Dealing with large figures, scientists have created a special notation. They indicate the number of zeros instead of writing them all. Thus, 10⁹ represents 1 followed by nine zeros. It is less clumsy to handle than 1,000,000,000. Let us use this notation as we look at some staggering cosmic numbers.

First, from the immensity of the heavens:

• the closest star from the Sun is at 25 x 10¹² miles, that is twenty five million million miles
• our galaxy, the Milky Way, has a diameter of about 6 x 10¹⁷ miles.
• there are about 10²² stars in 10¹¹ galaxies.

Then, to the smallness of the Eternon world:

• a grain of sand is made of 10³⁶ particles; remember, that is thirty six zeros!
• a tiny bubble of air contains more particles than the 10²² stars in the whole universe.
• a human is the reunion of some 10¹⁴ cells.
• a cell as small as four hundred thousandth of an inch may contain 10¹¹ electrons.

These numbers are rather impossible to comprehend. They only tell us that Creation operates on a scale that is not ours. We should not attempt to grasp its mysterious ways using the measures of our ordinary experience.