So, one of my strategies in the essay (on divine eternality and timelessness) was to blind with science. It's certainly the first time I've had a footnote explaining the second law of thermodynamics.

So, if anyone's interested and wants to impress people at dinner parties (or even over coffee in the academic centre foyer), here's my two sentence summary:

Over longer periods of time and in larger-scale systems, change can only occur in one direction: entropy levels will always increase. In microscopic systems fluctuation occurs which may temporarily reverse this but, bizarrely, this fluctuation is a necessary part of the proof of the law as a whole (not quite sure I remember how). If this law holds, which by observation it appears to, then the flow of time is an inherent part of the universe, only reversible or stoppable by the disintegration of the fabric of the universe itself.

In other words, time can't go backwards.

So now you know.

It's in, it's done, the last paragraph was very feeble (even in comparison with the rest which was fairly feeble) and I never have to write another essay again (at least until September).

My software (NotaBene) decided to close three times without warning this afternoon (having not done that at all since I upgraded before Christmas). My printer screwed up the first attempt to print off the final version and then went into snail mode.

So at 4.59pm the rare sight of Ros running was visible in the Namugongo link. I think I shall have a stiff drink to celebrate.