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Nick Walker reviews A Short History
of Nearly Everything (2004) by Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is an excellent book. It should be read by everyone at some point in their lives, regardless of whether or not they find the topics of history and science interesting. The book is so well written and tells such a fascinating story that I believe anyone who picks it up will have trouble putting it down. Bryson takes the reader on an epic journey through time, from the creation of the universe to the biological composition of modern day man. Along the way, he manages to explain in simple terminology all of the most challenging and complex questions regarding the creation of life. He profiles the top scientists in such fields as astronomy, chemistry, biology and anthropology and the discoveries they made. Bryson writes in such a way that even a reader with no background in the sciences at all can appreciate the monumental breakthroughs these scientists made and what those discoveries meant to the human race. From the first paragraph, Bryson pulls the reader in by taking head-on the challenge of explaining how the universe came to be, and how we as humans on earth fit in the big picture. I think that most people probably avoid reading about this topic because it is so difficult to comprehend even the most general ideas about the universe. Fortunately, Bryson is able to put into layman's terms extremely complex theories about space, stars, black holes, gravity and planets in a way that makes it possible for the average person to understand. In this way, Bryson succeeds where most others could not by providing an insight into things that normally would be incomprehensible to the average reader. After talking about the universe, Bryson goes on to talk about virtually every important scientist and the discoveries they made throughout history. One central theme Bryson touches on repeatedly is that to this day many mysteries still remain, despite the thousands of scientists who have tried to solve them. One of those mysteries is that of how old our earth is. Geologists have come up with many conclusions, yet to this day there is not one definitive answer that can be agreed upon. Another mystery that remains unsolved is that of our own origins. Bryson asks the questions “Where and when did humans evolve and break away from apes to become our own species?” Again, this is a question that does not necessarily have one definitive answer and a question that will remain unsolved for some time. Overall I strongly recommend this book. It is both very well written and easily read, which is uncommon for a book of this subject matter, and it also is extremely interesting. It puts into perspective the mystery of life and what it means to be a human on earth. While I reading the section on the universe, I often found myself asking rhetorically, “What is the point of life?” The bottom line is that this book will make the reader think about things that are not often thought about, but that are important topics to have at least a basic understanding of. And if a general understanding of all topics discussed is still beyond comprehension (sometimes it will be) then at least this book will push the reader in the right direction towards ultimately understanding the general idea underlying Bryson's story--some things in life will never be understood. -- NW Statistics About This Book Click here to go back to Book Reviews. |
