One of the scientists, last name 'Fredkin', is into cellular automata - a form of computer whose cells' values vary according to the values of the cells around them according to a certain set of rules. One of the principal qualities of cellular automata is that the end state cannot be inferred from its initial values - you must go through each iteration to find the end state.
Fredkins' main hypothesis is that the universe is comprised of matter, energy, and information; he proposes that the universe is one vast cellular automata, created by a god as a computer to resolve some conundrum; as time passes, each sub-atomic particle reacts, according to set rules, with the particles around it, to ultimately create the flow of history we see around us (of which evolution, and the concept "evolution", are part). The ultimate answer will only be determined at the end of time.
Anyway, I thought it was a good book and that you might enjoy it...
The answer is 42. The mice had Earth built to solve that one.
Thanks for thinking of me but I already have the Truth. It is the Bible. Theories are a dime a dozen as Dawkins adds another. No need for me to read fiction.