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Summary: Bryson's Scientific Journey
Review: You've gotta hand it to Bill Bryson. Instead of cashing in on his status as the most popular travel writer in the business by merely cranking out one formulaic book a year as he easily could do, he decided to take on a monumental challenge outside of his area of expertise. Though "A Short History of Nearly Everything" does contain some of Bryson's standard lighthearted interviews, the bulk of his book about the world of science comes from what must have been exhausting and occasionally tedious research. The good news is that for the most part he succeeds in his attempt to make science writing palatable for the general reading public.Though Bryson has always been a master at combining the humorous with the serious, this book finds him mostly treading in the latter territory. He comes up with just enough amusing anecdotes to liven up the subject matter, but there are few laugh out loud funny moments as in Bryson classics like "A Walk in the Woods" or "In a Sunburned Country." The trick he does manage to pull is making such topics as geology, biology, astronomy, meteorology and other scientific fields (for the most part) lively and interesting. With each topic, Bryson gives an overall historical overview of how the various theories and research have evolved, giving nods to famous eccentrics like Sir Issac Newton and Charles Darwin and explaining why what they accomplished is so incredible (and valuable). He also gives numerous lesser-known scientific geniuses their proper due. It must be said, however, that at nearly 500 pages of narrative this is not an easy read. Some subjects even Bryson's magical pen just cannot breath much life into. Nevertheless, it is still a fascinating journey. Overall, a challenging triumph from one of the best non-fiction authors working today.
Rating: 
Summary: Important, enlightening and entertaining
Review: It is rare that a non-fiction work, particularly one of science, captures the public imagination. It cetainly deserves all the kudos sent its way. It is reminscent of Dennis Overbye's "Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos" (which the author quotes frequently) in its storytelling power and its ability to gather science and scientist under one roof. Cosmos focuses on cosmology whereas "A Short History" deals with, well, everything. It is not on the same plane as Daniel Boorstin's "The Discoveres" but then each author had a different agenda. The book succeeds on three levels. Organization of material is truly brilliant. Leaping from such diverse subjects as techtonic plates to stars to quarks to evolution is difficult and can bog down into a boring recitation of facts. This is prevented by the introduction of the second outstanding feature: Biographies and histories. We read about the famous, the infamous and the not-so-famous. We learn the history behind a current theory and excellent, layman-level explanations. The third feature is a rare one in a non-fiction work - humor. The language is quirky, almost idiomatic. It is always immensely simulating and pleasurable. The sheer mass of facts could fill a college lecture series for ten semesters. There is an audacity in the challenge the author undertakes that one can only admire. It is difficult to find a single fault with the book with the possible exception of a lack of drawings or pictures. Still, the descriptions are so rich and imaginative that perhaps a picture would be redundant. A troubling thought occurred while reading that most Americans would not grasp 1/100 of the ideas discussed in this work nor would they care to try and learn. Therefore, we can only hope that Bryson continues the task of both educating and entertaining us.
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Summary: Perhaps the Best Armchair Scientist Book I've Ever Read
Review: I picked this one up expecting "good". Instead, I got one of the most delightful reading experiences in science that I have ever had. What a wonderful surprise. Bryson tries to do what most school textbooks never manage to do, explain the context of science in a way that is relevant to the average person. At the beginning of the book, he recalls an event from his childhood when he looked at a school text and saw a cross-section of our planet. He was transfixed by it, but noticed that the book just dryly presented the facts ("This is the core." "This part is molten rock." "This is the crust.", etc.), but never really explained HOW science came to know this particular set of facts. That, he quite correctly points out, is the most interesting part. And that is story he sets out to tell in this book. Bryson obviously spent a great deal of time and effort developing and checking his facts and presentation. He obviously enjoyed every minute of it too, and it shows. Never have I read a book where the author conveyed such joyful awe of what we have learned as a species (with the possible exception of some of Richard Feynman's books). My benchmark for this kind of book is usually; How well does it explain modern physics? There are few books out there that manage to explain relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory in a way that doesn't make your eyes glaze over. The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav is the best of the lot in my opinion. While this book did not change my opinion, Bryson's explanations of these mind-bending theories are not only lucid and sensible, they are also full of his telltale tongue-in-cheek side comments and therefore are just plain fun to read. However, Bryson goes way beyond Zukav, focusing not only on physics, but on the full panoply of scientific disciplines. He also focuses more on the discoverers themselves, and the process of discovery. One of the things I like about this book is that Bryson again and again makes sure credit is given where credit it due. For many discoveries, he tells us the "official" story, but also tells us the often untold story of the small-time scientist who got the idea first but, for whatever reason, never got credit. This happens a great deal in science, and Bryson appears to be on a quest to set the record straight when he can. The result is not only charming storytelling, it's got a certain justice that just feels good. I didn't have huge expectations for this book, but I am delighted to report that it is one of the best of its kind. Hurrah to Bryson for writing it, and hurrah to me for stumbling on it.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Tour Guide
Review: Bill Bryson is a wonderful writer whether leading the reader through his own travels (In a Sunburned Country) or through the dense thicket where language and history meet (the superb Made in America). It is still a surprise, though, that he is also just as good at leading a science novice through a history of science that ranges swiftly from astronomy to physics to chemistry to geology to biology with incredible leaps and not a few bounds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is almost everything the title proposes (it can be argued that at almost five hundred pages it may not qualify as short). That the author makes the book entertaining, sometimes gripping and sometime funny, is understandable given his skill as a writer demonstrated previously, but that he can make the science relatively understandable to me is a beautiful revelation. No one wields an anecdote with such skill as the author. One of the better all-round science books for the general audience that I have encountered that will lead me to more specific topics of interest. This book was a great pleasure.
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Summary: Must read for Bryson fans
Review: I am a 13 year old kid and allready a huge Bryson fan. I've only red four of his books but this is my favorite. The is so much information that you can't get anywhere else in one place. In one word: astounding.
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Summary: WHAT SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS SHOULD BE LIKE
Review: In many ways, this *is* yet another trademark Bryson travelogue afterall, just that instead of charting the backwaters of sunburnt Australia or a walk in the African woods, we traverse through a stream of timeless questions that our scientific pursuits have sought to answer. Surely a daunting task, indeed the title of the book reeks a bit of hubris, but with a combination of his pat sardonic wit and three years worth of gruelling research ("devoted to reading, researching and finding saintly, patient experts prepared to answer a lot of outstandingly dumb questions") Bryson IMHO pulls it off with flying colours. He picks up subjects as arcane as paleontology, quantum mechanics, geology, chemisty, astronomy, particle physics etc and renders them comprehensible to an average Joe bored stiff of the garden-variety science texts in school. The idea is not simply to discover WHAT we know, but to find out HOW we know it. How do we know what is in the center of the earth, thousands of miles beneath the surface? How can we know the extent and the composition of the universe, or what a black hole is? How can we know where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out? Even if Bryson's verbal capers were left out, the theme itself is enough to get me listening. But the way it is written, the sheer scope of what it covers, and the contagious honesty with which it looks at the universe it unfolds -- this is yet another priceless
offering from Bryson. Whether you are looking for a quick conduit to Intelligence in 24 Hours, or an entertaining colloquial peep into the otherwise close-chested world of high science, this is an invaluable gem for your stash! Highly recommended.
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Summary: Bryson is....
Review: brilliant, simply brilliant. He hit his stride with "In a Sunburned Country" and now he's hit one out of the park. Listen to the audio book for even more wonder...
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Summary: Concise, enlightening, enjoyable survey!
Review: A wonderful survey of some of the most fundamental fields of scientific knowledge. This book is for most of us who want to have a decent general grasp and overview of such things as Einstein's theory of relativity, particle physics, geology, cosmology, biology, and sundry other basic science topics. Written in the clear, friendly, and amazingly lucid style of Bill Bryson, the book is a real "keeper".
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Summary: The science lesson you've always wanted
Review: A wonderfully written little trip from the beginning of... well, everything right through to the ascendancy of humans. Bryson's mastery of language and his ability to turn a phrase are put to good use in taking a look at the theories and science behind astrophysics, geology, archeology, paleontology, and several other "ologies" as well. The best part is that Bryson manages to cover all this without being boring or overly breezey. Almost everyone will find some part of this book interesting. Even if you weren't a straight A student in science class back in high school or college, the bits of science you do know are probably woven into the grander tapestry of science and time in a way you'll appreciate.
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Summary: All that stuff we were supposed to have learned, but ...
Review: I am a big fan of Bill Bryson's travelogues. I was therefore surprised when I cam across this, somewhat more weighty, tome. But I am pleased that I picked it up. The author says he didn't do very well in science when he was in school because the teachers and texts seemed to be hiding all the good stuff. Now, as an adult, he's gone after the good stuff. And he's the guy to write it so the rest of us can understand. Not only does he write clearly, but he's very good at explaining as much as a normal person can understand (of relativity, for example), while pointing to the stuff that's weird, and setting aside the stuff that you have to be a specialist to understand. He also is very good at giving credit to people who thought of things but were ignored until someone else came along and took credit. This has happened all too frequently, and it's good for the record to be set straight. If you too were afraid of science, this is a wonderful book. If you already know a lot of this but just like to read enjoyable writing--it's also a wonderful book.
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