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Summary: Mr. Bryson puts it all in perspective
Review: From atomic structures to heavenly bodies, Bill Bryson runs the gamut of scientific fact and theory, and does so with the layman in mind. To most of us, quantum theory, quarks, and dark matter are as dumbfounding as the end of Pi. But Mr. Bryson show us the whens, wheres and hows of these items without making us feel like complete idiots.The thing that stood out most in my mind while reading this, was the amount of time it took for the scientific community to accept relevant facts about the Earth and sky. Einstein, working as a patent clerk, third class, was refused advancement even after his theories showed up on the scientific radar. He was also shot down when he applied to become a college teacher (NO!) and then denied again as a high school teacher (NO! again). I also found it interesting that scientists continue to be petty, even into the 20th century. When a meteorologist discovered plate tectonics, his theories were ignored because he wasn't a geologist. Amazingly, many of the names that Mr. Bryson spills forth on these pages should be lauded within the text books of our children and college students, but aren't. Mainly because their ideas were stolen away by someone of a more 'appropriate stature.' I liked this book quite a bit, but it didn't grab me as much as Mr. Bryson's travelogues. He's a great writer, but I still love 'A Walk In the Woods' and 'In a Sunburned Country' much more. But bravo on this fine accomplishment, too, Mr. Bryson. Bravo!
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Summary: Short cut to knowledge
Review: Congenial and witty as ever, Bill Bryson takes us on a daytrip through our own brains to all those half-understood, half-remembered nuggets of wisdom various science teachers vainly tried to explain to us years ago. This time, thanks to 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' much of this once dreary stuff is suddenly brought into sharp relief as understanding dawns. From the intricacies of atoms to the permutations of planets, it's all there in this huge tome. Thanks, Bill - and you managed it all without the merest hint of my old science teacher's beaky-nosed unpleasantness.
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Summary: funny, no politics
Review: I liked this book! It is funny and it doesn't want to promote a certain view -- the jokes that it makes are meant to be funny and not to promote an idea! OK, it is not a serious book for scholars but if you want a general overall view of history and a reason for laughs, you should get this. Even if you hated history in school, you will like this. I promise!
Rating: 
Summary: Book Report on Popular Science
Review: For me, this book was very disappointing. Rather than being a well-thought out book on science, it turned out to be a book report on the best-selling science books of the last twenty years. If one looks at the bibliography and the notes at the end, it becomes obvious that Bill Bryson gets most of his information from sources aimed at the general reader. I think one would be much better off reading the books in the bibliography that go into each subject in-depth and are written by specialists rather than getting this summary version. Bryson also seems to have a fixation with all the ways nature can destroy our civilization.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Read
Review: In an age of increasing credulity it is refreshing to find an accesible book regarding science and scientific method. Bill Bryson takes the baton from the late Carl Sagan and Steven J. Gould and does an excellent job making sometimes difficult subject matter not only readable but entertaining. A Short History of Nearly Everything should be required reading for everyone in America!
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Summary: good, period(.)
Review: If you love the sciences, this is a must read. If you hate the sciences, not reading this would be treason to humanity. As complete as a holistic science book gets, and with such a broad spectrum to cover, Bryson writes with enough clarity to impress an english major, and with enough interesting information fascinate and enlighten a geologist. The book was completly impressive except for maybe the last chapter which was seemed to be more agenda-driven than enlightening. But all in all, a must-read. Buy this book for your cousin who does cancer research, or for your bussinessman uncle. Everyone can get into it....everyone should get into it.
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Summary: The history of our times and life
Review: This excellent book takes an in-depth look at not only the history of modern science but how it got there, who did it and why it happened. It takes an incredible look at the complexity of life and is very humbling of our own meager 'successes' when compared to the magnificience of nature and its marvels. It touches nearly every subject of science and presents them as school should present it to its students: how and why are they relevent to us and why should we care? Science is too often squarely objective, cold and unattractive and a main reason seems to be that both kids and adults do not understand just how prevalent science is in our modern technology. It's not worth learning about science if you don't know how to use it, what it can do and what it can't do. This book presents science in a way we can relate and understand in everyday life and still manages to go deep enough in explanations to explain the workings of the complexity that surrounds us from the perspective of someone who uses science, as is the majority of us, as opposed to someone who makes science.
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Summary: Bryson makes science interesting
Review: I bought a bunch of books online, most on a whim, and two stood out from the rest. Make Every Girl Want You and A Short History of Nearly Everything. I learned more from these two books than everything else combined (yes, between the two books, the authors covered everything from the science of women to the history of science). Bryson covers everything, and I do mean everything. I've never been a science buff, but I learned so much from this book that I just refused to read in school. Bryson's biggest asset is his ability to make science interesting. Which is peculiar, because Bryson has a tendency to ramble in his other books, but he keeps things concise (well, as concise as you can in a 600 page book) and interesting in this one. I agree with the other reviewer who said - if only actual textbook writers could write like this!
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Summary: Wonderful Overview of Science and Scientists
Review: I think this book should replace the texts used in most high school science courses. If it did, I think we would see more kids pursuing science careers, because Bryson does a wonderful job of conveying the joy and excitement of doing science as well as a sense of awe that our world evolved as it did. Sure, given a book of this nature, there is plenty people could quibble with. Bryson's writing style is amusing and entertaining, though it doesn't come close to matching "A walk in the woods," (but then again, not much could...). Readers expecting the humor quotient of that book or Bryson's other travel books will be disappointed, however. And although one can tell Bryson struggled valiantly to make the chapter on quantum physics understandable, he didn't succeed (at least for me). For example, he relates a study showing that one atomic particle can affect another atomic particle 70 miles away, simultaneously. I still don't understand how that can happen and wish somebody could explain it to me. But those are minor complaints compared to what this book is able to accomplish, which is to provide a broad, yet admirably detailed, education in the physical and biological sciences. I am overjoyed to see this book on the bestseller lists, because if enough people read it, we can no longer be accused of being the scientific ignoramuses that we largely have been. I think it could also work to serve more effectively as an environmental wake-up call than the wide array of existing polemical books that are read only by the already convinced. Lastly, perhaps the aspect of the book I admired and enjoyed the most is the way Bryson provides the human side of science through his frequent character sketches of the quirks and foibles of the many scientists whose work is reviewed. I may soon forget, once again, all three of Newton's laws of motion, but I will never--for the rest of my life--forget that he once inserted a rod behind his eyeball and stirred it around "just to see what would happen." This book is worth reading just for the anecdotes, and along the way you will learn an incredible amount of science.
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Summary: Take a trip through the past
Review: "A Short History of Everything" by Bill Bryson explains things (in this case, science) in a way that is meaningful to everyone. It takes you on a trip through the history of science. If you take this trip, you'll have a short education on nearly everything. I highly recommend you do so. And, if you enjoy trip's through the past like this, I recommend you also take a trip through history and philosophy with the book intriguingly called "West Point: Character Leadership..." by Remick to round out your short education on everything so wonderfully presented to you to start with by Bill Bryson in his "Short History of Nearly Everything".
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