Hi again. Today’s topic, in a roundabout sort of way, is numbers.

In saying that, I realize that 70 percent or more of the readers won’t make it to the end of this article, but I’m going to go deep on this one, in any case.

Numbers and math give some people the blues. I used to be one of those people. I overcame the difficulty largely through avoidance, cheat sheets and user-friendly computing devices.

But while my anxiety peaks at math above the pre-calculus level, I still must confess a deep respect for the stuff. Math is one of those things that seems universal in the literal sense.

It is what holds time and space, soccer balls and bank accounts together for us, at least in our immediate part of the cosmos.

Take, for example, the numerical constants used in physics (readership takes another hit). I am speaking of the speed of light, also known as c (as in c squared equals E divided by m; think about it), Planck’s constant, h, the gravitational constant, G, and the elementary charge, e.

These constants have numerical values which, math errors aside, never seem to change, and they make explanation of the universe feasible for physicists.

Interestingly, when the elementary charge, e, is combined with the other constants in a certain way so that all the units cancel out, you get a number, 1/137, called the fine structure constant.

This seems to be a fundamental fraction in the universe. But what does it mean?

In addition, G, h and c can be arranged in such a way that results in a unit with the dimension of time, 5.38 x 10E-44 seconds, called Planck’s time.

According to physicists, this turns out to be the precise amount of time after the Big Bang. Before deriving this figure, scientists could not have confidence that the theories of physics were valid. Now they can. Weird.

From these constants, one can also derive a Planck mass and a Planck length, both of which have significance in studies of the origin and evolution of the universe.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Whacky stuff like that makes numbers seem cool.

While one may fear, even hate, it, the fault does not lie with the uncooperativity of math, but with that of people. Contrary to the beliefs of some, math is not magic, though it sometimes seems to be used for that purpose (statistics).

Math is probably the most orderly and unchanging stuff in the universe.

It’s the only science discipline that everyone uses in one way or another.

It was here before us and it will be here long after we’re gone.

The secrets of the universe are in the math; it’s just a question of who is going to figure it out.