A Short History of Nearly Everything
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4.6 • 78 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As the title suggests, bestselling author Bryson (In a Sunburned Country) sets out to put his irrepressible stamp on all things under the sun. As he states at the outset, this is a book about life, the universe and everything, from the Big Bang to the ascendancy of Homo sapiens. "This is a book about how it happened," the author writes. "In particular how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." What follows is a brick of a volume summarizing moments both great and curious in the history of science, covering already well-trod territory in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics and so on. Bryson relies on some of the best material in the history of science to have come out in recent years. This is great for Bryson fans, who can encounter this material in its barest essence with the bonus of having it served up in Bryson's distinctive voice. But readers in the field will already have studied this information more in-depth in the originals and may find themselves questioning the point of a breakneck tour of the sciences that contributes nothing novel. Nevertheless, to read Bryson is to travel with a memoirist gifted with wry observation and keen insight that shed new light on things we mistake for commonplace. To accompany the author as he travels with the likes of Charles Darwin on the Beagle, Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton is a trip worth taking for most readers. First printing 110,000; 11-city author tour. (On sale May 6)
Customer Reviews
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Absolutely incredible! These two words sum up this book, its dutifully researched descriptions of what we know and don't know about Earth and outer space and everything in between. I am not sure how Bryson possibly had time to learn about seemingly every possible facet of our current and past existence, but he has presented it in such a spectacular and interesting way, I am in awe of him, as a writer. Upon presenting this exceptional deluge of thoughts, research and facts, though, it becomes apparent that for all we DO know about geology, history, space and science, there is a plethora of things we DON'T know...but hey, that is what makes life interesting! Definitely one of the best, and best researched books I have ever read, hands down!
Best science book
One of the best science book I have ever read. Very accessible and well written! Everyone should read this to get at least a minimum knowledge in science!
Fantastic Read
Not only is this book informative over a wide variety of topics, it is also written incredibly well and is wildly entertaining. It remains accessible despite the content. Highly recommended.