A short history of nearly everything

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One of the world’s most beloved writers and New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body takes his ultimate journey—into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trailwell, most of it. In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understandand, if possible, answerthe oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.

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ISBN
9780767908177
9780307885166
9780767916417
076790818
9780739353202
9780736693202
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Table of Contents

From the Audiobook on CD - Library edition.

Lost in the cosmos: How to build a universe; Welcome to the solar system; Reverend Evans's universe
Size of the earth: Measure of things; Stone-breakers; Science red in tooth and claw; Elemental matters
New age dawns: Einstein's universe; Mighty atom; Getting the lead out; Muster Mark's quarks; Earth moves
Dangerous planet: Bang!; Fire below; Dangerous beauty
Life itself: Lonely planet; Into the troposphere; Bounding main; Rise of life; Small world; Life goes on; Good-bye to all that; Richness of being; Cells; Darwin's singular notion
Road to us: Ice time; Mysterious biped; Restless ape; Good-bye.

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Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors persuasive, and they have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "science writing -- general"; and the subject "science."
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These books have the appeal factors accessible, and they have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "science writing -- general"; and the subject "science."
These books have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "science writing -- general"; and the subjects "science" and "scientific discoveries."
These books have the appeal factors funny, irreverent, and accessible, and they have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "humor writing -- classic humorists."
These books have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "science writing -- general"; and the subjects "science," "hypothesis," and "humorous writing."
These books have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "science writing -- general"; and the subject "science."
The universe in a nutshell - Hawking, Stephen
These ambitious, yet accessible books attempt to discuss and explain everything through the lens of science and math. -- Melissa Gray
These books have the appeal factors accessible, and they have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "science writing -- general"; and the subject "science."
These books have the genres "history writing -- science, technology, and medicine" and "science writing -- general."
These popular science titles provide fascinating answers to some of life's most interesting questions in an easy-to-read, journalistic fashion. Although Bryson doesn't deal strictly with astronomy, both focus on the origins of humanity and big picture ideas. -- Sarah Dearman
Although A Short History of Nearly Everything covers 13.7 billion years of existence and The Upright Thinkers limits its scope to human history, both accessible science books anchor their sweeping narratives with biographical profiles of notable thinkers and their discoveries. -- NoveList Contributor

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Paul Theroux influenced Bill Bryson, and is a must for fans of travel writing, thanks to provocative accounts that include personal reflection and commentary, characters, adventure, and a touch of humor. His writing emphasize the glories of train travel. -- Katherine Johnson
Like Bill Bryson, Mary Roach travels widely to gather material for her side-splittingly funny books. Though Roach is a science writer and Bryson writes everything from travelogues to histories, Bryson's readers should like Roach's books for their witty observations, accessible writing style, and engaging discussion of their topic. -- Dawn Towery
Bill Bryson and Tony Horwitz employ a casual but informative tone in their fact-filled, steadily paced narrative nonfiction. Their sense of humor and tendency to place themselves directly into their narratives results in addictive books that teach without preaching. -- Becky Spratford
Try these authors if you like detailed travelogues that delve into memoirs and take a witty view of people, places, and experiences. Bill Bryson has more of an academic/historical take, and Maarten J. Troost ruminates more about his life, but both pen accessible and engaging narratives. -- Melissa Gray
Simon Armitage and Bill Bryson enjoy long walks -- sometimes they take several weeks, sometimes far longer. Both writers have a sharp eye for telling detail, a deep interest in their surroundings, and a strong sense of place. Armitage is more reflective and lyrical, while Bryson is funnier and more sarcastic. -- Mike Nilsson
Gerald Durrell may please readers who appreciate Bill Bryson's wit and descriptive skills. Travel and animals dominate his writing but also offer scope for his quirky humor, accessible erudition, flights of fantasy, and astute, accurate scientific observations. He also offers heartfelt and passionate arguments for protecting individual animals and species. -- Katherine Johnson
Bill Bryson fans might enjoy Calvin Trillin, who travels in search of interesting food and adventures, and whose accounts resonate with insights into people and places. His conversational (often playful) literary style, his pleasure in adventures and discoveries, his ability to put himself into the story, and his self-deprecating humor resemble Bryson's writing. -- Katherine Johnson
Like Bill Bryson, Tim Cahill brings humor and cogent and often personal commentary to his extensive travel writing. Cahill has a reputation as an adventurer, willing to meet any physical challenge -- and try any food. Cahill's exploits are often more extreme, but his inviting style encourages readers to share his adventures. -- Katherine Johnson
Charles Kuralt, famous for introducing his audience to Americans unlikely to appear on television, was able to create stories from the slightest events. Like Bryson, he put characters first, and his quiet humor and incisive commentary allowed him to explore social and cultural issues linked to his out-of-the-way locations. -- Katherine Johnson
These authors' works have the genre "science writing"; and the subjects "science" and "scientific discoveries."

Published Reviews

Choice Review

Bryson, a noted science writer, has prepared a history book for every reader. He weaves scientific discoveries and events into a story with this plot: how the world came to be. Names of comets, constants, laws, and theories become real human beings complete with quirky personalities. This is not a dry history of science but a tale of our universe, discovered through the eyes and experiments of those men and women who dared to search for answers. Although the intended audience might be anyone who avoided taking more science classes than necessary in high school, that does not mean that scientists in all areas will not delight in reading how interrelated the fields actually are. The book is arranged in parts, with chapters following a rough time line of discoveries in various fields. Each chapter includes a notes section, and the book includes an impressive bibliography along with a decent index. It is not a reference book, and to use it as such would be a crime. This wonderful book is highly recommended as an inspiration to budding scientists and those who spend moments wondering about the world around them. ^BSumming Up: Essential. All levels. L. A. Hall California State University--Sacramento

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
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Booklist Review

Confessing to an aversion to science dating to his 1950s school days, Bryson here writes for those of like mind, perhaps out of guilt about his lack of literacy on the subject. Bryson reports he has been doing penance by reading popular-science literature published in the past decade or two, and buttonholing a few science authors, such as Richard Fortey (Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution, 2000). The authors Bryson talks to are invariably enthusiasts who, despite their eminence, never look on his questions as silly but, rather, view them as welcome indicators of interest and curiosity. Making science less intimidating is Bryson's essential selling point as he explores an atom; a cell; light; the age and fate of the earth; the origin of human beings. Bryson's organization is historical and his prose heavy on humanizing anecdotes about the pioneers of physics, chemistry, geology, biology, evolution and paleontology, or cosmology. To those acquainted with the popular-science writing Bryson has digested, his repackaging is a trip down memory lane, but to his fellow science-phobes, Bryson' s tour has the same eye-opening quality to wonder and amazement as his wildly popular travelogues. --Gilbert Taylor

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

As the title suggests, bestselling author Bryson (In a Sunburned Country) sets out to put his irrepressible stamp on all things under the sun. As he states at the outset, this is a book about life, the universe and everything, from the Big Bang to the ascendancy of Homo sapiens. "This is a book about how it happened," the author writes. "In particular how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." What follows is a brick of a volume summarizing moments both great and curious in the history of science, covering already well-trod territory in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics and so on. Bryson relies on some of the best material in the history of science to have come out in recent years. This is great for Bryson fans, who can encounter this material in its barest essence with the bonus of having it served up in Bryson's distinctive voice. But readers in the field will already have studied this information more in-depth in the originals and may find themselves questioning the point of a breakneck tour of the sciences that contributes nothing novel. Nevertheless, to read Bryson is to travel with a memoirist gifted with wry observation and keen insight that shed new light on things we mistake for commonplace. To accompany the author as he travels with the likes of Charles Darwin on the Beagle, Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton is a trip worth taking for most readers. First printing 110,000; 11-city author tour. (On sale May 6) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Library Journal Review

Bryson is one of the wittiest, most talented writers we have today. His travel books on England, the United States, and Australia are classics and will keep readers in stitches with his special talent-his gift!-for storytelling. But now he offers us this glimpse into scientific areas he admits he didn't understand as a student and tries to make palatable for his loyal listeners. Geology, astronomy, quantum mechanics, vulcanology, plate tectonics-if it weren't for Bryson's outstanding skills as a satirist and as a wry commentator on today's society, most listeners would have gone screaming into the night believing they were trapped in some hellish replay of college courses they flunked the first time around. Even though it's a pleasure to hear the author's comments on the petty rivalries of scientists and how many things were discovered almost by accident (this CD version is energized by an outstanding narration by Richard Matthews, who reads Bryson's words with wry British humor), we are still talking about subjects few people understand. Bryson's obvious success at self-education in the various scientific areas he discusses is to be applauded, but quantum mechanics is still quantum mechanics, no matter how many zingers he throws at squabbling scientists and long-held ridiculous theories. Recommended with the caveat that much of this book is a stretch to get through and only Bryson's wit takes us to the end, panting and gasping all the way.-Joseph L. Carlson, Allan Hancock Coll., Lompoc, CA(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

Bryson (I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999, etc.), a man who knows how to track down an explanation and make it confess, asks the hard questions of science--e.g., how did things get to be the way they are?--and, when possible, provides answers. As he once went about making English intelligible, Bryson now attempts the same with the great moments of science, both the ideas themselves and their genesis, to resounding success. Piqued by his own ignorance on these matters, he's egged on even more so by the people who've figured out--or think they've figured out--such things as what is in the center of the Earth. So he goes exploring, in the library and in company with scientists at work today, to get a grip on a range of topics from subatomic particles to cosmology. The aim is to deliver reports on these subjects in terms anyone can understand, and for the most part, it works. The most difficult is the nonintuitive material--time as part of space, say, or proteins inventing themselves spontaneously, without direction--and the quantum leaps unusual minds have made: as J.B.S. Haldane once put it, "The universe is not only queerer than we suppose; it is queerer than we can suppose." Mostly, though, Bryson renders clear the evolution of continental drift, atomic structure, singularity, the extinction of the dinosaur, and a mighty host of other subjects in self-contained chapters that can be taken at a bite, rather than read wholesale. He delivers the human-interest angle on the scientists, and he keeps the reader laughing and willing to forge ahead, even over their heads: the human body, for instance, harboring enough energy "to explode with the force of thirty very large hydrogen bombs, assuming you knew how to liberate it and really wished to make a point." Loads of good explaining, with reminders, time and again, of how much remains unknown, neatly putting the death of science into perspective. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

Confessing to an aversion to science dating to his 1950s school days, Bryson here writes for those of like mind, perhaps out of guilt about his lack of literacy on the subject. Bryson reports he has been doing penance by reading popular-science literature published in the past decade or two, and buttonholing a few science authors, such as Richard Fortey (Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution, 2000). The authors Bryson talks to are invariably enthusiasts who, despite their eminence, never look on his questions as silly but, rather, view them as welcome indicators of interest and curiosity. Making science less intimidating is Bryson's essential selling point as he explores an atom; a cell; light; the age and fate of the earth; the origin of human beings. Bryson's organization is historical and his prose heavy on humanizing anecdotes about the pioneers of physics, chemistry, geology, biology, evolution and paleontology, or cosmology. To those acquainted with the popular-science writing Bryson has digested, his repackaging is a trip down memory lane, but to his fellow science-phobes, Bryson' s tour has the same eye-opening quality to wonder and amazement as his wildly popular travelogues. ((Reviewed April 15, 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews

Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews
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Library Journal Reviews

Working with noteworthy scientists, Bryson tracks our history from the big bang to the rise of civilization. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
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Library Journal Reviews

While this book doesn't cover "nearly everything," it does a fantastic job of tackling certain topics: biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, and astronomy. Writing with wit and charm, Bryson, who has hiked the Appalachian Trail (A Walk in the Woods) and traveled around Australia (In a Sunburned Country), now takes us on a scientific odyssey from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Reflecting his gift for making science comprehensible yet fun, he tells the story of the discoveries and the people that have shaped our understanding of the universe. Along the way, we meet some fascinating and eccentric scientists. Although Bryson clearly intends this book for general readers, subject specialists will also enjoy his wry takes. The 30 chapters are divided among seven scientific topics, and this reviewer found himself reading chapters out of order, selecting topics of particular interest. There are useful footnotes, as well as chapter notes and a bibliography. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. (Index not seen.) [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/03.]-James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib, Chicago Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

As the title suggests, bestselling author Bryson (In a Sunburned Country) sets out to put his irrepressible stamp on all things under the sun. As he states at the outset, this is a book about life, the universe and everything, from the Big Bang to the ascendancy of Homo sapiens. "This is a book about how it happened," the author writes. "In particular how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." What follows is a brick of a volume summarizing moments both great and curious in the history of science, covering already well-trod territory in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics and so on. Bryson relies on some of the best material in the history of science to have come out in recent years. This is great for Bryson fans, who can encounter this material in its barest essence with the bonus of having it served up in Bryson's distinctive voice. But readers in the field will already have studied this information more in-depth in the originals and may find themselves questioning the point of a breakneck tour of the sciences that contributes nothing novel. Nevertheless, to read Bryson is to travel with a memoirist gifted with wry observation and keen insight that shed new light on things we mistake for commonplace. To accompany the author as he travels with the likes of Charles Darwin on the Beagle, Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton is a trip worth taking for most readers. First printing 110,000; 11-city author tour. (On sale May 6) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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