A Short History of Nearly Everything

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: Richard Matthews

Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the world’s most beloved and best-selling 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.

©2003 Bill Bryson (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc. Published by Arrangement with Random House Audio Publishing Group, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Not to be missed." (AudioFile)
"Destined to become a modern classic of science writing." (The New York Times Book Review)

ESSENTIAL AND ULTRA ENJOYABLE

Bill Bryson is really the master of the history of science. this should have been my high shcool textbook!

great book,

What did you love best about A Short History of Nearly Everything?

The book was well read, captivating, and extremely educational. The information just wouldn't stop coming.

A must read

For anyone that is interested in science
This is the best science overview that I ever seen, with a slice of humour and a modesty that make this book easy to read (but does not hide the smart author humongous research work)

Great listen, very interesting

Great segways into new content.
Did NOT feel like a list of facts.
Found myself interested in the lives and work of everyone mentioned.

Science history.

This is a history of scientific discovery. While fascinating it is not "everything "I lost interest.

I can't stop listening....

I loved this book so much I have listened to it 4 times since March and have bought the hardcover. I added it to my son's reading list for 8th grade homeschool. In the beginning he thought I was the meanest Mom ever, but by the 3rd chapter he stopped complaining and started listening. This book makes science fun, understandable and provides you with just enough knowledge that you want to learn more.

Incredible book in every way

You just have to experience it yourself and tell others. Prolific writer and scientist. The narration is also beautiful. Enough said!

Requires Concentration

I really enjoyed listening to this audio book, but you must listen intently. listening at work required me to continually rewind to absorb the material.

An Educated Listen

This tome is a good example of how a complicated set of ideas can be presented in an accessible format. The title almost sounds forbidding until you realise that the "History of Everything" is the prehistory of that and the scientific formulae that surround us. Bill Bryson tries to unravel some of the jargon and historical events that very often obscure our understanding of our very being and to this end succeeds with an accessible listen that can generally be put down and picked up again in an audible sense whilst still putting across some mind boggling theorems and situations. Always entertaining and stylishly presented this is recommended to the scientifically informed reader.

Remarkable.

A book about the origins of the sciences, with (shock) context!

It's a great listen. I got a little turned off when he got into the section on Evolution, which I don't happen to subscribe to, but was ultimately pleased that it was handled in such a balanced way.

For every other section, it was one fascinating story after another, and it does something no other science text in my experience has done: it includes the human factor. Not just in the context of the discoveries, but also the failures, mistakes in judgement, erroneous conclusions, misinterpretations, wars of ego and prestige, world-altering-revelations, and everything else that makes the scientific method so subjective.

And it really paints a clear picture of just how much there is left to discover.

Well worth the time and credit. The narration by Richard Matthews was superb, and really brought the material to life.

Highly recommended!