h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I entered this sight because somebody mentioned to me something (possibly garbage or some other sort of strange metaphor--) about a super-computer turning out the number 42 as the meaning of life. I just want to know if this is an actual fact, or metaphor (or both--- oh geesh)- and would like a literary site. Thank you.

In 'The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' Douglas Adams (DNA) had a fictional super-computer turning out '42' as the answer to the great question of 'Life, the Universe and Everything'. Snag is, nobody knew what the question was. According to DNA, Earth was created as a super-computer to work out the question, but was blown up to make way for a hyperspace bypass before it could finish the job. The only human survivors were Arthur Dent and Trillian (Trisha Macmillan).

'The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' started life as a radio series back in the 70s, and took its name from an electronic guide that an alien called 'Ford Prefect' carried round with him. (The entry for Earth was 'Harmless', which Ford was updating to 'Mostly Harmless'!) The radio series spawned 5 books, a short-lived and, (IMHO) not very good, TV series, and this web-site.

You now know about as much about H2G2, 42, and 'Life, The Universe and Everything' as I do. Hope this helps.

(BTW, it's a well-known fact that Mulder's apartment number in 'The X-Files' is 42. Spooky!)

Another book in the series is "So long, and thanks for all the Fish";
which is why there are fish all over this site.
The band "Level 42"'s name was inspired by HG2G...
People get into this on kind of an esoteric level; sort of like Python fanatics...(but it is very entertaining reading). Actually I read each of the five books in the trilogy as they came out and am now re-reading them as it was a while ago and I don't feel properly qualified around here sometimes...
PLT, Mick.

The fish on this site can also be a reference to 'Babel Fish', the Universal Translator of the H2G2 universe. Arthur Dent had one in his ear from early in the original radio series. I assume that Ford, Zaphod and Trillian also had them, but it isn't mentioned. (Would Zaphod need two because he had two heads, or would one Babel Fish work for both as they were close together?)

'So long and thanks for all the fish' came from the original radio series, too. Before Earth was destroyed, all the dolphins disappeared. It had been thought that they were performing for the public, leaping through hoops and whistling 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (I think). They were really saying, 'So long and thanks for all the fish.'

One pund of Plutonium can kill 42.000.000.000 people if spread out in the atmosphere. Makes you think

In a "Tresure Hunt" I had written for my daughter's recent birthday party, I had combined two sentences into a grid of letters, very easy stuff. I thought of a question "as if from nowhere" and it became one of the sentences.
The answer was 42.
I suspect this means I am some sort of lesser god, and I never knew it!!

The "code" (if you can call it that) is attached. It was for 11-12 year old girls and is not difficult.

Unscramble these two sentences. Follow the instructions. Write down the answer.

T A H D I D S T S H E E
Q E U V E E N N C N E U
O M F B L E E R T S T S
E H R O S W W N I O L N
L A C C O L N O F C U K
S F E A Y C O E U . .


TTFN

Freddie