| A Short History of Nearly Everything |  | Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Broadway
Category: eBooks
In Stock
Rating:  817 reviews
Sales Rank: 542
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1
Pages: 560
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 500
Publication Date: May 6, 2003
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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 Life and 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.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 817
 Remarkable Book September 1, 2010
Robert Spillman (Massachusetts, USA)
This book is a wonderful romp through all areas of science, peppered with Bill Bryson's dry humor approach. I used this book in a class I called "Evolution of Science" in which I was able to teach the "Big Ideas" of science in all disciplines. Bryson does a great job of breaking down these ideas into stories that involve the individuals that brought these ideas forward. This personal approach made the ideas "come to life" as students learn a lot more about how science works and of the type of person that can often be involved in the biggest ideas. One reviewer noted that this was a drawback to the book - that too much time was spent on this aspect. But it makes the stories interesting and also makes one realize the brave audacity one must have to bring forward what appear to be "crazy ideas." Imagine the reception recieved by the individual who first proposed that the continents are floating. The same is true for Darwin, Newton, and many others.
From a teaching perspective, this approach breathes life into these ideas and illustrates why the "scientific process" became important and why a good scientists always questions the norm. I very much enjoyed the book, but will admit that it is the CD audiobook that got me through.
The science bible for the layperson August 31, 2010
W. Capodanno (Bellevue, WA)
This book far exceeded any expectations that I had and I was a little disappointed by the time I reached the end. While science certainly fascinates me, I often get frustrated at my failure to grasp much beyond basic concepts given the complexity of the topic and the failure of most scientists to make such complex topics accessible. As a result, I'm usually intimidated by many science books because they go deep very quickly and assume a far greater depth of scientific knowledge than most people have --- my education was primarily in the humanities with a smattering of lower level science courses.
Bryson strikes the right balance of breadth and depth, explaining sophisiticated concepts in digestible fashion, while also providing relevant context. This context may not appeal to a scientist, but certainly is quite valuable to a lay reader. Bryson adeptly uses these contextual elements to perfection and brings fun and interesting historical information without detracting from the book's broader goal.
I'd certainly recommend this book the curious person who may be easily intimidated by complex science. I've read Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" and mostly felt like I was going through the motions without a deep understanding of the subject matter. While Bryson's book certainly make me an expert, I was totally engaged and felt far smarter about a range of science concepts than before I picked up this book.
 Nearly everything is missing August 28, 2010
Eric Robert Morse
When I picked up this book, I thought the "everything" in "nearly everything" was everything. In the introduction, the author makes it seem that way too. He fails to mention (anywhere in the book) that his perception of "everything" is just the natural sciences. It is a fun, engaging, acceptably thorough survey of the way mankind first discovered and now views the natural sciences, and for that, it is worth notice. But to say that it is a take on everything is not only wrong, but arrogant and blind. Granted, the author probably didn't create the title, and it was probably a gimmicky phrase thought to fall in line with Stephen Hawking's catchy titles, it is a fair representation of the author's perspective, which resonates throughout the text.
The biggest part of "everything" is man's culture and it is not even regarded except in the findings of science. And even then, it is severely deficient. When it looks at Relativity or Evolution, for example, it passes up the opportunity for really exploring the theories so that the author can spend more time on the scientist's lives and events surrounding the actual science. I guess that's why it's a history and not a science book, but getting just a taste is painful for those seeking more than just cocktail party anecdotes. The book doesn't even touch on all of the sciences--most notably lacking a survey of psychology. Neuroscience is perhaps at the forefront of "everything" and it isn't even hinted at here.
Instead, Bryson broadcasts, in the officious, repetitive, and sarcastic way so many outside of science do, that man and his culture are insignificant, lucky and dangerous. Amnesia strikes the author several times as he asserts how innovative and creative we have been by examining a few of the great natural philosophers and then abruptly claims how harmful and puny we are. He will claim how vast the earth is and how easily it (or an asteroid) could destroy the insignificant mankind and then notes how we are destroying the earth and are a likely candidate for the most destructive thing in the universe.
Bryson sees man's product as shameful and the rest of the universe as brilliant and awesome. The truth of the latter should not necessitate the former.
Great, great read... not a quotable reference work but a hugely enjoyable discourse nevertheless August 21, 2010
C. J. Thompson (Pond Inlet, Nunavut Canada)
One evening, not too many years ago, I found myself in a remote arctic community, sharing accommodations with a colleague which were singularly uncomfortable. There was no food provided,precious little furniture,and there were there no compensating diversions, such as a television or internet connection. Worst of all,in my estimation of the entire experience,the bedding consisted of nothing but a bare mattress without sheets, blankets or pillows. A pretty uncomfortable night in all respects!
Readers can probably imagine my discomfort to some degree, but I imagine most will be surprised to see me pin part of the blame for that awful night on Bill Bryson. As it happened, my colleague in misery that night had just finished Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' and he lent it to me to keep me occupied (and from keeping him awake, I suspect). A lesser work might have lulled me to sleep eventually (and I especially needed a soporific), but instead I was was enthralled by Mr Bryson's compelling history of science to the degree that I spent the rest of the night finishing it from cover to cover.
Subsequent to my first reading of the book, I was made aware of some serious criticisms of Bryson's research and writing - most notably of his linguistic study in The Mother Tongue, which I have favorably reviewed - but none of these have caused me to revise my opinion of his works. All Bryson's books are relatively short looks at various subjects and I don't feel he pretentiously claims any of them to be scholarly works... This book entertained me in a way few books do and I am now alive to the need that I probably ought to check facts he cites against other, generally less readable works.
If you are demanding a cite-able authority on scientific issues, consult an appropriate scholar. If you wish to be entertained by a broad, infromative overview of a *huge* subject then read this book
C John Thompson
Unexpected Delight August 19, 2010
John R. Aker (Charlottesville, VA)
Having read most of Bryson's earlier books, some good, some very good and some just so so, I was bowled over by this "history". After reading the first couple of chapters, I was sure he would run out of steam and wouldn't be able to keep the quality of his exposition. But he kept pounding out those elegant paragraphs loaded with scientific facts right up to the end! What a bravo performance!
This is a reader-friendly book that makes you want to find the author and thank him. It's a scholarly work that reads like a novel and just may be the best popular science writing of the generation. But a caution: most of it is a little too deep for kids; I wouldn't advise it for anyone younger than 16 or 17 except for the exceptional few.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 817
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