In his 1980 thirteen-episode television masterpiece, COSMOS, the great scientist and science educator, Carl Sagan, announced at the beginning of the episode titled, The Lives of the Stars, that “if you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” I always loved that. I didn’t know what he meant at the time. I just thought it sounded clever and fun. He was, I believe, speaking colorfully of atoms and elements, the building blocks of everything in the universe, from galaxies and stars to human beings and the humble apple pie.
Over the years, I’ve given my own meaning to these words. We’re all given at the beginnings of our lives the ingredients to make a life of our own. We’re all on a journey to make a life from scratch. In creating that life, we are inventing our own universe – the world in which we live our lives. Our families, friends, experiences, interests, pursuits, passions…are the elements, the building blocks of our universes. But while there are only 118 (as of 2025, anyway) elements in the physical universe we all live in, our own personal universes are not defined by a limited number of elements. Our universes are made up of an infinite number of elements, ingredients, if you will, with which we can make our apple pies – our lives – from scratch! That’s what I hope to do with this blog – explore the process of inventing my universe! Please join me.
Inventing My Universe 