Aquila Children's Magazine AQUILA Magazine Best Bits | Page 68

Philip has been reading up about the expanding Universe
and the Big Bang that started it all off, and he is very
excited about the whole idea. Phoebe seems less
convinced, however.
‘I see. So what was there before the Big Bang happened?’ she
asks, ‘and what was in the space the Universe expanded into?’
‘Oh, don’t be silly!’ says Philip in an annoyingly patronising
tone. ‘Space and time both came into existence with the Big
Bang. So obviously there was no ‘before’ the Big Bang. And
there is no space for the Universe to expand ‘into’. It’s all
perfectly simple, you know.’
Phoebe looks at Philip as if he has gone mad. ‘So you mean I’m
not allowed to ask questions like that? It all seems pretty
dubious to me.’
Philip looks at her pityingly. ‘That’s OK, Phoebe. You probably
don’t have the imagination to handle this sort of stuff like I can.’
Fortunately, their mother came in at this point. Otherwise
Phoebe might have throttled her twin brother.
How powerful is
human imagination?
Can it take things like ‘before time came into
being’ and ‘beyond the Universe’ in its stride? Or
is it limited to things we can actually experience?