A young, precocious student, Thomasina, questions her tutor, Septimus, about the irreversibility of stirring jam into rice pudding, leading to a philosophical discussion about free will, determinism, and the nature of God. Thomasina grapples with complex scientific and philosophical concepts, while Septimus attempts to guide her understanding.
Thomasina When you stir your rice pudding, Septimus, the spoonful of jam spreads itself round making red trails like the picture of a meter in my astronomical atlas. But if you stir backwards, the jam will not come together again. Indeed, the pudding does not notice and continues to turn just as it
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