Google Celebrates Douglas Adams' Birthday With A Hitchhiker's Guide Doodle

Douglas Adams is best known for penning the popular humorous sci-fi series of novels The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Born March 11 1952, Adams' career includes the Hitchhiker series, as well as some writing for Doctor Who in the late 70s and the Dirk Gently series, which he wrote in the 80s. The author died of a heart attack at the young age of 49 in 2001. Today, Google celebrates his birthday in the form of a clever doodle, which takes us inside a starship...

Clicking the Hitchhiker's Guide tablet, emblazoned with the words "Don't Panic", reveals a series of images which re-create famous entries from the Guide. And if you click on the door on the left, Marvin the Paranoid Android appears. Watch the doodle in action in the video below.

Among the images set in the "Don't Panic" tablet is a computer coming up with the answers to various questions, including the ultimate question (asked simply as "?"). Of course, the answer to that one is "42."

Here's a list of some of the other famous Hitchhiker's Guide entries depicted on the doodle...

Babel Fish - A fish which when inserted into your ear gives you the ability to understand any language. The Guide's entry on the subject says, "Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mindbogglingly useful could evolve purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God."Great Green Arkleseizure - Creator of the universe as claimed by adherents of the faith on planet Viltvodle VI. The Guide says, "The Jatravartid People of Viltvodle Six firmly believe that the entire universe was sneezed out of the nose of a being called The Great Green Arkleseizure. They live in perpetual fear of the time they call The Coming Of The Great White Handkerchief."Earth - The Guide's entry on the subject says only "Mostly harmless."Flying - The Hitchhiker's Guide entry on flying reads thusly, "There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster - The Guide says, "The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is an alcoholic beverage invented by ex-President of the Universe Zaphod Beeblebrox, largely considered to be the best in the Universe. Its effects are similar to having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick."Infinite Improbability Drive - This was originally installed on the spaceship Heart of Gold. It's a method of crossing vast distances in a nothingth of a second. It may also, along the way, turn some of the ship's crewmembers into penguins. Of its development the Guide says, "Many respectable physicists said that they weren't going to stand for this - partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties."Dolphins and Mice - Humans are not the most intelligent beings on our planet. Actually, Earth was built by super-intelligent little white mice. Of Dolphin intelligence the Guide says, "On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons."Towels - A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. The Guide explains, " any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."Vogon Poetry - Depicted in the doodle as mouthy little green guys whose words kill an innocent plant, the Vogons are best known for their horrible poetry. It's the third worst in the universe. The Guide says, "The very worst poetry of all perished along with its creator, Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Sussex, in the destruction of the planet Earth. Vogon poetry is mild by comparison."

While Adams is well known for being a writer, humorist and dramatist, many likely remember him best for his imaginative and humorous Hitchhiker series, which began as a radio show in the late 70's, and later went on to become a series of books, and also, eventually saw a TV series adaptation in the early 80s and a film in 2004. The first book introduces us to Arthur Dent, a human who is saved from Earth just moments before the planet is demolished for a galactic freeway, and the story follows him as he and Ford Prefect travel through space and time together.

Happy 61st birthday, Douglas Adams! So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.