Precursors: All life on Earth turns out to be descended from a biological sample left by a civilisation that inhabited Earth three billion years ago but was wiped out. Chronoscope: The central technology of the novel, called Wormcam by its marketers. Significantly, it can view anywhere, at any time in the past or present (though not the future). The implications of this technology being freely available is fully explored. In the opening lines of the poem, the narrator describes how frequently, in the still of the night, he lies down in bed and is overcome with both happy and sad memories of the past. Before he drifts off to sleep, he reminisces about the past and the times that are no longer with us. At first, the speaker is filled with fleeting happiness as he recalls happy times from his past, complete with laughter, tears, and boundless enthusiasm from his younger years. But the speaker’s overwhelming sense of loneliness soon turns those “fond memories” bitter. This is the point at which the poet realises that his youth, his friends, and the time and energy he spent sharing his love with those who have passed on are all in the past. And then, all at once, the “fond memories” turn tragic. Bobby caught Kate's eye. He mimed vomiting with a splayed hand, and she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. We calculate that the probability of finding a wormhole connecting Seattle to Brisbane, to acceptable accuracy, is one in ten million. So it will take us some ten million attempts to locate the wormhole we want. But this is atomic machinery and it works bloody fast; even a hundred million attempts should take less than a second.…And the beauty of it is, down at the quantum level, links to any place we want already exist: all we have to do is find them."

OurWorld's campus turned out to be a carpet of neat grass quadrangles separating three-story office buildings, fat, top-heavy boxes of blue glass held up by skinny little beams of reinforced concrete. It was ugly and quaint, 1990s corporate chic. The bottom story of each building was an open car lot, in one of which her car had parked itself. Ans: One ‘fond’ memory of the poet is this recollection of the boyhood days. The speaker remembers the fond memories from past, replete with joy and the mirth, the tears and laughter that comes with merriment, the vim and vigour of the boyhood years that brings him momentary bliss.The design of the Molniya satellites had been utterly ingenious. Korolev's great boosters were incapable of launching a satellite to geosynchronous orbit, that high radius where the station would hover above a fixed point on Earth's surface. So Korolev launched his satellites on elliptical eight-hour trajectories. With such orbits, carefully chosen, three Molniyas could provide coverage for most of the Soviet Union. For decades the U.S.S.R. and then Russia had maintained constellations of Molniyas in their eccentric orbits, providing the great, sprawling country with essential social and economic unity.

Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Jesus is described in great detail to have been a normal mortal man, albeit one of high moral fiber. However, when one person is observing him, they touch his shoulder and Jesus seems to turn and look directly at them, a seemingly impossible action based on what is known about the wormholes. The second part of the poem focuses on the speaker's memories of their friends who have passed away, comparing their loss to the falling leaves in winter. The speaker feels a sense of loneliness as if they are walking alone in a deserted banquet hall where the lights have gone out and the decorations have withered. Everyone else has left, and only the speaker remains. Answer: Bitterness replaces the poet’s temporary happiness brought on by his “fond memories” as he is consumed by an overwhelming sense of isolation. This is the point at which the poet realises that his childhood, his friends, and the time and love he spent with the departed are all in the past. As a result, the once-happy recollections are now filled with sadness. Consequently, the poet expresses his sorrow for his departed companions and loved ones who are now so far away. After all the laughter and merriment, he imagines that the banquet hall is empty except for him. A voice floated across the steppe from a speaker tower. Gotovnosty dyesyat minut. Ten minutes and counting.You don’t normally get this kind of “pop-science” from Clarke or Baxter. It makes a nice change. This bit of expository dialogue is also of “pop-science” level:

He accepted their greetings, but was happy to sink into isolated anonymity. The men and women of this hard future cared nothing for him and his memories of a better past. Vitaly regarded the Molniya comsats as Korolev's greatest achievement, outshining even the Designer's accomplishments in launching robots and humans into space, touching Mars and Venus, even—so nearly—beating the Americans to the Moon.She hadn't spoken for some seconds; Bobby was still waiting for her to respond to his dinner invitation. This is a crystal of diamond. The white points you see are carbon atoms. The links are the valence forces that join them. I want to emphasize that what you are going to see, though enhanced, is not a simulation. With modern technology—scanning tunneling microscopes, for instance—we can build up images of matter even at this most fundamental of levels. Everything you see is real. Now—come further."