"Of course, humans have been speculating about the origins of the universe far longer than thy have been dabbling in modern science. Telling stories about the universe is as old as telling stories. In Norse mythology, the universe begins when a giant cow licks the gods out of a salty lip of a primordial pit. In Japanese mythology, Japan arises from the incestuous embrace of the brother and sister gods Izanagi and Izanami. In one Hindu myth, all creatures rise out of the clarified butter obtained from the sacrifice of the thousand-headed Purusha. More recently, though, over the last century or so, astrophysicists and cosmologists have constructed a detailed history of the universe supported by observational evidence."
— Seth Lloyd, Programming the Universe
