isabellarobinson7's review
3.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
A summary of this book: this is a whole bunch of stuff that happens in the world and we have no idea why. Ernest Rutherford was awesome (I already knew that but it was cool that his discoveries were mentioned comprehensively). This thing has a less chance of happening than there are atoms in existence and if it didn't happen we would be dead. New Zealand actually had a lot of scientific achievements! Here are some! (Yes! Recognition for my country! Finally! The amount of times New Zealand was mentioned made me so happy.) Here's some more stuff we don't know about. This guy was really smart but the other scientists thought he was stupid, and then they realised that they were stupid and so then they stole the guy's discovery and credited to some other dude. A science-y name that has a Greek root word (×1000000). Scientists are only pretending to know everything because they are actually quite dumb. Also, we lost a planet. And it's up to 10 times the size of Earth.
Conclusion: we must all have Mat Cauthon (from Wheel of Time)'s luck because we haven't blown everything up yet.
A summary of this book: this is a whole bunch of stuff that happens in the world and we have no idea why. Ernest Rutherford was awesome (I already knew that but it was cool that his discoveries were mentioned comprehensively). This thing has a less chance of happening than there are atoms in existence and if it didn't happen we would be dead. New Zealand actually had a lot of scientific achievements! Here are some! (Yes! Recognition for my country! Finally! The amount of times New Zealand was mentioned made me so happy.) Here's some more stuff we don't know about. This guy was really smart but the other scientists thought he was stupid, and then they realised that they were stupid and so then they stole the guy's discovery and credited to some other dude. A science-y name that has a Greek root word (×1000000). Scientists are only pretending to know everything because they are actually quite dumb. Also, we lost a planet. And it's up to 10 times the size of Earth.
Conclusion: we must all have Mat Cauthon (from Wheel of Time)'s luck because we haven't blown everything up yet.
marcelabrina's review against another edition
This month's audiobook, piggybacking the husband's taste for once.
gsroney's review against another edition
5.0
“The upshot of all this is that we live in a universe whose age we can't quite compute, surrounded by stars whose distances we don't altogether know, filled with matter we can't identify, operating in conformance with physical laws whose properties we don't truly understand.”
Bill Bryson is able to make concepts that truly are fascinating—the beginnings of our solar system, the atomic world, evolution, the cell—also very entertaining by weaving in funny and interesting anecdotes about the people who have made these discoveries, making a book that deals with the infinitude of the universe resonate on a deeply personal level.
Bill Bryson is able to make concepts that truly are fascinating—the beginnings of our solar system, the atomic world, evolution, the cell—also very entertaining by weaving in funny and interesting anecdotes about the people who have made these discoveries, making a book that deals with the infinitude of the universe resonate on a deeply personal level.
leasummer's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those books you want to give to everyone. I learned so much, in an easy to understand way. This book covers so many scientific topics in a practical way, allowing you to absorb the information without getting lost in terminology or bogged down by too much information. There is still so much we don't know. Science is amazing.
hiltzmoore's review against another edition
2.0
This was well written and did a great job of covering a LOT of science history, but I learned something while reading it - I don't really like science. I only made it through all the science I had to take in school because I liked the hands on experiments. The theory was not really my thing, and that was the entirety of this book. I did really enjoy the last section, as it reminded me of the Anthropology classes I took in college, which were always interesting to me. It just seemed like the rest of the book was all about arguing super scientists. If that is your thing, it is a great book. So this two star rating should be caveated to say "two stars for me, since it just wasn't my thing."
katreadsalot's review against another edition
5.0
Very entertaining! Bryson's witty remarks made the history of science fun and interesting! Of course, thinking about our lack of knowledge about the world we live in and the lucky circumstances that have made our lives possible as they are today is a bit terrifying, but it is all the more potent because it is done with grace.