A Short History of Nearly Everything
by: Bill Bryson
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Amazon.com Review:
From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short History of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. To accomplish this daunting literary task, Bill Bryson uses hundreds of sources, from popular science books to interviews with luminaries in various fields. His aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space. With his distinctive prose style and wit, Bryson succeeds admirably. Though A Short History clocks in at a daunting 500-plus pages and covers the same material as every science book before it, it reads something like a particularly detailed novel (albeit without a plot). Each longish chapter is devoted to a topic like the age of our planet or how cells work, and these chapters are grouped into larger sections such as "The Size of the Earth" and "Life Itself." Bryson chats with experts like Richard Fortey (author of Lifeand Trilobite) and these interviews are charming. But it's when Bryson dives into some of science's best and most embarrassing fights--Cope vs. Marsh, Conway Morris vs. Gould--that he finds literary gold. --Therese Littleton
Product Description:
One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.
In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
From the Hardcover edition.
From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short History of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. To accomplish this daunting literary task, Bill Bryson uses hundreds of sources, from popular science books to interviews with luminaries in various fields. His aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space. With his distinctive prose style and wit, Bryson succeeds admirably. Though A Short History clocks in at a daunting 500-plus pages and covers the same material as every science book before it, it reads something like a particularly detailed novel (albeit without a plot). Each longish chapter is devoted to a topic like the age of our planet or how cells work, and these chapters are grouped into larger sections such as "The Size of the Earth" and "Life Itself." Bryson chats with experts like Richard Fortey (author of Lifeand Trilobite) and these interviews are charming. But it's when Bryson dives into some of science's best and most embarrassing fights--Cope vs. Marsh, Conway Morris vs. Gould--that he finds literary gold. --Therese Littleton
Product Description:
One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.
In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
From the Hardcover edition.
Alternate Versions:
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Did you ever wanna know a little something about everything?
Well then this book is for you. For once a author comes close to his claim in the title. This book actually does contain a little of everything. From the big bang to the orgins of life and atoms and cells. This book makes it easy for the average reader to put together subjects they may have once thought of as out of there scope of knowledge. I give the author credit for bringing a piece of literature to the average person that explains tough theory. Everyone should have some basic idea about the ... Read More
Rating: - A nice summary of the vast scope of scientific understanding
Covering topics from geology to physics and chemistry, to biology, genetics and paleontology, this book provides a sweeping overview of the state of modern scientific understanding.While it deals with a number of complex and difficult concepts, such as quantum physics and relativity, the material is presented in an extremely approachable manner, which should help even the most science-phobic reader grasp the broad concepts in these areas.
Perhaps the most lasting impression from this ... Read More
Rating: 
- Great seller
Just got the book, have not read it yet, but the seller was great. Can not wait to read the book!
Rating: - Like a village in a mountain landscape.
Bryson's book is comparable to Lee Strobel's "Case for Faith" series.Bryson is not an expert in any of the subjects he covers. He reads up on the issue, then goes and interviews experts.What he brings to the table is a good idea for a book -- a history, not of "nearly everything," but of how some important scientific things were discovered -- and a talent for bundling great stories into a lively and compelling narrative.
If the main knock against Strobel is that he only interviews ... Read More
Rating: - Bringing science down to earth
To me, the sciences are fascinating but elusive. The concepts are marvelous and compelling, but the details are difficult and tedious, especially if your grasp of mathematics is as tenuous as mine. I grew up with a love for what I knew of astronomy and the underlying physics, and an interest in such things as geology, paleontology, and meteorology. These subjects are taught badly, if taught at all, and I never understood them well enough for my curiosity to deepen into understanding.
That's ... Read More
- Did you ever wanna know a little something about everything?Well then this book is for you. For once a author comes close to his claim in the title. This book actually does contain a little of everything. From the big bang to the orgins of life and atoms and cells. This book makes it easy for the average reader to put together subjects they may have once thought of as out of there scope of knowledge. I give the author credit for bringing a piece of literature to the average person that explains tough theory. Everyone should have some basic idea about the ... Read More
- A nice summary of the vast scope of scientific understandingCovering topics from geology to physics and chemistry, to biology, genetics and paleontology, this book provides a sweeping overview of the state of modern scientific understanding.While it deals with a number of complex and difficult concepts, such as quantum physics and relativity, the material is presented in an extremely approachable manner, which should help even the most science-phobic reader grasp the broad concepts in these areas.
Perhaps the most lasting impression from this ... Read More
- Great sellerJust got the book, have not read it yet, but the seller was great. Can not wait to read the book!
- Like a village in a mountain landscape.Bryson's book is comparable to Lee Strobel's "Case for Faith" series.Bryson is not an expert in any of the subjects he covers. He reads up on the issue, then goes and interviews experts.What he brings to the table is a good idea for a book -- a history, not of "nearly everything," but of how some important scientific things were discovered -- and a talent for bundling great stories into a lively and compelling narrative.
If the main knock against Strobel is that he only interviews ... Read More
- Bringing science down to earthTo me, the sciences are fascinating but elusive. The concepts are marvelous and compelling, but the details are difficult and tedious, especially if your grasp of mathematics is as tenuous as mine. I grew up with a love for what I knew of astronomy and the underlying physics, and an interest in such things as geology, paleontology, and meteorology. These subjects are taught badly, if taught at all, and I never understood them well enough for my curiosity to deepen into understanding.
That's ... Read More
