<P> The number 42 is , in The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams , the `` Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life , the Universe , and Everything '' , calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years . Unfortunately , no one knows what the question is . Thus , to calculate the Ultimate Question , a special computer the size of a small planet was built from organic components and named `` Earth '' . The Ultimate Question `` What do you get when you multiply six by nine '' was found by Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in the second book of the series , The Restaurant at the End of the Universe . This appeared first in the radio play and later in the novelization of The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy . The fact that Adams named the episodes of the radio play `` fits '' , the same archaic title for a chapter or section used by Lewis Carroll in `` The Hunting of the Snark '' , suggests that Adams was influenced by Carroll 's fascination with and frequent use of the number . The fourth book in the series , the novel So Long , and Thanks for All the Fish , contains 42 chapters . According to the novel Mostly Harmless , 42 is the street address of Stavromula Beta . In 1994 Adams created the 42 Puzzle , a game based on the number 42 . </P>
<P> The number 42 is , in The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams , the `` Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life , the Universe , and Everything '' , calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years . Unfortunately , no one knows what the question is . Thus , to calculate the Ultimate Question , a special computer the size of a small planet was built from organic components and named `` Earth '' . The Ultimate Question `` What do you get when you multiply six by nine '' was found by Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in the second book of the series , The Restaurant at the End of the Universe . This appeared first in the radio play and later in the novelization of The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy . The fact that Adams named the episodes of the radio play `` fits '' , the same archaic title for a chapter or section used by Lewis Carroll in `` The Hunting of the Snark '' , suggests that Adams was influenced by Carroll 's fascination with and frequent use of the number . The fourth book in the series , the novel So Long , and Thanks for All the Fish , contains 42 chapters . According to the novel Mostly Harmless , 42 is the street address of Stavromula Beta . In 1994 Adams created the 42 Puzzle , a game based on the number 42 . </P>
what us the answer to life the universe and everything
what us the answer to life the universe and everything
The number 42
The number 42