A Short History of Nearly Everything

Rating:
Summary: A close second to Stephen Hawking but still excellent.
Review: For readers or listeners of Stephen W. Hawking's books this one will contain nothing new. Further, it seemed to largely repeat almost every point that Hawking made, but with, perhaps, a smoother tone.

Don't take this as a slap at Bill Bryson. Indeed, I am a fan. I merely wish to warn readers of the duplication so as to prevent deflation and disappointment.

Finally, those geeks among us with a weak science education now have a choice of legible scientific writing - Hawking or Bryson. It's great to be able to learn about how we came into being without first gaining a Phd in zoology, astronomy, geology and all those other ologies!

Now, can somebody please simplify political science and international relations so Condoleeza Rice and George Bush can get on the same page and bring about peace throughout the world without irritating the leaders of France and Germany and without getting too chummy with some latter-day Italian neo-Mussolini?

Where is a writer like T. E. Lawrence when we need him?

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating yet too Expansive
Review: Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" is a fascinating read. Bryson tackles various scientific topics like the atom, tectonic plates, evolution, and bacteria. Bryson writes well and some of the facts he provides are wonderful to think about.

The book's strength and weakness is that Bryson discusses so many topics. At times it seems like there is little connection between one chapter and the next. He would have done well to expand on a few related topics such as life on the microscopic level (atoms, bacteria, etc.) rather than seek to discuss "nearly everything."

Rating:
Summary: Best Scientific companion for laymen
Review: This is probably the best book I ever read on scientific history. Wish Bill wrote this book long time ago. It's amazing even to imagine how much research must have gone into writing this book. It clarifies so many un-answered questions I had since high school days ...

Thank you Bill ....

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and informative
Review: For someone who reads books by scientists and writers like Roger Penrose, Simon Winchester, and Paul Davies, this might be too basic for you, but if you're not a science stud and are looking for a good introduction, this book may be for you. Bryson has written a very entertaining, easy to understand, and informative book on many important topics in modern science, ranging from cosmology to biology to geology and others.

I won't try to go into any of the details of these subjects, since that would take too much time, but I would like to give you something of the flavor of Bryson's writing. One thing that was fun about the book is he often includes amusing and even scandalous stories and facts about the personal lives of these scientists. He refers to Edwin Hubble, the discoverer of the expanding universe, as a "large mass of ego" (which he was). After Hubble died, his wife refused to hold a funeral for him and his body was never seen after that.

Just before Hubble's discovery, Bryson mentions that an astronomer "...with the cheerily intergalactic name of Vesto Slipher," (who was actually from the Midwest) discovered the red shift of galaxies. An important amateur anatomist and paleontologist by the name of Richard Owen once claimed in a book that he was the professor of biology at the Government School of Mines. In reading the book, this came as a surprise to the famous biologist, Thomas Henry Huxley ("Darwin's bulldog"), since he was the one actually occupying the position.

Overall, a very well done, well written, entertaining, and even funny book about many of the most important subjects in modern science.

Rating:
Summary: Great Reading!!!
Review: This book is for everyone who lies awake every night wondering why scientists think they know what they know. Bill Bryson has thoroughly researched just about every aspect of natural science and simplified the explanations enough to be able to understand them with or without previous scientific background. Who would have thought that Yellowstone National Park may blow up any second now or that bacteria is quickly becoming immune to penecillin? This book explains why and how we know this, and many other things since the beginning of time itself.

Rating:
Summary: Just for Me
Review: I think a lot of people have a great deal of appreciation and respect for the sciences, but like most of us, it IS easy to get lost in those old textbooks that read like a dry explanation of paint drying.

It's comforting to find that the author himself has been and still is perplexed and awestruck by the questions from the scientific world. From microorganisms to the double helix and E=mc2 to geology, Bryson makes sense of it all, well, at least most of it. (Granted, fungus, I thought, weren't all that great [granted, still isn't ;)] and continues to be a bit confusing; however, Bryson makes it fun and not too complicated.) He really knows how to break concepts of physics to a level that an average high school student can understand and GASP! enjoy. You must be thinking that something is quite wrong here. I know that's what I thought the first time I read it.

Bryson delves into the science itself but gives a rich history and account of man's discoveries. He gives some great facts and ironic stories of discovery whilst juxtaposing honest candor throughout the whole book. It's a huge thick book and can be quite daunting. But, it's something that I'll read over and over again. It's a great reference piece that I know I'll use. There are names you've heard and stories you'll be familiar with and many anecdotes that make you chuckle but also makes you cringe regarding humanity's great follies and parochial tunnel vision.

At the end of book, there is a list of all his sources as well as pretty good index of the major topics he discussed. Mind you, it's not very comprehensive and you may find yourself leafing the whole section of one chapter to find the name or reference that's NOT in the index. It does get a bit vexing; but, it's well worth it. Just read it again; in fact, you'll appreciate it better and remember things too.

Rating:
Summary: Good reading,, but...
Review: Bill Bryson is an excellent writer, no question. He's at once friend and informative, chummy without being condescending. The problem is that Bill Bryson is not a terribly well informed writer.

I read an interview with Bryson in New Scientist not long ago in which he admitted that he really didn't understand a lot of what all these scientists were telling him, and unfortunately that's all too clear in reading this book. As a consequence Bryson gives you a good deal of infomation peppered with some really horrid misunderstandings and errors. I'm reminded in reading "A Short History" of Bryson's book on language, in which he either repeats or invents any number of terribly inaccurate folk etymologies. Also a very readble but terribly inaccurate tome. He's great fun to read on personalities (although the accuracy of some of his characterizations is suspect) and he does have an ear for fascinating trivia, but science takes a back seat to all of this. All too often we get the beginning of an explanation that trails off into a "and anyways it's all very complicated but it's it just fascinating" sort of gee-whiz summary. One suspect that we've just reached the point where Bryson has either lost the thread of understanding or perhaps just decided that he doesn't care to understand something any further.

As enjoyable as Bryson can be to read, I only wish he'd had his manuscript vetted by editors with a solid science background, or better yet, collaboraated with a scientist on the writing. As it is, I can't really recommend this book. The reader interested in how science has shaped the world would do far better to read James Burke's justly well-regarded "Connections".

Rating:
Summary: Where was Mr. Bryson when I went to high school?
Review: I sure wish Bill Bryson could have been one of my high school teachers.
When I was in high school, most of my science classes were tedious, tiresome and terribly unexciting. If I could have been a pupil in Mr. Bryson's class, my glazed stare and overwhelming feeling of confusion, would have been replaced by a wide-eyed hunger for knowledge. This book gave an overall view of almost every ology out there.
In this comprehensive look at the failures and successes of science to date, the author has colorfully illustrated the events and people that have contributed to our understanding of the world.

Rating:
Summary: A Must read for everyone
Review: This has to be the best book that I have read in the past 10 years and the best science book ever. It should be required reading for every incoming college freshman. I couldn't put it down and had to continually share it's insights with my family and friends. I hope that there is a second book of it's kind somewhere in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible! Entertaining and educational.
Review: I listened to the abridged audio book in my car, and it got to the point where I was looking forward to my morning and evening commutes, actually hoping for traffic! Bill Bryson is a great writer who has the perfect ear for the stories and facts that his readers need. This book covers everything from the origins of the universe to the invention of chloroflurocarbons and onset of global warming. But it's the details and the stories BEHIND the discoveries that makes this book so interesting. I loved every sentence.