A short history of nearly everything

544 pages

English language

Published Aug. 26, 2004

ISBN:
9780767908184

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4 stars (2 reviews)

A Short History of Nearly Everything by American author Bill Bryson is a popular science book that explains some areas of science, using easily accessible language that appeals more so to the general public than many other books dedicated to the subject. It was one of the bestselling popular science books of 2005 in the United Kingdom, selling over 300,000 copies.

A Short History deviates from Bryson's popular travel book genre, instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology.

Bill Bryson wrote this book because he was dissatisfied with his scientific knowledge—that was, not much at all. He writes that science was a distant, unexplained subject at school. Textbooks and teachers alike did not ignite the passion for knowledge in him, mainly because they never delved in …

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Review of 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Wow what a delightful book this is. There was almost nothing here I didn't already know, more or less. But it was all presented in such a well integrated and beautiful way that it was a joy to read. I’m a big Bryson fan and this has been on my list a long time. I’m so glad I finally got to it. 

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3 stars