A Short History of Nearly Everything

This was a fantastic read. It jumps around subjects and gives a great overview of each subject. The writing is very comprehensive and informative. I highly recommend this book! Thank you Bill Bryson!

Apart from the human interest stories of Bill Bryson's " A short History of Nearly Everything" a matured reader can at once catch the undercurrents of the Meta Physics of the origin and existence of life. The book says these are the facts of Science and this is how the scientists have struggled to decipher what is around them in terms of matter.But who made atoms,cells, mountains ,oceans,and volcanoes? Who is behind all kinds of programs in Nature?Who will warn the world regarding when the oceans will rise and an endemic will spread? When the author iterates that the world belongs to the very small and that trillions of bacteria are sailing on top of our skin ,our ego gets deflated.These small organisms do not behave according to our expectations of logical behavior and they do not care whether we suffer.At a particular stage in his narration Bill Bryson says that 'your atoms do not know that you exist'.If we human beings think that each one of us exists for accomplishing something in the same vein we can ask what is the meaning of existence of these very minute creatures(voice of the monumental human ego)? We are no more the center of the Universe and our system of logic is not the only logic.In Bryson's own words ,"Bacteria,never forget,got along for millions of years without us .We couldn't survive a day with out them". It is really exciting to know that the most gifted ,hard working Philosophical and luckiest of all scientists,Einstein could not understand the laws of the Universe completely.What ever might be Bryson's area of exploration he captures the point that there is a level of uncertainty-for example with reference to the age of the earth,the way atoms are recycled,the cause behind the disappearance of the largest creature, the dinosaur.The Universe is filled with dark matter and dark energy according to the research done by the writer. When it comes to the functioning of our metabolism no one knows how all the genes cooperate to make body functioning possible. There is some solace to us when Bryson says that thinking affects the way our genes work.Really some credit is given to cognitive aspects of human behaviour. The book creates in a discerning reader an insatiable thirst for learning more about all the research going on in all areas explored in the book.It would enable the reader to catch up with what is going on in the respective field right now.It connects the reader to his ancestor.Above all it reminds one of the limitations of human endeavor and human knowledge.Bill Bryson gives an exciting and entertaining account of the theme of Panspermia in "A Short History of Nearly Every thing

This focuses on a scientific history and is very witty. I especially like the way he tells stories about scientists and how they discovered things--even if he's made some of these things up (it's possible), it makes for a good read. It's written by an average guy who has interviewed experts in a lot of different fields, so the science may be off sometimes, but he gets you laughing.