Bill Bryson puts his writing skills to science this time, written from the layman's point of view. The book covers a wide range of scientific topics, from the Big Bang to genetics, in an organized and informative manner. Bryson injects humor and historical context into complex subjects, making it an entertaining and educational read about the history of science and our understanding of the universe.
The book serves as a fantastic review of scientific milestones, blending well-known and lesser-known facts with humor and poignant reflections on humanity's impact on the planet. It presents a comprehensive overview of natural sciences, leaving readers in awe of the wonders of the universe and emphasizing the importance of scientific knowledge and responsibility.
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From The Publisher:
In A Short History of Nearly Everything, the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body, confronts his greatest challenge yet: to understand-and, if possible, answer-the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as his 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. The result 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.
Ratings (70)
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Liked It (15) | |
It Was OK (4) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (151):
Read It (74) | |
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5 comment(s)
Didn't finish. Supposed to be a well written "Science for Dummies".
Fast-paced, great storytelling, genuinely fun facts I didn't know, well researched, light-hearted, page turner, humorous style, great breadth, facts and stories have great segues and weave together which makes you want to "find out what's in the next chapter" instead of get bored leafing through standalone popular facts
Fantastic review of all things scientific, basically covering what scientists know about our world and Universe for the non-scientist reader.
This book to forever to get through. Do not take it on lightly. That being said I did learn a few new things about the planet 🌏
This is probably Bryson's most popular and best known book, although in my opinion not his best. I have read four of his books this year and I definitely like [b:In a Sunburned Country|24|In a Sunburned Country|Bill Bryson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388176242l/24._SY75_.jpg|2611786] the most. Probably because its subject is the most interesting for me.
And here probably begins my basic problem with this book and the reason why it was hard for me to read it. I'm totally not interested in astronomy, astrophysics and geophysics. But of course, it's not the book or its author's fault, and I knew more or less what this book was about from the beginning. Despite this, I have stuck quite many times in the first chapters about the formation of the Earth and only one of the reading challenges forced me to finish it. Fortunately, the later chapters are more interesting to me.
Still, I feel like this book is not as brilliant as some other Bryson books. Of course, as in others, there are a lot of interesting facts here, but the whole book is generally not written in this light, humorous tone that I know from other Bryson's works. A pity, because maybe then it would be easier for me to read it. That's why, and not because I didn't like the subject, I think it's not the best of Bryson's books.
Bryson usually can draw my attention to the topics that I'm not interested in at all. But somehow not this time. There are large fragments here that I just ran through, waiting for something more interesting. And sometimes I had to wait a long time. Of course, there are also fragments that I read with real amazement and which I liked very much. But it seems to me as if there were less of them than in the other books of this author.
I absolutely do not regret reading this book, which more than about the history of almost everything, is about the history of research on the Earth, its origin and life in general and in detail. And that's very good, because this aspect - the history of conducting research - is the most interesting in my opinion.
In general, I recommend this book to all who are interested in this topic. And to those who would like to broaden their knowledge in a rather humorous way.
What can you read after
A Short History of Nearly Everything?
About the Author:
BILL BRYSON's bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and A Short History of Nearly Everything (which won the Aventis Prize in Britain and the Descartes Prize, the European Union's highest literary award). He was…
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