Bryson shows that it takes until 1957 for scientists to understand an important clue to the origins of life, which shows how young the scientific endeavor is and how far it has to go. Hoyle’s controversial claims about pathogens and fossils, however, show that scientists sometimes make absurd and bizarre claims that are often wrongly taken seriously because they are men who are in a position of power in the scientific world. Bryson thus begins to introduce the notion that patriarchal values can misdirect scientific progress.