We soon arrived at the teashop and sat at a table
outside, overlooking a large church with a high tower. Sleepy lay
contentedly at Professor P’s feet and he stroked her gently.
“This is so exciting!” he said. “Time travel really
is possible! It proves the Many World Interpretation of Quantum
Mechanics – alternative worlds do exist. It’s incredible.”
“Professor P, can you explain exactly what’s
happened,” Mary asked, “in simple terms.”
“I would if it were simple,” he replied.
“What’s the complicated explanation then?” I asked,
smiling.
He paused thoughtfully. “The real universe is much
bigger than you might think!”
“Well, I thought it was pretty big,” I said and
Professor P smiled.
“It’s much more than just big like this,” he
continued, holding his hands wide apart. “There are no words to describe
it. What we see around us, the earth, space, stars and galaxies, they’re
just a tiny, tiny part of the real universe.”
“So what else is there?” I asked.
Professor P looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes
and said, “The universe contains every possibility of everything that
could ever happen.”
He paused dramatically. I looked at him puzzled.
“Hmm,” he said shaking his head. “Let’s see if I can
make it simple.”
Professor P took a coin out of his pocket.
“Heads or tails?” he asked, flipping the coin.
I looked at Tara. She shrugged. What did this have to
do with alternative worlds? I wondered. “Heads,” I answered.
“Correct,” he said as he revealed the coin.
Professor P saw the puzzled look on our faces. He
laughed and then continued, “When I tossed the coin, there were two
possible outcomes, or, if you like, two alternative worlds, a head world
and a tail world. When the coin was in the air the two worlds were like
shadows, possibilities of what could be. When it landed you saw just one
of those worlds, the head world. But the other world, the tail world
still exists, you just can’t see it.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a bit like when you tune your radio into a
particular station. The air is filled with radio waves but your set
picks out just the station that you want. That’s the way your mind
works, it focuses on just one world and ignores the rest. That’s what
the Many World Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics says. I know it seems
strange. I have difficulty understanding it myself. If it’s really true
the consequences are amazing.”
“Like time travel?” Tara asked.
“Exactly,” Professor P nodded. “If we can re-tune our
minds to a different reality then time travel is possible. The time
machine sent you into a different reality, which you believed to be ‘the
past’. Then it returned you here, to another alternative world, ‘the
present’, very similar, but slightly different from the one you left.”
“So, why are you living here in Cambridge in this
world and not with us by the sea, Professor P?” Tara asked.
“That’s something I’ve been wondering about too,” he
replied. “Something must have happened in your world to cause me to
leave the University and move away. But I can’t imagine what. I’m very
happy here, I certainly don’t intend to move, at least not until I
retire.”
“Do you think you can get us home, Professor P, to
our own world?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied thoughtfully. “It
certainly won’t be easy. Finding the right world is a bit like trying to
find a needle in a haystack, actually, an infinite haystack.”
“That’s what Floppy said!” I laughed.
“Floppy?” Professor P asked in surprise.
“He’s a supercomputer,” I replied. “He was another
one of your inventions. Look, I brought him to show you.”
I took the small silver sphere out of my pocket and
put it on the table.
“He got so excited on the way here,” Tara explained,
“that he switched himself off.”
“Floppy!” I said and tapped the sphere lightly. “Wake
up!”
There was a popping sound and Floppy appeared as a
grey fluffy owl. He flew around in delight when he saw Professor P.
“Professor P,” he cried, his eyes lighting up. “How,
how wonderful to see you again! It’s been so long. How are you? We’ve
been on the most amazing adventure! And I’ve been working on the Theory
of Everything for you. So much has happened. I can’t wait to tell you
everything.”
“Hello, Floppy,” Professor P said smiling. “I am
delighted to meet you. I would love to hear your story. But first, I’d
like to show you something.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out another
identical sphere. He placed it on the table next to Floppy’s and said,
“Floppy, I’d like you to meet...”
With a pop another slightly larger owl appeared.
“Floppy,” he said with a grin.
The two owls looked at each other, first in
astonishment, and then suspiciously, obviously not sure how to respond.
“Oh, er, hello,” our Floppy finally said. “I’m
Superbrain 4.0, but you can call me Floppy.”
“But I’m Superbrain 4.0!” the other owl said in
annoyance. “And my name’s Floppy too! So you’ll have to call yourself
something else.”
“I will not!” Floppy said indignantly, puffing
himself up to the size of the other owl. “You’ll have to change your
name!”
“Won’t” the other owl said stubbornly.
“Now, Floppy,” Professor P said sternly.
“Yes,” both owls answered together.
“There’s no need to argue,” he continued. “I will
call the one who has been back in time Floppy I and the other Floppy
II.”
“But I want to be Floppy I,” said Floppy II in a
rather sulky voice. Professor P looked at him intently and he went
quiet.
Our Floppy looked rather pleased with himself. He
turned to Professor P and said in a quite voice, “Professor P, would you
like to hear my Theory of Everything now?”
“Yes,” he replied, smiling. “I would like that very
much.”
“Well…” Floppy said, clearing his throat
dramatically.
“But I’ve worked out the Theory of Everything too,”
Floppy II interrupted loudly, “and a lot of other very important things
too.”
“Let’s hear Floppy I first, shall we?” Professor P
said kindly. “I’m most interested in what you have to say.”
Floppy I flapped his wings, coughed once and said.
“I think therefore.”
Professor P leant thoughtfully back in his chair and
said nothing.
“I’m not absolutely sure,” Floppy added timidly,
obviously unnerved by Professor P’s silence.
I looked at Tara and I could see she was thinking the
same as me. Floppy looked so worried, we both desperately hoped that
Professor P would not laugh at the poor little owl.
Finally Professor P spoke, “So this is your solution
to the basic problem in quantum mechanics, i.e. that a continuous wave
function collapses on observation to give a discrete result.”
Floppy looked completely lost and scratched his head.
The other owl looked on smugly, enjoying his discomfort.
“It is,” Floppy said finally, trying to sound
confident.
“That is an interesting solution,” Professor P said,
his eyes twinkling. “You are proposing that the observable universe
arises as a result of our thoughts. Thought creates reality. I think
therefore.”
Floppy puffed himself up and said proudly, “Yes,
that’s right, Professor P.”
“Well done,” Professor P declared. “That is an
excellent answer.”
Floppy was delighted by the praise. He beamed from
ear to ear. I looked at Tara in astonishment. Had Floppy really come up
with a sensible answer?
Floppy II was not at all pleased. He snorted loudly
and flew into the air.
“Well, I have a much better solution,” he cried
haughtily. “The answer is,” he paused dramatically, “I therefore.
My solution is far simpler and more elegant!”
“Your answer is also good, Floppy II,” Professor P
replied thoughtfully. “It shows that consciousness rather than thought
is the basis of our perception of reality. Both answers are excellent.”
As we continued to talk, a crowd of people gathered
around our table. They looked at the owls in amazement and took photos.
We laughed when a little boy ran up to us, pointing
to the owls and said, “Look mum, they’ve got owl post!”
“Talking owls!” a man exclaimed in amazement.
The waitress knocked into a table and almost dropped
the tray that she was carrying as she stared at the owls.
“Floppy II,” Professor P continued, ignoring the
onlookers, “and you too, Floppy I. There is another task I would like
you both to work on.”
“Of course, Professor P, what is it?” Floppy I said.
“I can do it quicker and better than Floppy I,”
Floppy II added.
“Your task is this,” Professor P looked at them
seriously. “I would like you to make friends with each other.”
Both Floppys looked surprised, then horrified at the
idea. Floppy II disappeared in a puff of smoke. Floppy I blinked twice
and vanished too.
A girl in the crowd pointed at us in astonishment.
“Did you see that?” she said, turning to her friend. “The owls, they
just vanished!”
A little boy ran up to Professor P. “Are you
Professor Dimbledore?” he asked excitedly.
“Sorry,” Professor P replied looking puzzled. “I’ve
never heard of him I’m afraid.”
The little boy ran back to his mother and said
disappointedly, “No, he’s not!”
Gradually the crowds disappeared and we were left in
peace.
“Now, what were we talking about?” Professor P mused,
turning towards us. “Yes, of course, Peter, Tara, you want to get back
to your own world.”
“Yes,” we replied eagerly.
“Well to have any chance of that we must recover the
time machine from the cliffs,” he said thoughtfully. “I’ll need to find
out how it works and make the necessary repairs.”
“Can you come back with us now?” I asked.
“Yes, we can give you a lift if you like,” Mary
added.
“No, thank you, Mary,” Professor P replied. “I need
to get all my tools and equipment ready. I’d rather come tomorrow if
that’s all right with you.”
The waitress eventually arrived with our meals,
giving us a rather curiously look. During lunch Tara and I told
Professor P and Mary about our adventure back in time. They listened in
amazement as we described the island and all the prehistoric creatures
we had seen.
When we had finished lunch Professor P asked us if we
would like to spend the afternoon sightseeing. “It won’t be as exciting
as fighting off dinosaurs,” he said with a smile, “but it would be fun
to go punting along the backs of the colleges.”
“Good idea,” Mary said enthusiastically, “I’ve always
wanted to go punting.”
“Punting?” I asked. “What’s that?”
“You’ll see,” Professor P replied with a smile.
We left the teashop and walked to the river past
Kings College. When we arrived at the boatyard Professor P pointed to
the punts. They were long flat-bottomed boats with seats in the middle
and at the front. People stood at the back, pushing themselves forward
using long poles.
Professor P climbed on board the punt first and
steadied it as we all took our seats. Mary sat at the front; I sat with
Sparky and Sleepy in the middle and Tara in the back. Professor P stood
at the back confidently holding the punting pole and pushed off.
The river was crowded with people trying
unsuccessfully to punt. Professor P effortlessly steered us through all
the boats and we went under a wooden bridge.
“Well, it’s nice to be punted by an expert,” Mary
said as we set off.
“My pleasure,” he said proudly.
As we approached a small wooden bridge Professor P
pointed to it and said, “This is the famous Mathematical Bridge. It’s
part of Queens College. It’s said that Newton built it without using any
bolts. Then when some mischievous students took it apart they couldn’t
get it back together again so they had to use bolts!”
“Is that really true?” Mary asked.
“No,” he chuckled, “it’s just a story for the
tourists. It was built 22 years after Newton had died and it was
originally bolted together.”
As we glided peacefully along the river Professor P
told us about the colleges we were passing and their history.
“This one’s called Trinity College,” he said. We
looked over to a large old building on our right with a wide lawn
surrounded by trees to our left. “Newton’s old college. They say the
apple tree outside the college gate is descended from the tree which
dropped an apple on his head, and led him discovering the theory of
gravity.”
“Really?” Mary said.
“I doubt it!” Professor P chuckled.
On the way back we all had a go at punting. I could
hardly lift the pole, let alone punt with it! Tara nearly fell into the
river when she tried and Mary went round in circles a few times before
she finally gave up. As we approached the boatyard Professor P took over
and expertly guided us into the docking area.
It was late afternoon now as we walked back to the
car, chatting away happily.
“Thank you for a lovely afternoon, Professor P,” Mary
said as we reached her car.
She kissed him on the cheek. He turned bright red.
“Good bye Professor P,” Tara and I said together.
“Goodbye Sleepy,” I added.
“See you tomorrow,” Professor P called out as we set off for home.
