The Science of Discworld: Darwin's Watch by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen
It is always useful for a university to have a Very Big Thing. It occupies the younger members, to the relief of their elders (especially if the VBT is based at some distance from the seat of learning itself) and it uses up a lot of money, which would otherwise only lie around causing trouble or be spent by the sociology department or, probably, both. It also helps if it pushes back boundaries, and it doesn’t much matter what boundaries these are, since as any researcher will tell you that it’s the pushing that matters, not the boundary. (DW)
Originally the hole had stayed there because no one could be bothered to have it fixed, but now it stayed there because it was Traditional. (DW)
Ridcully did not like committee business. He certainly did not like any other business. (DW)
Every organisation needs someone to do those jobs it doesn’t want to do or secretly thinks don’t need doing. (DW)
The senior wizards trod carefully in the High Energy Magic Building, partly because it wasn’t their natural habitat, but also because most of the students who frequented it used the floor as a filing cabinet and, distressing, a larder. Pizza is quite hard to remove from a sole, especially the cheese. (DW)
Wizards don’t believe in gods. They didn’t deny their existence, of course. They just didn’t believe. It was nothing personal; they weren’t actually rude about it. Gods were a visible part of narrativium that made things work, that gave the world its purpose. It was just that they were best avoided close up. (DW)
Hex had mastered the secret of osmotic reading, normally only every attempted by students. (DW)
His fellow wizards weren’t stupid, but you had to be careful to shape ideas to fit the holes in their heads. (DW)
It is hard to convey five-dimensional ideas in a language evolved to scream defiance at the monkeys in the next tree. (DW)
... there was no such thing as absolute control, not in a fully functioning universe. There was just a variable amount of lack of control. (DW)
No trouble is too much if it saves some excellent chefs from extinction. (DW)
'.... if you don't know what you're getting into, naked always works,' said Rincewind. 'It's the all-purpose suit. At home in every culture.' (DW)
Cunning in younger wizards is not automatically applauded in their elders. (DW)
'I don't think you can fight a whole universe, sir!'
'It's the prerogative of every life form, Mr Stibbons!' (DW)
‘Infinity is a bit tricky.’ (DW)
‘We’ve kept all this very simple so that even professors can understand!’ (DW)
‘We are supposed to develop questioning minds, you know,’ someone muttered.
‘Yes, but not regarding university policy!’ said Ridcully. (DW)
…the wonderful thing about intelligent life, they have discovered, is that with some care it can be persuaded to destroy itself. (DW)
+++Despite being wrong in every important respect, that is a very good analogy+++ (DW)
No one would like to be told that they came from a universe created quite by accident and, moreover, by the Dean. It could only cause bad feeling. If you were told you were meeting your maker, you’d want something better. (DW)
‘Magic is basically just movin’ stuff around,’ said Ridcully. (DW)
The University’s proctors were known as lobsters because they went very red when hot and had a grip that was extremely hard to shake off. They were generally ex-army sergeants, and had depths of cynicism unplumbable by any line, and were fuelled by beer. (DW)
A drawback of invisibility is that no one can see you; it is in fact the main drawback if there is a group of you. (DW)
Originally the hole had stayed there because no one could be bothered to have it fixed, but now it stayed there because it was Traditional. (DW)
Ridcully did not like committee business. He certainly did not like any other business. (DW)
Every organisation needs someone to do those jobs it doesn’t want to do or secretly thinks don’t need doing. (DW)
The senior wizards trod carefully in the High Energy Magic Building, partly because it wasn’t their natural habitat, but also because most of the students who frequented it used the floor as a filing cabinet and, distressing, a larder. Pizza is quite hard to remove from a sole, especially the cheese. (DW)
Wizards don’t believe in gods. They didn’t deny their existence, of course. They just didn’t believe. It was nothing personal; they weren’t actually rude about it. Gods were a visible part of narrativium that made things work, that gave the world its purpose. It was just that they were best avoided close up. (DW)
Hex had mastered the secret of osmotic reading, normally only every attempted by students. (DW)
His fellow wizards weren’t stupid, but you had to be careful to shape ideas to fit the holes in their heads. (DW)
It is hard to convey five-dimensional ideas in a language evolved to scream defiance at the monkeys in the next tree. (DW)
... there was no such thing as absolute control, not in a fully functioning universe. There was just a variable amount of lack of control. (DW)
No trouble is too much if it saves some excellent chefs from extinction. (DW)
'.... if you don't know what you're getting into, naked always works,' said Rincewind. 'It's the all-purpose suit. At home in every culture.' (DW)
Cunning in younger wizards is not automatically applauded in their elders. (DW)
'I don't think you can fight a whole universe, sir!'
'It's the prerogative of every life form, Mr Stibbons!' (DW)
‘Infinity is a bit tricky.’ (DW)
‘We’ve kept all this very simple so that even professors can understand!’ (DW)
‘We are supposed to develop questioning minds, you know,’ someone muttered.
‘Yes, but not regarding university policy!’ said Ridcully. (DW)
…the wonderful thing about intelligent life, they have discovered, is that with some care it can be persuaded to destroy itself. (DW)
+++Despite being wrong in every important respect, that is a very good analogy+++ (DW)
No one would like to be told that they came from a universe created quite by accident and, moreover, by the Dean. It could only cause bad feeling. If you were told you were meeting your maker, you’d want something better. (DW)
‘Magic is basically just movin’ stuff around,’ said Ridcully. (DW)
The University’s proctors were known as lobsters because they went very red when hot and had a grip that was extremely hard to shake off. They were generally ex-army sergeants, and had depths of cynicism unplumbable by any line, and were fuelled by beer. (DW)
A drawback of invisibility is that no one can see you; it is in fact the main drawback if there is a group of you. (DW)
