In this age of global warming, I found this book great impressed by how isolated Earth is in the solar system and how the solar system is so far away from anything else, by the shear number of species that have existed or do exist on Earth – tens of millions of them, by how little we directly know of Earth’s interior or, for that matter, of the matter that makes up most of the Universe. Bryson painstakingly describes atoms, molecules, microbes, comets, dinosaurs, DNA, how the Earth evolved. He also explores the history of biology, geology, astronomy, botany, climatology, nuclear physics, paleontology and zoology, with occasional side trips into chemistry, but it rarely gets very deeply into anything. The information is presented here in an often off-beat and amusing and certainly non-intimidating way. And the book packs some eyebrow-raising stuff on briefly touching about earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and hurricanes. After reading about how space rocks can slam into Earth with horrible effect and no warning, you might want to eat, drink and make merry. And after reading about what lives at a microscopic level in your sheets and pillows, you might want to burn your bed linen, right now. Since Bryson is not a scientist, but more famous as a travel writer,

he gives us images we can visualize to explain stuff that we somehow can’t get our arms around. And to reward us for sticking with his book,
He takes us on entertaining adventure which is vivid, engaging and humorous with exceptional clarity and skill through space and time. We encounter a splendid gallery of the most fascinating, eccentric, competitive, bizarre and foolish personalities. Einstein, Newton and other world-class scientists, most of whom had unusual behavioural traits to go along with impressive intellects such as Midgley:

“Bouyed by the success of leaded gasoline [which he had invented], Midgley now turned to another technological problem of the age. Refrigerators in the 1920s were often appallingly risky because they used dangerous gases that sometimes leaked.

Midgley set out to create a gas that was stable, nonflammable, noncorrosive, and safe to breathe. With an instinct for the regrettable that was almost uncanny, he invented chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. … it was noticed, half a century later, that they were devouring the ozone in the atmosphere…Midgley never knew this because he died long before anyone realized how destructive CFCs were. His death was itself memorably unusual. After becoming crippled with polio, Midley invented a contraption involving a series of motorized pulleys that automatically raised or turned him in bed. In 1933, he became entangled in the cords as the machine went into action and was strangled.”

He also traces life from its first appearance all the way to today’s modern humans, placing much emphasis on the development of the modern Homo sapiens. Bryson ends the book by noting how many extinctions humans are responsible for, and how lucky mankind is to be living on planet Earth today.

A Short History of Nearly Everything serves a great purpose for those who know little about science and should make us understand and appreciate how profound, frightening or just plain interesting our world is.

Bill Bryson makes science interesting and funny and he’s done a wonderful job in this extremely simple and enjoyable book.