England. An unusually hot, almost windless early morning in mid-summer. A patchwork landscape of ripe cornfields, cow-grazed pasture and dense woodland undulates gently to the horizon. From this distance the black-and-white cows that dot the grassland appear as motionless as the trees that here and there punctuate the fields' hedgerows. This abnormal stillness, combined with the intense shimmering heat and the low steady buzzing of insects, imbues the scene with an air of vaguely threatening unease.
The insects' ceaseless droning reminds us that the tranquility of this landscape is only apparent. Amongst the grasses at our feet, as the briefest inspection will reveal, are countless tiny creatures all going intently about their business: a shiny black beetle carefully making his way through a thicket of clover; baby spiders scurrying up and down the tall stems of couch grass; a furry brown caterpillar hiding in the shade of a dandelion leaf; here an ants' nest, a whole civilization of black specks busily encamped in the remains of an old tree-stump; and there, a bee, buzzing diligently from flower to flower and then suddenly away, flying quickly out of sight.
As we draw back and our view of the countryside widens into a panorama, we can see that the landscape is dotted with buildings and is criss-crossed by a number of tracks and roads. In the distance a railway line runs straight for several miles, and beyond it there is the silvery glint of a small river twisting and turning its way eastwards. At the point where the river, the railway line and two of the larger roads meet, the greenness of the countryside is marked by an irregular greyish blot, from which a sentry-like file of steel pylons can be seen carrying powerlines that loop away over the horizon to the west. The greyish blot is a fair-sized country town.
As its detail gradually comes into focus we soon realize that this is no ordinary English town. There is the usual concentration of shopping streets, office buildings and a market square at the town's centre, and the usual sprawl of cramped terraced houses, public parks, new estates and small factories surrounding it, but there are also large areas of the town, especially along the banks of the river, where complexes of massive buildings of stone, rich with ornate masonry, fine spires and grand gateways, are set amongst spacious lawns and gardens and wooded groves. There are great chapels, shady quadrangles and some fine modern buildings too, their white stone and glass glittering fiercely in the sunshine. This, certainly, must be one of England's historic university cities.
Looking down upon the city, we can observe the many different patterns presented by its streets and its buildings, by the movements of its traffic and its inhabitants. Indeed, though strangers to the place, from here we are probably in a better position to map the city than are its inhabitants themselves, few of whom will ever have seen it from the air. The city, we may reflect, could be mapped in many different ways, according to one's concerns. Besides a simple layout of its streets, one could make a map, say, of how its property is owned, indicating the land and buildings under the authority of the university or its colleges, those belonging to private individuals and companies, and those administered by the city council. Or one could map the city's architectural history: the new parts, the old parts and the areas where ancient, perhaps even prehistoric remains have been found. Again, notice the many old churches that are scattered about the place; in former times, a map showing the different church parishes would have been important to the citizens, while nowadays it might seem to have little significance. In everyday life of course, the townsfolk get about without the aid of maps at all, using instead the well-known landmarks, the familiar main roads, the short cuts of habit and tradition. It is therefore possible that many of them would be quite surprised to discover some of the patterns that we strangers so easily can see from here. Despite their living in the city for years on end, many of its citizens generally remain in ignorance of its social and architectural evolution and without any clear perspective of either their city's history or their own lives within it.
But who needs maps or perspectives on such a beautiful day? Thanks to the strong sunshine, people in all parts of the city are awakening early and the unexpectedly hot weather has quickly become the popular topic of conversation. After an ice-cold winter and a rain-soaked spring, the long-forgotten comforts and discomforts of the summer Sun are rapidly being rediscovered. Already, child-scolding housewives are hanging out washing in tiny back-to-back gardens. On a building site tanned labourers wearing dusty shorts and floppy hats are humping bricks and preparing to start up an excavator. A knot of tourists in bright tee-shirts and sunglasses is making a breakfast-time tour round one of the colleges. Here and there within the university, the few academics and students who have stayed on during the holidays gaze blinkingly around book-lined studies and stare listlessly at paper-strewn desks; not even their old rooms' narrow leaded windows can shield them from the simple power of the bright sunlight outside. It is no good swotting on a day like this.
Along one of the narrow winding streets which lead to the market square, a young driver is dreamily steering a battered but stylish old MGA sports car. Without warning, a university man, also with things on his mind, steps out absently from one of the college gateways into the street, and into the path of the car. The early-morning tranquility is rudely shattered by a fierce squealing of brakes, a clatter of shuddering bodywork and... no thud. By a miracle there is no collision. A last split-second reaction on the parts of both driver and pedestrian has avoided a potentially fatal accident. Any anger is at once forgotten in the two mens' immense relief at their lucky escape. The driver anxiously walks over to his near-victim to make sure that he is unhurt, and since the man's nerves are obviously shaken, he offers him a hand. They fall into conversation.
Driver Phew! Close one! Are you alright?
Pedestrian Yes, fine... Twisted my ankle on the kerb, think it's okay... Agh! Be alright in a moment... Ow! Sorry, my fault, stupid of me...
Driver I should sit down for a bit. I know, let me give you a lift. You were heading into town?
Pedestrian Er, yes, but...
Driver Then hop in. I'm going to Market Square, is that okay?
Pedestrian Oh yes, thanks, I was on my way to the Market Bookshop.
Driver Right. No problem. Oh, don't worry about the door rattling, it's quite safe...
Pedestrian Drop me off here if you like, you'll never be able to park in the Square.
Driver Hold on, let's see... Yes, we're in luck!
Pedestrian But this is a 'Disabled Driver' space!
Driver I know, handy isn't it?
Pedestrian Hey, how come you've got a permit? You're no more disabled than I am!
Driver I can limp quite convincingly when I have to. I know lots of people who...
Pedestrian You fake!
Driver Besides, surely you qualify as disabled at the moment, after our recent little... encounter? Ah, you pull that knotted cord to open the door.
Pedestrian But that's not the poi... Aghh! Ow!
Driver See what I mean? Now, steady as you go... Look, come and sit by the fountain and I'll get you a glass of water. It's a natural spring, said to be good for the nerves.
Pedestrian Oh, er yes, thanks. Good idea. Delayed shock I suppose... Phew! It's just beginning to dawn how close I was back there to being, to being... hit.
Driver Yes, we were lucky, very lucky... Here, drink this down... Better? I'll get you another... It's funny you know, when you see this square and all this activity, it seems strange that accidents aren't a lot more common than they are. Look: trucks loading and unloading, vans full of gear being unpacked, men pushing carts this way and that, already quite a few shoppers milling around, cars whizzing by, a bunch of teenagers over there showing off on their motorcycles, young mums with pushchairs, students pottering about on bikes, cats, dogs, sparrows, pigeons, a blind woman tapping her way along, an old bloke in a wheelchair, some kids playing with a football... Given all this chaos, collisions are surprisingly rare.
Pedestrian That's because most people are careful to avoid them.
Driver Sorry, I may have been driving a bit fast. But you did cross without looking.
Pedestrian Yes I know. Stupid. Wasn't thinking.
Driver Doesn't it ever strike you how rare accidents are? It's bad enough now, but imagine this square on a busy saturday afternoon: it teems with people. Oh, you get a little jostling and jockeying now and then, but hardly ever an actual collision.
Pedestrian But you talk as though people were like... like gas molecules, whizzing blindly this way and that.
Driver Gas molecules?
Pedestrian Yes, you know, rushing about randomly. The molecular behaviour of gases is my field by the way. Allow me to introduce myself: Doctor Malcolm Effect, Institute of Molecular Studies.
Driver Ah, a scientist, what a coincidence! Delighted to meet you Doctor, you could be just the man I've been looking for... So what's with these molecules of yours? What is a molecule exactly?
Doctor Effect Surely you've heard of molecules? They are the constituents of matter, of everything that you see around you.
Driver Everything? You, me, the buildings, the cars, the sky, the Sun? All made up entirely of molecules?
Doctor Effect Of molecules and atoms and particles, yes.
Driver Uhuh? And what makes a crowd of gas molecules so different from the crowd of people milling around this square?
Doctor Effect Well obviously, as far as their colliding with one another is concerned, molecules can't see each other like we can, can't avoid each other like we can.
Driver They have no perceptions or feelings, they do not think or choose?
Doctor Effect Exactly.
Driver So in short the big difference is that men have minds and molecules don't?
Doctor Effect That's a big difference, certainly.
Driver But now Doctor, how do you know that?
Doctor Effect What, how do I know that molecules don't have minds?
Driver Well... No... How do you know that human beings do...?