A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
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Book Reviews of A Short History of Nearly Everything
Book Review: a short review of A Short History
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is superb. Don't pass it up! A book that can make geology seem fascinating is something special.
In a nutshell, this book does cover quite a bit of everything... well, everything having to do with science that is. Don't expect any history on shopping or hair styles. It's all about science, life, the known and unknown universe, human achievements, human blunders, geology, chemistry, etc.
What makes this book stand apart from others like it is its effort to make the information very understandable... nearly every factoid or thought-provoking concept is explained additionally with some analogy that most people can relate to or picture in another way. This really helps the reader store the info in their head and tie it together into a bigger picture that is clear.
Also interesting is that the book does present a lot of the errs of humanity, especially those that are destroying our planet and the fragile life within it. It's quite comical and quite sad at the same time. This book is a clear reminder and a lesson to us that we can and will destroy ourselves (if the universe doesn't do it first). But, the good news is bacteria will live on anyway and maybe some other, more intelligent higher life forms will arise in another billion years. ;)
Book Review: I don't give five-star reviews but...
Summary: 5 Stars
He's always great, isn't he? I've already moved one of his books (THE MOTHER TONGUE) on up to what I call "the Reference shelf." In other words, the keepers. So let's look at this 687-page tome, shall we?
What he's done here is a mind-boggling amount of research so that he could write a very accessible book about, as the title says, nearly everything. He starts with the atoms you're made of and works from there. I've always had a very sound grasp of science, as any failed sci-fi author should, so sometimes he tells me things I already know. Not always! But the thing is, you have to love how he tells it. You need not feel guilty about sleeping through every science class you ever took in school, because you'll learn more from reading this little gem than you'd have understood and/or remembered from back then. You need not even like science to get into this book. Bryson still feels the wonder, and he makes you feel it too. If you're a self-proclaimed amateur expert like me, you'll still learn something. If you learn from his writing style, that might even be better.
In short, I'd say this is a book that everybody should read. Even the "I hate science because it's so boring" girls, and you know who you are, which is why you'll forgive me for the stereotype.
Book Review: Remarkable Book
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: A fascinating look at "Nearly Everything..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Bill Bryson's investigation into "nearly everything" proves an incredibly welcome introduction to many of science's great theories. Starting with the "Big Bang" and continuing through man's evolutionary track, Bryson spends time explaining the concepts, the experiments and discoveries that led to them, all in language that is easily understood by the laymen. What more could you ask from a book of this type? How about a sense of humor? With Bryson, you'll find humor in abundance, but never to the detriment of the book's basic purpose. This is a practical guide to the scientific concepts our understanding of the world are based on; just in depth enough to fascinate but not confuse. Bryson spent about three years researching and interviewing experts in a variety of fields to compile the information in this book and that effort shows. While I don't presume that all the science is rock-solid and I don't think Bryson does either this book works as a terrific primer to a greater understanding of the universe and its natural course and was definitely appreciated by this reader. Even if it makes people research what they perceive to be mistakes, it will serve as an advancement of knowledge and that is never a bad thing.
Book Review: Great Scientific Stories
Summary: 5 Stars
Now a Ph.D. student myself, I would laugh at the "scientific fairytale" story that was told to me when I was a kid, in which for example, Newton sat under an apple tree and after the enlightening hit by an apple he discovered the gravitational law and then suddenly that scientific knowledge greatly improved everyone's life on the earth because they could calculate how to shoot a rocket to the moon on vocation trip.
The fact, as accurately described in Bill Bryson's book, is that scientific advancement isn't a straight forward path. I wish I had realized that earlier so that I might have, well at least not sitting under a tree so often :)
One accusation that "travel writer writing about science" reflects exactly the kind of prejudice happening again and again in the science history. However if you read Bill Bryson's book, you will find these who "drove or practiced without license" are usually the heroes that bring break through in the certain discipline.
In short, this "short history" book is one of the best guides for traveling in the science-land. I have been in this place for some years, still Bill Bryson amazed me by telling me so many interesting places that I have never been to.