Anatomy of a babel fish as explained in the BBC TV series.

The Babel fish is a fictional species of fish in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. A diagram explaining the anatomy of a Babel Fish from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (TV series) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... A diagram explaining the anatomy of a Babel Fish from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (TV series) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... Opening titles from the TV series, designed by Doug Burd The televised adaptation of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, broadcast in January and February of 1981 on BBC Two, became the fifth version. ... The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus: the most abundant species of fish in the world. ... The cover of the first novel in the Hitchhikers series, from a late 1990s printing. ... Douglas Noël Adams in an undated publicity photograph by Jill Furmanovsky. ...

A Babel fish is a highly improbable biological universal translator. It appears as a "small, yellow and leechlike" fish. When a Babel fish is inserted into the ear canal it allows the wearer to "instantly understand anything said... in any form of language." This was both a useful plot device for Adams, who wrote on the subject that he always found the ability of all aliens to speak English very strange; and also the starting point for a joke about the existence of God. Biology is the branch of science dealing with the study of life. ... The universal translator is a fictional device common to many science fiction works. ... Orders Arhynchobdellidaor Rhynchobdellida There is some dispute as to whether Hirudinea should be a class itself, or a subclass of the Clitellata. ... An ear is an organ used by an animal to detect sound waves. ... A plot device is a person or an object introduced to a story to affect or advance the plot. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel) This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ...

According to the Hitchhiker's Guide, the Babel fish was put forth as a fideist example for the non-existence of God: In Christian theology, several belief systems that hold, for various reasons, that reason is irrelevant to religious faith have been labelled as fideism. ...

"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that You exist, and so therefore, by Your own arguments, You don't. Q.E.D."

"Oh dear," says God, "Oh dear, I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

The fish feeds on mental energy created while composing a sentence, and apparently excretes mental energy in a form that can be understood by others. It was revealed in the Quintessential Phase that it also, like dolphins, has the power to effectively teleport itself and its host (in a plural zone) out of fatal danger. The scientific method or process is fundamental to the scientific investigation and acquisition of new knowledge based upon physical evidence. ... The word faith has various uses; its central meaning is similar to belief, trust or confidence, but unlike these terms, faith tends to imply a transpersonal rather than interpersonal relationship – with God or a higher power. ... A speculative phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. ... Q.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum (literally, which was to be demonstrated). This is a translation of the Greek (hóper édei deĩxai) which was used by many early mathematicians including Euclid and Archimedes. ... Logic, from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of criteria for the evaluation of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy among philosophers. ... A zebra crossing in Sydney, Australia A zebra crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing used in the UK, Australia, USA and Europe, and increasingly around the world. ... The terms Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase describe the radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless recorded in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4. ... This article is about the dolphin mammal. ...

The fish's name refers to the Tower of Babel, a Biblical story, which describes events in Abrahamic theology which led to God confusing the languages of Man in order to prevent the Tower's construction, among other things. The Confusion of Tongues by Gustave Doré According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. ... The Bible (From Greek βιβλια—biblia, meaning books, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus) is the sacred scripture of Christianity. ... An Abrahamic religion (also referred to as desert monotheism) is any religion derived from an ancient Semitic tradition attributed to Abraham, a great patriarch described in the Torah, the Bible and the Quran. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel) This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ...

"Babel" is composed of two words from the Assyrian or Babylonian language, bab = "gate" and el = "God", hence, "the gate of God". The Bible states a guess-etymology from Hebrew bilbul = "confusion" or bilbel = "confused". Assyrian may refer to: List of Assyrian settlements Anything from Assyria, an ancient empire in Mesopotamia Anything from Assyria (Roman province), a province of the Roman Empire Assyrian people, a present-day Middle Eastern ethnic group Several Christian denominations: Assyrian Church of the East Assyrian Church of the Easts... Babylonia was an ancient state in Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 7 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ...

	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams
Books:	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | The Restaurant at the End of the Universe | Life, the Universe and Everything | So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish | Mostly Harmless | Young Zaphod Plays it Safe | The Original Radio Scripts
Media:	Radio series (Parts 1 & 2, Parts 3, 4 & 5) | TV series | Movie | Computer game
Characters:	Arthur Dent | Ford Prefect | Zaphod Beeblebrox | Marvin | Trillian | Minor characters
Miscellanea:	Races | Places | The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything | Babel fish | Bistromathic drive | Cultural references | Heart of Gold | Infinidim Enterprises | Infinite Improbability Drive | International Phenomenon | Notable phrases | Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster | Point-of-view gun | Somebody Else's Problem field | Sirius Cybernetics Corporation | Starship Titanic | Total Perspective Vortex | Vogon poetry | Wikkit Gate | Other miscellanea