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A Short History of Nearly Everything

A Short History of Nearly Everything

List Price: $27.50
Your Price: $18.15
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Highly entertaining and informative, this is a quick read!
Review: Okay, so maybe it is not a history of 'everything,' but it certainly gives you an informative and amusing rundown on the likes of astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, evolution, biology and a few other areas of science that usually go unexplored by the layman. In fact, a much more fitting title for the book would have been 'a short rundown on modern science' because the book is really an attempt to make all of those subjects you hated in high school seem fun and cool.

As usual, Bryson pulls it off! I am a big Bryson fan, but this is mainly because my loves are language, traveling and contemporary society, Bryson's main topics in every book. (Bryson always gives you that feeling that he's the kind of guy you would like to meet up with for conversation at a coffee house and chat for hours about anything.) Alas, when I saw that he was going off in another direction, I admit that I was a bit concerned about whether I would enjoy this foray into science or history, or whatever the book was supposed to be about, and I was definitely not left disappointed. I must admit that some sections were more interesting than others, but I think that this is natural in a book that covers so many topics. Some will obviously find the sections on the evolution of man or the size of the universe more fascinating than passages about subatomic particles, while for others it will be just the opposite, since we all have different levels of tolerance for and interest in different subjects. But they couldn't be discussed in a more enjoyable fashion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The biggest fault of this book is that it eventually ends..
Review: A witty, erudite and totally fascinating romp through science and the (sometimes) eccentric personalities of the scientists and thinkers whose breakthroughs and/or missteps provided the foundation of most scientific thought today. This is a book that I absolutely could not put down and I was sorry to see it end. Bryson has the most wonderful talent to educate and entertain simultaneously.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny, humbling and scary
Review: A Short History of Nearly Everything starts out as though it is going to be a (relative) primer in all matters of science, from physics to geology and biology. The book performs this function admirably, with enough humor to get a layperson like myself over the scientific details without being too bogged down in minutia.

This science survey is not, however, what I feel is the book's strongest suit. One of the most valuable lessons this book teaches is the extreme insignificance of human beings in the context of this planet. Since I completed this book, I can't listen to some sportscaster talk about "basketball history" without laughing at the conceit. Having established the history of the planet and our small part at the end of it, Bryson goes on to show the many ways humans are destroying the only habitat likely to support human life.

As a result, I am left thinking about lead poisoning, the destruction of species and the ozone, volcanic eruptions in Yellowstone Park, global warming, meteors, and statistical improbability. Bryson's message is ultimately that it is incredibly unlikely that any of us are here at all and we need to preserve our planet if we want our luck to continue. To me, that is a message worth shouting. This book is both entertaining and thought provoking and, if read with an open mind,will change your focus on this planet on human beings' place in it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: quick read
Review: A wonderful "quick read" on the history of discovery in the sciences. An amazing cast of historic characters, most of whom are not well known.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Outstanding Knowledge for the Curious Amateur
Review: The title of this book really does it justice. From the beginning of the universe (and how it began) to cells, atoms, human life and everything else scientific, this book covers it.

Now, if you are even well-read in any scientific area, this book may not be so exciting to you. No book under 500 pages can do a history of "everything" full justice, but if you are an amateur, and a curious one at that, this book provides foundational knowledge in physics, chemistry, anthroplogy, biology and astronomy.

The most wonderful thing about this book, though, is Bryson's ability to convey the most complex theories and concepts in terms that I really believe a 6 year old could understand. I didn't understand isotopes, protons, the quantum leap, relativity or the troposphere all through high school, but within 30 seconds, this guy explains it so clearly. He also provides a true understandinig of how big or small, how far or near things are with easy to picture and grasp analogies.

If you're someone who likes to soak up knowledge and have always been curious about this sort of information, this is a must read.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Science Gossip Galore
Review: This book is not about science, but science gossip. As a purveyor of gossip it does a marvelous job. It tells you more than you ever want to know about the background of some discoveries and the human side of some of the big names in science and technology.

Bryson sourced his materials from an impressive array of books and other publications and weaved them into a readable, almost connected, set of essays. As we all know, just because something appears in print does not mean it is true, and just because something is true does not mean it is the whole story, much less an objective one. I don't know how much of the material has been independently confirmed.

Unlike most other books of this genre, which focus on informing the lay reader on the science and the scientists, and add some gossip to liven things up, this book is full of gossip and has scant retainable information.

It is not a bad book to kill time on a plane and be entertained; it is just not particularly useful.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A Waste of Money, Time and Materials
Review: I got a copy of this book for Christmas. It does not deserve even 1 star. I tried to read it from the beginning but it was so bad I tried to find a chapter by skipping ahead to find something that would be interesting or entertaining or something other than boring. Alas it was not to be. This has got to be one of the worst books I have ever read and I am including school textbooks. Save your money and either go to a museum, planetarium or watch PBS. I believe that you will be more likely to stay awake. I find it interesting that if you try to browse throught the sample pages at Amazon.com all you see are the cover notes, table of contents and the index. If this was any good I would think that a legitimate sample of the actual writing (if you can call it that) would be included.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun Science/History Read
Review: I did this on CD on my way to and from work. It's a fun listen, but would probably be a dry read. You won't pass any college physics classes with this, but it sure will help you if you like the show Jeopardy.

It covers about 5 billion years and lightly touches on a lot, so it has little depth. However, Byrson keeps it interesting and does a good job tying it all together. I would say it's a good buy overall.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fascinating view of scientists and the scientific process
Review: This is a book meant to be about science and there is quite a lot of rudimentary science in it. But it is as much about those who have practiced in various scientific fields over the last 400 years or so. Science itself often takes a back seat to the personalities involved. This is illustrated by the fact that there is not a single illustration. Nor a single diagram. Author Bill Bryson seems as fascinated by scientists as he is by science.

In fact, the book could be viewed first and foremost as a series of absorbing vignettes of nearly everyone who has made significant contributions to our knowledge of the universe since the eighteenth century --- and of many whose contributions weren't so significant. These biographical sketches are artfully organized around a survey of the progress of scientific understanding in various fields: cosmology, earth sciences, biology, and particle physics taking the main parts. The explanations won't satisfy those looking for a deep or sophisticated understanding of the subject matter. (Entropy, for example, is covered in a footnote.) Nonetheless, taken as a whole, the book does provide a useful survey of modern scientific thought and its origins. For the science itself, the book falls somewhere between a dictionary and an encyclopedia, but more readable than either.

The book's main text comes dangerously close to 500 pages. It takes some time to get through, requiring frequent sabbaticals, but is always worth returning to.

The discussion of the likelihood of a meteor impact that could destroy civilization is truly alarming. That assessment alone makes the book either worth reading or worth avoiding, depending on whether you are a realist or an alarmist. The same holds true for Bryson's discussion of bacteria, which is definitely not for the squeamish.

Some of the biographical material may seem familiar, particularly the more significant episodes. This will be especially true to those who have read most of the essays and books of Stephen Jay Gould. Gould provided a much deeper insight into the details, context, and meaning of scientific discoveries and disputes. Like Gould, Bryson has an accessible writing style. Bryson's is breezier and often wittily sarcastic. Consider this characteristic excerpt from his description of the magnum opus of one James Hutton: "Hutton's 'Theory of the Earth' is a strong candidate for the least read important book in science (or at least it would be if there weren't so many others)."

Two telling passages are found on successive pages in Bryson's discussion of cosmology. He writes "Astronomers have been sometimes been compelled (or willing) to base conclusions on notably scanty evidence," and "At least the names for the two main possible culprits [for the purported missing matter in the universe] are entertaining: they are said to be either WIMPS ... or MACHOs." A possible inference from this and other examples (see "Quarks") is that scientists disguise their lack of certainty by spending too much time on inventing annoyingly cute names for purely theoretical concepts.

A very distinctive view of scientists and the scientific process emerges from the book. Those still living (with the exception of Francis Crick) get admiring treatment. Dead practitioners get mostly bad - or at least decidedly mixed - reviews. As a class, they come across as arbitrary, jealous, prone to error, conceited, pathologically eccentric, criminally willing to claim credit for the ideas of others, and obstinately unwilling to accept new ideas. However unfair or inaccurate, that certainly makes for interesting reading.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bravo!
Review: Funny, readable, interesting, moving, insightful, mind-blowing, and just about everything else you'd expect from this great author--everything but the kitchen sink! This book is a must for everyone. Kudos to Mr. Bryson!

Also recommended: A Walk in the woods and McCrae's Bark of the Dogwood


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