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A Short History of Nearly Everything
Contributor(s): Bryson, Bill (Author)

ISBN: 0767908171 ISBN-13: 9780767908177
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)

OUR PRICE: $33.25

Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: May 2003
Annotation: Bill Bryson is one of the world's most beloved and bestselling writers. In "A Short History of Nearly Everything, he takes his ultimate journey-into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It's a dazzling quest, the intellectual odyssey of a lifetime, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, ..."how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." This is, in short, a tall order.
To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world's most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemisty, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people, like himself, made bored (or scared) stiff of science by school. His interest is not simply to discover "what we know but to find out "how we know it. How do we know what is in the center of the earth, thousands of miles beneath the surface? How can we know the extent and the composition of the universe, or what a black hole is? How can we know where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?
On his travels through space and time, Bill Bryson encounters a splendid gallery of the most fascinating, eccentric, competitive, and foolish personalities ever to ask a hard question. In their company, he undertakes a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventurein the realms of human knowledge, as only this superb writer can render it. Science has never been more involving, and the world we inhabit has never been fuller of wonder and delight.

Additional Information

BISAC Categories:
- Science | Essays
- Science | Natural History

Dewey: 500

LCCN: 2003046006

Physical Information: 1.9" H x 6.5" W x 9.3" L (1.86 lbs) 560 pages

Features: Bibliography, Ikids, Index, Price on Product

Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 01/01/2003 pg. 72
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2003 pg. 517
Publishers Weekly 04/07/2003 pg. 59
BookPage 05/01/2003 pg. 5
Entertainment Weekly 05/09/2003 pg. 82
Booklist 04/15/2003 pg. 1426
New York Times 05/18/2003 pg. 42
USA Today 05/22/2003 pg. 1
Library Journal 05/15/2003 pg. 120
New York Times 06/01/2003 pg. 25
Discover 09/01/2003 pg. 78
Men's Journal 12/01/2003 pg. 54
Discover 01/01/2004 pg. 79
Library Journal 03/01/2004 pg. 40

Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.

Publisher Description:
One of the world's most beloved writers and New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body 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 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.

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