A review of A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
I listened to the audiobook version of this while commuting to work. It’s a captivating book, and I would often find myself sitting in my car in the carpark at work, reluctant to get out and start the day because I wanted to keep listening. I love the way Bryson has managed to take all these disparate ideas and historical scientific figures and bring them together and connect them in a meaningful way. He also manages to take complex scientific ideas and break them down and present them in a way that is easy to understand, even for the scientifically uninclined. And, of course, there is the gentle humour that runs through all of Bryson’s writing.
There are numerous anecdotes about scientists that provide a fascinating insight into the personalities behind their science. My favourite one was about Hennig Brand, a German alchemist who was trying to turn urine into gold (as you do), but ended up inventing matches instead. One of the themes running through the book is just how much of our current scientific knowledge has been acquired by accident.
A Short History of Nearly Everything is a book chock full of fascinating information and Bryson conveys an appealing sense of wonderment at what we know about the enormity of the universe in which we live, as well as a sense of humility about our tiny, insignificant place within it. But perhaps the most prominent theme running through the book is the idea that despite all our technological and scientific advances over the past few millennia, what we do know is still vastly, unimaginably outweighed by what we don’t know.
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A gritty and engaging story of human faults, fears, and frailty, What Friends Are For is the prequel short story to my tragicomic novel, Taking the Plunge. Introduce yourself to the characters from the novel and find out where it all begins for Kate, Tracy, Evan and Lawrence.
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I loved that book, too, Jody.
Yeah, Bill Bryson is great.