`` but i know this and it , s what all people know now , that every particle of life explodes from mutation , from the accidental combining of elements on every level , that accident is the indispensable nuclear power of the universe , that nothing advances without it , without a reckless and random blundering , whether it is seeds ripped from a dying flower by the wind , or pollen carried on the tiny feet of winged insects or blind fish tunneling into caverns of the deep to consume life forms undreamt of by those on the surface of the planet above .