A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
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Book Reviews of A Short History of Nearly Everything
Book Review: Gives You Exactly What the Title Says and More...
Summary: 5 Stars
By the end of this book I had a layman's grasp on quantum physics, a beginner's understanding of how the universe works, and a far deeper appreciation for God. That last one was probably not Bill Bryson's intention. But for Christians, this book is an important book to read.
First of all, it's simple. Almost ridiculously too simple. Second, it's funny. I found myself laughing out loud a number of times. And its not just Bryson's humor about the topics that is so addicting - he tells the stories that you'll never find in science textbooks because...well, they're just too embarrassing. Third, it's encompassing. He really does touch on nearly everything. From the distance of stars to the structure of atoms - from the movement of continents to the movement of clouds with brief stops in the measurement of mountains and the depths of the sea - he seems to touch upon just about every topic of science that you can reasonably wonder about.
Two things that need to be pointed out (especially for Christian readers). First, you need to get past the evolution. Bryson is not presenting his material from a God-perspective. Additionally, because God is not in the picture, it causes Bryson to make some logical leaps that are, quite honestly, sad to see in an otherwise well-documented, honest presentation of what science knows and doesn't know.
But those are all minor points in the overall usefulness of the book. I'd highly recommend it to anyone and for Christians especially to just sit back and be prepared to be awed by your God who created and understands all these things that we are just dabbling in.
For the full review, go to the blog listed in my screen name and click on the Readings category.
Book Review: Fun and Interesting Read...If that's what you're into...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm starting to see why more and more reviews begin with "This is what this book/product ISN'T."
If you're an avid fan of romance novels or scientific journals, you're not going to like this book.
This book ISN'T a science textbook. So, if you're a scientist or a genius in various fields of study like quantum physics, I'm not sure you're going to take a whole lot away from the experience of reading this book.
BUT, if you're someone who has an interest in a timeline of sorts from the inception of life all the way to 10 minutes ago - this is an entertaining, engaging, pleasurable read that provides a lot of information about a lot of things that a lot of people don't know a whole heck of a lot about.
With each scientific discovery, you'll learn a bit about the people who figured something out. At times, it may seem a bit tedious, but usually, the information about the discoverers isn't wasted information.
The book is a chronology of life and human exploration. There's plenty here to inspire you to break out your Google and do a bit more research on something you never knew.
And there's wit amongst the wisdom. Bryson is not the consumate humorist, but he's interesting and witty at times and he comes across very much as sort of a regular guy who has had the experiences of a lifetime and manages to find a great deal of humor in many of them. He's not egotistical, I'm just jealous of what he's gotten to do.
I'm pleased that this man, who clearly bit off more than he could chew when he decided to walk the Appalachian Trail, has managed to bite off something he could actually complete here. It's a pleasant read - a bit long, but worth it.
Book Review: history of science in readable format
Summary: 5 Stars
Just finished SHNE, and found it quite a good read. The title doesn't overstate it by much, at least not in the realm of science. We get to look at astronomy, botany, lots of physics, the history of optics, advancements and lack thereof in medicine, climatology, some geography, paleontology, archeology, biology- just about anything that ends with an ology. It's a bit of a ramble through science, and while it has (to my way of thinking) a clearly secular humanist slant, Bryson is not shy about pointing out that what is known about the universe, from creation to present, is pretty miniscule and subject to interpretation. As one scientist he quoted effectively said, we have a drop of fact and an ocean of conjecture. In fact that is one of the more interesting things about the book- it exposes quite a few things taken as fact that are still quite controversial.
Regardless of the feeling one comes away with that the whole edifice is built on some shifting sand, Bryson has a good knack for ferreting out how we came to our conclusions. One example is the discovery of the structure of DNA, and the early days of the mapping of the human genome. Bryson not only summarizes the science in bite-sized portions, but also takes great pains to draw us in with the dynamics and idiosyncrasies of the principles and their relationships.
I'd of course not recommend it as a theological work, and probably not even as much of a science text, but it certainly achieved its objective of being a fun book of about a wide a taste of the history of science that a layman could hold. And if there are things that pique your interest, there are plenty of footnotes and author/work references to link you to more information.
Book Review: Entertaining and funny introduction to a lot of science fields
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is highly recommendable, probably one of the best science books for lay people I have read and definitely the most funny one (since the author is no scientist, his humor is easy to catch). Mr. Bryson presents an account of a lot of topics, from the big-bang, the truly big numbers of the universe, life on earth (microorganisms that live in extreme conditions for example at very hot temperatures), the great extinctions, the meassuring of key distances of the earth, global warming, particle physics, genetics, fossils, volcanoes, Yellowstone, electromagnetism, darwinism, geology, etc. It is really about nearly everything, written in an entertaining and comprehensible way. The book is full of scientific anecdotes, amazing facts, funny comments and much more.
The only drawback I found in this book is that, although the author made several references to other books in each field of study, he made them in such a way that he discouraged me from reading further about these topics (I don't know why, normally I finish a book and I already want to read something the author suggested). Fortunately I had already read The Seven Daughters of Eve, otherwise I wouldn't have done it, since the author's critic was not very encouraging. After reading the part on particle physics, I decided that this was nothing for me, since although this chapter was interesting, I did not feel like reading more about dozens of particles with strange names. I am glad I also started reading other books about it. So although the book is an excellent introduction to a lot of topics, I didn't feel like diving deeper into anyone.
Book Review: Very Interesting and Entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book and is very entertaining to read. It starts by explaining the beginning of time (big bang), and then goes chronologically from there explaining pretty much every aspect of the history of the universe and the Earth.
Of course to fit this all into 400 pages Bryson has to be very brief, as the title of the book implies. But despite being brief, he never leaves out anything important. The book discusses many different subjects, including astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, and especially the biology of life on Earth. It talks a lot about important people from history and how they have advanced science, and often includes amusing facts about these people. The book also talks about lesser-known, but very important, scientists from history; scientists who are often ignored because other scientists have stolen their credit for discoveries.
A major theme in the book is emphasizing how little we humans actually know about the world and universe, which is totally true. After reading this book you'll be amazed by how many species of animals and plants we know absolutely nothing about and how many are estimated to be discovered in the future; you'll see that we really don't know all that much about the history of the Earth; and that we don't really know much about the rest of the universe. It's also quite interesting to note that Bryson has no formal scientific background. He just researched this stuff very thoroughly and then simplified it so that almost anyone can understand the material.
Overall it's a very good book and it was very hard to put down.