A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)

A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition by Bill Bryson (2005)

I had been recommended Bill Bryson by many people and chanced upon this book first. It was indeed well written.
This book is a history of scientific discoveries, covering Physics, Cosmology, Chemistry, Biology, Palaeontology, Geology, Oceanography, and more. It made a good overall roundup of scientific knowledge we have accumulated over time, and included quirky facts not necessarily relevant, but made the book fun to read. I particularly liked the idea of Halley being paid by the Royal Society in copies of De Historia Piscium, the book that brought their finances to near bankruptcy, because they could not afford his salary: and the difference between organic and inorganic chemistry as chemicals that contain the force "élan vital" that brings inanimate object to life, and chemical which do not have it: and learning of how Aldous Huxley used J. B. S. Haldane's views on the genetic manipulation of humans to develop his plot for Brave New World.
Some great illustrations, plus notes and index, and an extensive bibliography that includes An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks; Edmund Halley on opium, weather maps, and the diving bell; Newton's Principia (written at the request of Halley to describe the elliptical motions of the planets, but went on to describe the laws of physics. Newton made it intentionally difficult to access so that he wouldn't be pestered by mathematical "smatterers"); Richard Fortey; Stephen Jay Gould's Eight Little Piggies, which describes James Ussher (1650), the man who concluded the Earth was created at midday on 23rd October 4004 BC; Huxley's Point Counter Point, with the character based on John Scott Haldane, the absent-minded professor of physiology at Oxford; Huxley's Antic Hay, with the character based on Haldane's son, J. B. S. Haldane who popularised science and experimented on himself and volunteers (including friends and family).
Overall a good update from my own scientific knowledge (although slightly out-dated in places since it's publication, for example NASA's DART mission would have made a great inclusion to the chapter on impacts from space on the earth). ( )

Very interesting. Perfect book to jump start my offseason reading; short, self-contained chapters about a topic that kept me interested all the way through. I'm definitely going to read more Bryson. ( )

Ótrúlega aðgengileg frásögn af vísindauppgötvum frá örófi alda. Líkt og titillinn ber með sér þá er umfjöllunarefni víðtækt og Bryson fjallar um þróun þekkingar á umheiminum, stóra hvelli, aldri jarðar, bakteríum, spendýrum o.fl. o.fl.
Frásögnin er aðgengileg og krydduð lýsingum af sérvitrum vísindamönnum sem gerðu geysimerkilegar uppgötvanir og stungu þeim niður í skúffu af því þeir voru sjálfir í eigin heimi, öðrum sem rændu heiðri miskunnarlaust, sérvitringum sem flúðu á hlaupum undan samræðum við annað fólk o.s.frv.
Mæli eindregið með lestri þessarar bókar. Eftir stendur hve ótrúlega lítið við vitum um okkar nánasta umhverfi og okkur sjálf á meðan fróðleikur um stjarnkerfið eykst hröðum skrefum. ( )

The famed, yet relentlessly average at best author Bryson, with peculiar travelogues, delivers the science-focused book A Short History of Everything, Solidly well-written, Bryson covers fundamental pillars of science, yet aided with excellent statistics, along with an extensive bibliography list. Notwithstanding, the main detractors encompass the semi-biographical-like work, introducing an excessive number of scientists, the lack of expertise of the author rendering in several questionable areas, and, albeit an inexplicably apparent flaw, surrounding the outdatedness of the text. Despite those minor blemishes, Bryson narrates a readable summary with congruous and recognisable humour (i.e., the overall cynicism displayed towards the complex languages of quantum mechanics), that I would indubitably recommend for general readers. ( )