“Janet Walsh, Planet News . Ms. Mosala, perhaps you could clarify something for me. This Theory of Everything you keep talking about, which is going to sum up the final truth about the universe … it sounds absolutely wonderful to me, but I would like to hear exactly what it’s based on.”

Mosala must have known who Walsh was, but she betrayed no sign of hostility. She said, “Every TOE is an attempt to find a deeper explanation for what’s called the Standard Unified Field Theory. That was completed in the late twenties – and it’s survived all experimental tests, so far. Strictly speaking, the SUFT is already a ‘Theory of Everything’: it does give a unified account of all the forces of nature. But it’s a very messy, arbitrary theory – based on a ten-dimensional universe with a lot of strange quirks which are difficult to take at face value. Most of us believe that there’s a simpler explanation underlying it, just waiting to be found.”

Walsh said, “But this SUFT you’re trying to supplant – what was that based on?”

“A number of earlier theories – which each, separately, accounted for one or two of the four basic forces. But if you want to know where those earlier theories came from, I’d have to recount five thousand years of scientific history. The short answer is, ultimately, a TOE will be based on observations of every aspect of the world, and the search for patterns in those observations.”

“ That’s it? ” Walsh mimed happy disbelief. “Then we’re all scientists, aren’t we? We all use our senses, we all make observations. And we all see patterns. I see patterns in the clouds above my home, every time I walk out into the garden.” She smiled a modest, self-deprecating smile.

Mosala said, “That’s a start. But there are two powerful steps beyond that kind of observation, which have made all the difference. Carrying out deliberate, controlled experiments, instead of only watching nature as it unfolds. And carrying out quantitative observations: making measurements, and trying to find patterns in the numbers.”

“Like numerology?”

Mosala shook her head, and said patiently, “Not any pattern, for the sake of it. You have to have a clear hypothesis to start with, and you have to know how to test it.”

“You mean … use all the right statistical methods, and so on?”

“Exactly.”

“But given the right statistical methods … you think the whole truth about the universe is spelled out in the patterns you can find by peering at an endless list of numbers?”

Mosala hesitated, probably wondering if the tortuous process of explaining anything more subtle would be worse than accepting that characterization of her life’s work.

“More or less.”

“Everything’s in the numbers? The numbers never lie?”

Mosala lost all patience. “No, they don’t.”