A Short History of Nearly Everything (Google eBook)

Bill Bryson

Random House Digital, Inc., May 6, 2003 - History - 544 pages

One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.

In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.


From the Hardcover edition.

What people are saying

User Review -

Wow, amazing
Great great book that is well researched and well written. Everyone should read this book. Opens up a new found admiration for science and scientists . Lord kelvin is my hero

User Review -

One of the most inspiring books I've ever read
Makes you realize how little we know about the world we live in and how fascinating the people attempting to discover this knowledge really are.

Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: 2
• PARTI LOST IN THE COSMOS: 8
• DANGEROUS PLAN: 13
• TIIE SIZE OF THE EARTH: 42
• The Measme ofTl1ings: 65
• Science Red in Tooth and Claw: 81
• A NEW AGE IVIS I 1: 133
• LIFE ITSELF: 236
• PART TH E ROAD TO US I17: 419
• NOTES: 473
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: 517
• INDEX: 529

About the author

Bill Bryson’s bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, In A Sunburned Country, Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, Bill Bryson's African Diary, and A Short History of Nearly Everything. He lives in Norfolk, England, with his wife and children.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything
• Author: Bill Bryson
• Publisher: Random House Digital, Inc., 2003
• ISBN: 0767916417, 9780767916417
• Length: 544 pages
• Subjects: History / World; Science / Essays