Origin of 42 as the Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything

If you stepped into a hole drilled straight through the Earth from the north pole to the south pole, you would fall all the way from one pole to the other. When you got to the other side, you would start to fall back to where you started. You are always pulled towards the center of the Earth but by less and less as you get closer to it.

Using math and physics, you can calculate how long it would take to fall from one pole to the other. It takes 42.028 minutes—or 42 minutes for short.

This is why Douglas Adams chose 42 as the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything.