A Short
History of Nearly Everything Return to Book Review Page Return
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By Bill Bryson
The author would be the first to admit that the title of this remarkable book is a complete misnomer. The book is neither short (at 560 pages) nor a history of everything. Bill Bryson’s expertise prior to this book was travel writing. But a long festering dissatisfaction with how natural history was taught to him as a youth motivated him to devote three years of research on the subject. The author’s definition of “everything” as pertaining to the book’s title includes:
· The universe.
· The atoms and subatomic particle that form the above.
· The earth and the minerals of which it is composed.
· Life on the above planet.
· The human variety of the above.
As remarkable as his three years of research and writing was Bryson’s ability to gather teams of experts on the various subjects for input, review and revision of the manuscript.
He succeeded at his objective of making these subjects
interesting. Besides masterful
analogies, such as description carbon atoms as the “acrobats” of molecular
interactions, his personality portraits of the people behind the discoveries
that reveal the secrets of life and the universe are masterful. Any doubts about “eccentric professors” and
non-professors are completely laid to rest.
Young people who feel that somehow they “don’t fit in” might realize
that many of the premier names in scientific history are people that they could
hardly hope to approach in nuttiness. In
fact, the book relates what otherwise might be perceived as dull science to
interesting narrative so well that if all young people were to read it,
millions of additional youths would likely consider careers in science. However, the volume’s size and scope would
likely intimidate many of them before they even pick it up. A series of smaller books might have been
better suited for the crucial youth segment.
One other criticism is that the book seems subject to a slight Anglo
bias, not surprising from Bryson, who spent many years working in the