A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

The Big Bang theory, along with “inflation theory” (the notion that the universe is expanding), were formulated in the 20th century. In Part 1, “Lost in the Cosmos,” Bryson explains how a universe like ours is formed: all of the matter in existence is compressed into a tiny, dimensionless area and then undergoes a rapid expansion (or “Big Bang”), creating all the space that exists as it spreads out. His aim is to see if it’s possible to write science in a way that makes the reader marvel at the history of life on Earth and to become more curious about the task of scientific inquiry. Bryson explains that his motivation for writing this book arose from his realization that he knows very little science himself, because he found most science textbooks boring and inaccessible during his education. To be alive at all is the result of an extreme amount of “biological good fortune,” since 99.99 percent of species go extinct, and the existence of all species depends on a very specific history of good timing and good luck.īryson also marvels at how scientists learn the things they know, and he wonders why so much science writing depicts the history of scientific discovery as abstract, dull, and technical. Author Bill Bryson begins A Short History of Nearly Everything by saying that he’s glad the reader can join him, especially because the reader-like every other living being-only exists because of a long chain of history, starting with atoms and resulting in complex life.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson