The First History of Man

By: John Fox Bershof MD

Narrated by: John Bershof MD

Length: 24 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

To paraphrase the great sci-fi writer Stephen King: Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your heart, kill your darlings. Translation: stay on point and mercilessly avoid side stories and anecdotes. With much respect for Mr. King, The History of Man Series is precisely that, a great deal about all those little darlings, a style of writing termed “jumping off” described below.

The First History of Man uses infection in general—bacteria, viruses, fungus, parasites, epidemics and pandemics, COVID-19—to lay the foundation for the next five books, narratives, and stories that delve deeper into human infectious diseases. This first volume jumps off into accounts of the Big Bang Theory—the real one, but also the sitcom—the origin of the universe, from atoms to DNA to us, and how exactly it happened. In our journey we’ll explore Einstein and Newton (who were probably aliens), the Roman Empire, British history and all those wives of King Henry VIII, the why and how of the Protestant Reformation, why Pluto lost its planet status in our solar system, what exactly is the sweet spot of a solar system, all the while digging up some archeology, and even paying a visit with Dr. Livingstone, I presume. We’ll trudge from the top of Everest, the highest point on Earth, to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the lowest point on Earth, and LUA in between, the Last Universal Ancestor that gave rise to all life on Earth.

The History of Man Series is written in a jumping off style, using medicine, disease, and health themes, fleeced of the normal jargon that all too often accompanies science narratives, as the foundation to jump off into history, world history, human history, American history, ancient history, biographies, celebrities and the rich and famous, the body, aging and longevity, science, biology and nature, physics, even some math thrown in, anatomy, a travel book of geology, geography, continents, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, South America, Australia, even the North Pole and South Pole, astronomy, the universe and cosmos, war, politics, nature, art, music, romance, folklore, religion, the Bible, mythology, sports and athletes, weather, climate change and global warming, and maybe even some non-prescriptive self-help commentaries tossed in for good measure. And to add yet another twist to the writing style, another layer, each book showcases some personal anecdotes Dr. Bershof experienced during his life in medicine, a few biography sketches of suspense and thrillers that reveal a glimpse how the mind of a doctor works...or doesn’t work.

We’ll cherish all the darlings we encounter on our travels as they tell the tale of the humanity that remains eternal in all of us, in all its splendor and all its tragedy. All human activity and that of the Universe lies within our scope. Unlike Bryson’s wonderful book A Shorty History of Nearly Everything, a must-listen, this series makes no apologies for being a tome about nearly everything.

©2020 John Fox Bershof (P)2021 John Fox Bershof

Captivating and inspiring

Fascinating book that is well written and thought out! If you like non-fiction it’s a must read.

If you want something unlike other books you've read.

This is a new type of book for me. It's like reading a novel and science article at the same time. I never thought I would read a book that had as much information as a textbook, but without knowing you are learning . You are entertained by the storyline so you don't realize until the end of each chapter that you've retained a lot of new and interesting information. It is a story, but an informative one. Reading this book will bring new and interesting topics into your daily conversations I am sure.
You can also really hear the author, Dr Bershof, in the pages - he is a surgeon turned author and even a bit of a comic- so you can get a glimpse of how his mind works. He is the sort of person who seems to want to get to the root of why and how the world around us came to be. He seeks and answers the questions around us that the general population seems to just accept as fact. Giving information on a broad spectrum of topics that anyone person can follow and enjoy.

Must Read/Listen

A great take on medicine & history. Fascinating!!! Cannot wait for the next one…What fitting read/listen esp during a pandemic.