Bob Reynolds, age 10, of Greenville, S.C., for his question:

IS THERE SUCH A PLACE AS UTOPIA?

Utopia is a name that is commonly given to an imaginary land where everything is supposed to be perfect. The name comes from the Greek words ou and topos, meaning no place. Unfortunately, as far as we know, Utopia doesn't exist.

Utopia is often said to be a spot where society has ideal economic and social conditions. Scholars often apply the adjective "utopian" to plans of reform that they consider to be impractical and visionary.

Utopia was the title of a famous book published by Saint Thomas More in 1516.

More recent utopias were described in Samuel Butler's "Erewhon" in 1872, which almost spells "nowhere" backwards, Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward" in 1888 and H.G. Wells' "A Modern Utopia" in 1905.