A short Review of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson is best known for writing fun travelogues of his journeys around the world and, here, he turns the same sense of humour and writing style to this brief walk through the history of science.

Split in fairly broad swathes by subject, he addresses what we know, what we suspect and what we thought we knew but now figure we got wrong. This is interspaced with tales of the people behind the discoveries (many oddballs and eccentrics).

This is by no means complete, but there is a surprisingly large amount covered including cosmology, geology, biology and lots of other things you hated at school because they weren't presented this clearly or interestingly.

The only downside to the audiobook comes when discussing some numbers where the sheer immensity gets lost a bit without seeing it written down but it's the most minor of quibbles for a truly special text introducing reasonable intelligent science to the reasonably intelligent person.

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216 people found this helpful

This book has made me a nerd...

I am someone who listens to Lee Child's and pretended to be Jack Reacher when my family wasn't watching. I really don't know why I chose to download it, science ain't my thing! Or should I say wasn't, my friends think I've gone mad. Conversations are now punctuated by "did you know..." Or "I've just discovered...."



What's happened to me? The simple pleasures of Jack Reacher bashing up baddies just isn't enough any more. So be warned this book is a virus that will grip you, cause you to delay reaching your destination, and probably make you want to befriend bacteria. Don't get me started on how far things are and how small we must be....



Health warning: the genius and wonderful engaging pace of this book will leave you wanting more even after the hours and hours it leaves you hiding in a quiet spot gripped by its wonder. Use wisely and with caution.

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97 people found this helpful

A great contribution

I listened to it in the car twice, my sons read it. I bought four copies of the book to give away to friends. ALL found it incredibly insightful and well written. So informative about important scientific developments. The author reads it perfectly. Very nice to listen to.

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84 people found this helpful

Fascinating... and irritating

This is great Bryson - informative, funny and - lacking the man himself reading it. I love Bryson’s soft almost hesitant delivery where as this narrator is WAY too ENTHUSIASTIC with a high pitch of voice that is GRATING! Everything is so exaggerated that it all starts to sound the same. Such a shame.

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1 person found this helpful

A succinct summary of life and its history as we know it on earth

This book is a must read/ listen to. It contains a near perfect summary of our history, something all modern humans should know.

We cannot move forward without taking steps backwards unless we understand our shortcomings in the past.

Above all, what is contained in this book is extremely fascinating and you will struggle to put it down once started .

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1 person found this helpful

An Unequivocal Must Read

Read with a manner which entices and inspires.
Content which induces thought in new and exciting ways on topics otherwise unfamiliar to the majority.
Enables and encourages the spread of a wealth of knowledge that has both the reader and those around them in awe at the depth and significance of its teachings.
But overall an enjoyable experience beyond any I have yet encountered from literature.
An astounding piece of work everyone should partake in engaging with.

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1 person found this helpful

Worth a listen

An interesting, if a little superficial, gloss of the history of scientific thought. Mr Bryson is a tad partisan in his views (he basically just writes off Robert Hooke as of no lasting benefit and has nothing but uncritical praise for Newton, who may have been a brilliant mathematician and theoretical physicist in his early career but was mainly just a complete ass) and I wouldn't say that this is in any way authoritative but it's a nicely written and relatively honest jumping-off point for the interested non-scientist.

If you feel you'd like to know a bit more about science and scientists give it a go, it will reward you.

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Just read it please

I never was in to science but ow booooooy this book is something else. Buyit and readit for sure

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Excellent

A thoroughly good production of an interesting and easily digested booked. Bill Bryson at its best

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Really enlightenig book

This book gives a brief history of the universe, ranging from cismology to biology and evolution and some scientific advancements. It really makes you feel just how small we are in the grand scheme of things. I listened on audible and really enjoyed the narrator. I found it really hard to keep track of names so i just kept on going. Some parts are slower than others but overall this book was really good at making me realize just how lucky we are to be alive.

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