| The aliens have come to save us from ourselves (which they do by passing environmental laws and sterilizing all humans to prevent overpopulation). One of the aliens, as a pet project, recruits eight young math prodigies to locate the time when culture and nature were in "balance". One of these young mathematicians goes farther and discovers a formula which could theoretically predict which land is "holy".
The story is presented in an unusual format, as if it were a fact based novel written by the one female math prodigy on the team along with comments about the novel from another. In addition to some vague discussion of the equations and a paragraph on how as a little girl she loved numbers, we learn a lot about a loving old couple who knew how to live in harmony with the land and the discomforts of puberty.
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