To grasp how different a million is from a billion, think about it like this: A million seconds is a little under two weeks; a billion seconds is about thirty-two years. The first is the length of a vacation; the second is a significant fraction of a lifetime. The lesson here is that we need to use powers of ten with care. They are dangerously strong compressors, capable of shrinking enormous numbers down to sizes we can fathom more easily.
