Paperback, 688 pages
English language
Published Feb. 11, 2004 by Black Swan, Brand: Broadway Books.
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 …
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 the whys, hows, and whens.
The ebook can be found elsewhere on the web at: www.huzheng.org/bookstore/AShortHistoryofNearlyEverything.pdf
Interestin and well-written overview, but sometimes it relies too much on the reader's knowledge of the geography of the USA, which can be tricky for people from other countries. The Dutch translation is also a bit weird at times, a good editor would certainly have helped.
Im absolutely mystified at the popularity of this book. I found it tedious that it spent more time talking about the controversy around things than the things themselves. Also find Bryson's chatty, sophmoric writing style annoying. Pales in comparison to anything written by Simon Winchester.
