I live in Birmingham, England's second largest city after London (though that's a close run thing with Manchester, and the size difference with London is big).
Birmingham was pretty small and insignificant, until about 240 years ago, when it exploded to life as the heart of the Industrial Revolution. It's now a post-industrial city, still in the process of reinventing itself as a more mixed economy.
And for those of you from other countries, it is generally known for having England's most mocked regional accent ;-)
Could there be any greater conceit, than for someone to believe that the universe has to be simple enough for them to be able to understand it ?