自然系統的當前狀態顯然是前一時刻的結果，如果我們設想一個智能體在某一瞬間理解了這個宇宙中所有實體的關系，它就能陳述這些實體在過去或未來的任何時間的各自位置、運動和一般效應。
The present state of the system of nature is evidently a resultant of what it was in the preceding moment, and if we conceive of an intelligence which at a given instant comprehends all the relations of the entities of this universe, it could state the respective positions, motions, and general effects of all these entities at any time in the past or future.
