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balise's review against another edition
5.0
I spent quite a lot of time reading it, because I left it around the middle to read something else, that something else transformed into 4 books of something else, and one thing led to another, and, and, and.
Maybe this should be called "A short prehistory of nearly everything", because it goes from the Big Bang to the history of humans up to Homo Sapiens, essentially.
My take away message from that book was that the world is fucking weird. And incredibly fascinating.
Bryson discusses all of his subjects (the universe, the planet, water, life, etc.) in a conversational, often giggle-inducing style; I had the feeling that the whole thing may not be very scientifically/historically accurate at times, but overall I think it's a very nice pop science book (in the good sense of the term). I stopped reading a few times thinking "no way, he's trolling me, he's inventing stuff" - but apparently... no. Not in the things that sounded completely incredible to me anyway.
What I really loved about that book is that it's not only a story of what happened, but also a story of the scientific process that allowed us to conceive things as they are. I was pretty shocked to see that a number of things that I have learnt in school as established facts are often way less clear-cut that I've been told (or that I remember having been told, but... I'll never know), and that most of this was actually fairly, if not very recent. Again, I'm not sure if this is something that we weren't told in school, or if it's something that I didn't remember (possibly because 1950-60 seemed probably more distant to 10-year-old me than to 30-old-me, paradoxically), but I found this fascinating - almost as fascinating as the extent of my scientific history inculture :P (And I'd consider myself a science person.)
Anyway, I enjoyed that book a lot. It dragged a bit at some points, but maybe I was just getting tired ;) but all in all, a great book, highly recommended.
Maybe this should be called "A short prehistory of nearly everything", because it goes from the Big Bang to the history of humans up to Homo Sapiens, essentially.
My take away message from that book was that the world is fucking weird. And incredibly fascinating.
Bryson discusses all of his subjects (the universe, the planet, water, life, etc.) in a conversational, often giggle-inducing style; I had the feeling that the whole thing may not be very scientifically/historically accurate at times, but overall I think it's a very nice pop science book (in the good sense of the term). I stopped reading a few times thinking "no way, he's trolling me, he's inventing stuff" - but apparently... no. Not in the things that sounded completely incredible to me anyway.
What I really loved about that book is that it's not only a story of what happened, but also a story of the scientific process that allowed us to conceive things as they are. I was pretty shocked to see that a number of things that I have learnt in school as established facts are often way less clear-cut that I've been told (or that I remember having been told, but... I'll never know), and that most of this was actually fairly, if not very recent. Again, I'm not sure if this is something that we weren't told in school, or if it's something that I didn't remember (possibly because 1950-60 seemed probably more distant to 10-year-old me than to 30-old-me, paradoxically), but I found this fascinating - almost as fascinating as the extent of my scientific history inculture :P (And I'd consider myself a science person.)
Anyway, I enjoyed that book a lot. It dragged a bit at some points, but maybe I was just getting tired ;) but all in all, a great book, highly recommended.
kailansunshine's review against another edition
5.0
What an awesome book! I loved Bryson's humor scattered throughout, and I loved how he was able to make very complicated scientific concepts simple enough for a layperson to understand without once being condescending about it. Everyone should read this!
finalcut's review against another edition
4.0
This book really does cover a lot but I'd say it is more of a History of Scientific Discovery than anything else.
Overall, the book left me with more questions than answers because he did cover so much different information. However, Bryson does do a fantastic job of helping make a variety of complicated topics more approachable and understandable. I certainly don't envy the job he had in writing this book and I love to learn.
If you are at all curious about how our world works and our limited understanding of it then you should certainly give this book a read.
Overall, the book left me with more questions than answers because he did cover so much different information. However, Bryson does do a fantastic job of helping make a variety of complicated topics more approachable and understandable. I certainly don't envy the job he had in writing this book and I love to learn.
If you are at all curious about how our world works and our limited understanding of it then you should certainly give this book a read.
kdodds's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I have ever read. It was a pleasure to take a whimsical walk through the history of everything in the universe, from start to finish, with Bill Bryson. Please, if you have any interest at all in the ridiculous universe we live in, read this book.
lilleyjohn's review against another edition
4.0
Well worth the read. Most enlightening was how mankind blithely goes about its business seemingly oblivious to being an asteroid/volcano/bacteria bloom away from total annihilation. I was also struck by how many pastors, priests and rectors contributed to pivotal moments in science. Historically and today. Ssssh - don't tell Richard Dawkins, it would mess up his whole schtick: You know, all religious people are light years away from science.
snideghoul's review against another edition
5.0
Science for everyone. We did this audiobook style and I am confident it was practically life-changing. I don't know what to say other than don't put it off!
lindsaygail's review against another edition
4.0
I love this book, and also love the audio version read by David Matthews. I find his voice and accent so soothing. I've probably listened to this entire book all the way through at least four times, but since I don't retain the facts very well I can always listen to it again and still find it interesting!
shereadsceaselessly's review against another edition
5.0
[b:A Short History of Nearly Everything|21|A Short History of Nearly Everything|Bill Bryson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433086293s/21.jpg|2305997] is simply a masterpiece. This monster of a book offers such dense information in such an entertaining format, I'd need to read it once a year to get everything I could out of it. Now that I think about it, maybe I will!
pasc96's review against another edition
3.0
You'll think twice about going to Yellowstone after reading this book.
madwoman912's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! If you ever needed something unfathomable explained (like the size of space or the weight of the earth) look no further than this very readable tome.