The mathematical model is set up as a computer program that makes tiny random changes of this kind,

calculates how good the resulting structure is at detecting light and resolving the patterns that it “sees,”
and selects any changes that improve these abilities. During a simulation the blink of an eye, in
evolutionary terms-the region of cells folds itself up into a deep, spherical cavity with a tiny iris like
opening and, a lens. It is a lens whose refractive index-the amount by which it bends light-varies from
place to place. The pattern of variation of refractive index that is produced by computer simulation is
very like our own.

FIGURE I.

Computer model of the evolution of an eye. Each step in the computation corresponds to about two
hundred years of biological evolution. Orion first the alignment of the three stars in Orion appears
significant Their equispaced alignment is an accident, depending on the position from which they are
being viewed. Indeed, the very word "constellation" is a misnomer for an arbitrary accident of
viewpoint. The numerical relation between the periods of revolution of 10, Europa, and Ganymede
could also be an accident of viewpoint. It is an example of a resonance, a relationship between
periodically moving bodies in which their cycles are locked together, and take up the same relative
positions at regular intervals. Io revolves four times around Jupiter while Europa revolves twice and
Ganymede once, after which they are all back in exactly the same relative positions as before. This is
called a 4:2:1 resonance.

The Moon’s rotational period the same as its Period of revolution around the Earth-a 1:1 resonance of
its orbital and its rotational period. Mercury’s rotational and orbital periods are in a 2:3 resonance. A
resonance, however, there is-and a more interesting one than mere equality. The Hilda group of
asteroids, one of the beltlets, is in 2:3 resonance with Jupiter. That is, it is at just the right distance so
that all of the Hilda asteroids circle the Sun three times for every two revolutions of Jupiter. The most
noticeable gaps are At 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:2, and 7:2 resonances. Each resonance has its own idiosyncratic
dynamics; some cause clustering, others do the opposite. The chief complicating factor in making such
predictions is not astronomy: it is the shape of the continents and the profile of the ocean depths, which
can delay or advance a high tide.

Our world rests on mathematical foundations, and mathematics is unavoidably embedded in our global
culture. For example the physical theories that make it possible to design computers and telephone
lines, the signal-processing methods used to provide accurate radar images for the pilots. the coding
methods used to transmit TV signals by satellite, when a farmer plants a new strain of potatoes, he does
not need to know the statistical theories of genetics. But we need to understand all these things in the
past otherwise it wouldn’t have been invented. And somebody has to be inventing new mathematics in
the future, able to solve problems that either have not arisen before or have it proved intractable,
otherwise our society will fall apart when change requires solutions to new problems or new solutions
to old problems. Our world is not static: new problems constantly arise, and old answers often stop
working. Like Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen, we must run very fast in order to stand still.