Imagine, if you can, four things that have very different sizes. First, the entire universe. Second, the planet Earth. Third, the nucleus of an atom. Fourth, a superstring. The step in size from each of these things to the next is roughly the same... twenty powers of ten....

— Freeman Dyson, Infinite in All Directions (1988)

From ch. 2, 'Butterflies and Superstrings', of his 1988 book.

Topics: physics