The Nursery Machine Page 17 [updated]

That is the secret of page 17. It’s the permission slip to abandon perfection. The nursery machine is great for sterilizing bottles and tracking temperature. But it will never, ever measure the weight of a tiny hand wrapped around your thumb at 2:17 AM.

It’s a haunting passage, but nothing revolutionary. So why the frenzy? the nursery machine page 17

Because in the original 1978 manuscript (and the first 500 copies printed by Tempus Press in London), did not contain that text. That is the secret of page 17

Outside, the children sat at the "automated table" in the dining room, calmly sipping their tea while the house's machinery hummed. When the psychologist, David McClean, arrived a few minutes later, the nursery was once again a peaceful jungle glade. "Where are your father and mother?" McClean asked. But it will never, ever measure the weight

Arthur opened the book to the seventeenth page. There, in the center of the page, was a beautiful illustration of a young boy sitting in a plush armchair, listening intently to a mechanical nanny. The boy’s eyes were filled with wonder, and a smile played on his lips.