To this day, scientists haven’t yet determined to anyone’s satisfaction whether the universe will continue to evolve forever, or whether it will eventually settle into a placid state of equilibrium.