Crazy that there was a time (that I lived through) where you couldn’t just get an answer to a question like that immediately.
What’s even more wild is that Calvin’s dad, by all measures, is actually a pretty well educated guy!
He remembers just enough of his basic science classes to sort-of answer the question, but because he existed before the modern internet, and Wikipedia specifically, he… sounds foolish now.
Yet, for the time period, the answer he gave probably would have been the best answer I could sum up without resources, as well.
Unless you had your own personal library
With you in a cart or something
Sick burn from Calvin, but I bet this is why every other explanation that Dad gives has him messing with Calvin.
My favourite was why old photos and movie were black and white.
I had to look this up, so for anyone else who is curious… https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/10/29
We need more posts on !explainlikeimcalvin@lemm.ee
Steve Mould can answer that third question: Why white things are white