A Short History of Nearly Everything

Bryson's dead serious: this is a history of pretty much everything there is -- the planet, the solar system, the universe -- as well as a history of how we've come to know as much as we do. A book on science written by a non-scientist, this a perfect bridge between the humanities and the natural sciences. A course in the history of science should be mandatory for every teenager, and this should be the textbook.

Yes, it's a big, chunky book. No, it can't be trimmed down any further: when you're addressing cosmology, earth science, ecology and zoology, with healthy doses of chemistry and physics, plus the historical development of each, you're going to end up with a doorstop of a text, no matter how smoothly written. The wonder of Bryson's writing is that the reader doesn't get lost in these sweeping surveys. When name-dropping, Bryson always gives a short description of the person in question; if mentioned earlier in the book, he drops in a quick reminder to the reader. This is fabulously effective at giving the names some context, not to mention a little personality.

And indeed, isn't that what science education needs most: more humanity and less intimidation? Those science-phobes out there who freely admit their near-complete ignorance of the subject should do themselves a favor and buy a copy of this book. No, don't get it from your library. There's so much here you'll want to have a copy on hand to refer to later.

To those nerds in the audience -- myself included -- don't think your degrees mean you can pass this one over. As hyper-specialized as science has become, it's refreshing as hell to step back and take a look at things with new eyes. While there's not a lot here I haven't encountered before, there's a lot of information about how our current theories were developed that I didn't know.

(Also? It's heartening to read about the social ineptitude, blind spots, and how utterly incompetent many of these scientist were in other aspects of life. Makes me feel better about never finishing that PhD -- at least I have a life.)

Thorough, humorous, engaging, and educational: what's not to like?

This book explains everything from a little proton atom to Bing Bang's theory.

It tells more about popular science than the history of everything.

I found it interesting and also challenging to understand all the science jargon and theories.

For those who want to know more about our universal, I recommend you to read this book.

I like the history of Charles Darwin's life particularly and the discovery of his theory of evolution.

موجز تاريخ كل شيء تقريباً

رغم الترجمة التي تكبو أحياناً، ورغم ما يقال بأن هناك فصل سقط في الترجمة!! إلا أن هذا كتاب عظيم بحق، عمل مبهر ولذيذ، وضع بيل برايسون هذا الكتاب للإجابة على الأسئلة العلمية التي يجهلها حول الأرض والطبيعة بشكل عام، هذه الأسئلة التي انهالت عليه وهو يحدق في البحر من نافذة طائرة، تحولت إلى رحلة ممتعة، له ولنا، فبرايسون لا يرهقنا بالحقائق العلمية كأنما هو موسوعة، وإنما يدسها لنا في حكايات متشابكة، عن العلم والعلماء في سعيهم للفهم، وبناء كل تلك العلوم من الجذاذات التي بين أيديهم، لهذا تشعر بالاهتمام والتواطؤ ومن ثم بالامتنان لكل تلك الجهود التي قام بها العلماء، ويتحول العلم بالنسبة لك من مادة ثقيلة إلى مادة حية، مشبعة بالإنسان، طموحاته وآلامه وسعيه للحقيقة والمعرفة، هذا الكتاب رحلة ممتعة، لا تفوتوها.

Good grief if I had even one textbook half this enthralling in high school, who knows what kind of impassioned -ologist I would have grown up to be. I hereby petition Bryson to re-write all curriculum on behalf of the history of the world.

I would run across things half-remembered from midterms and study guides and think, "You mean this is what they were talking about? You have got to be kidding me." It's never condescending, always a joy.

In fact, what I loved most is the acute, childlike sense of wonder seeping through the pages. How fantastic little we know about the world in which we live. All the great scientific leaps fallen through the cracks, all the billions of leaps that will never be made, every scientist who with an amiable grin shrugs to say, "I don't know. We don't know. Who has any idea?" The world is a magically baffling, enchanting place, and after nearly everything there is infinitesimally more.

It's easy to nitpick A Short History of Nearly Everything. Bryson, by his own cheerful admission anything but a scientist, makes a fair number of mistakes. He says that all living creatures contain hox genes; he omits Alexander Friedmann and George Gamow from his description of how the Big Bang theory was developed; when talking about Darwin and Paley, he doesn't seem to be aware that Natural Theology was one of Darwin's favorite books and had a huge influence on him. Those are just a few of the glitches I happened to notice. I'm sure a real expert would have spotted many more.

But so what? The author is incredibly entertaining, and I came across dozens of great stories from the history of science. He has done a fantastic job of tracking down details that you won't find in the other books! Continuing with Darwin, everyone's heard about the evolution debate between T.H. Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce; this was the dozenth time I'd seen Huxley's contemptuous reply to Wilberforce's question about whether he claimed descent from a monkey though his grandmother or his grandfather. But I'd never before read that Lady Brewster fainted, or that one of Darwin's Beagle colleagues wandered through the crowd, holding a Bible aloft and shouting "the Book, the Book!" Similarly, everyone tells you that Newton only published the Principia after Halley persuaded him to do it. But I hadn't heard that Newton intentionally made it as difficult as possible to read because he didn't want amateurs bothering him, or that Halley's reward was to be told by the Royal Society that since they could no longer afford to pay his salary in pounds sterling, he would instead be given remaindered copies of The History of Fishes.

And there were numerous other stories I'd never seen at all. If you don't find plenty here to amuse and instruct, you're either encyclopedically well-read in all branches of science or you have no interest in it whatsoever.

يحكى أن يهوديا قرر الذهاب إلى دمياط للتجارة و حينما وصل إليها أراد اختبار أهلها قبل أن يبدأ مشروعه فأشار للصبى الذى أستأجره ليكون دليلا له
خذ هذا القرش فاشتر لنا غداء و شراب و حلوى و لا تنسى طعام للحمار و شيئا أتسلى به فى طريقى
كان القرش لا يشترى بالكاد وجبة طعام لشخص واحد الا ان الشاب الدمياطى - و الدمياطى لمن لا يعرف كالخليلى فى الأدبيات الفلسطينية – ذهب إلى السوق و اشترى بطيخة بنصف قرش و أعاد لليهودى النصف الأخر قائلا له
هى غداء لنا و فى نفس الوقت تحلية و شراب و نعطى للحمار قشرها و نتسلى بلبها طوال الطريق
أدار اليهودى حماره عائدا و قال قوم مثل هذا لا يرجى من ورائهم مكسب.
فلنترك هذه الحكاية و سأقص عليكم حكاية أخرى تخص بطيخة أخرى
ندخل فى الموضوع
- طلبك عندى يا سيدنا الأفندى
قالها أمين المكتبة الكهل و هو يعدل وضع نظارته ذات الغطاء السميك و ينظر بدهشة إلى هذا الفتى المتأنق الذى كان طلبه غريبا و مربكا بعض الشىء
- أريد شيئا عن الكون و بدايته .. الإنفجار الكبير و المنظومة الشمسية ... النجوم و المستعرات الضوئية و النيازك .. المذنبات و تاريخها و كيف يمكن أن تهدد الأرض .. أريد أيضا أن أعرف كيف يقيسون هذه المسافات الشاسعة المقدرة بعشرات السنوات الضوئية.
- عندى كتاب هيعجبك قوى بتاع هاوكينج. حاجه كده من الأخر
- ألديك أيضا شيئا عن الأحافير و المسحاثات يكون سهل و شامل و فى نفس الوقت يشرح كيف انقرضت الديناصورات و كيف نقدر أعمار المستحاثات و فترات معيشتها و عصورها و التاريخ الجيولوجى للأرض
- عندى كتاب هيعجبك و كمان مجموعة مقدمة قصيرة جدا فيها شوية كتب معقولين و خد كمان التحفة العلمية السمكة داخلك
- طيب بالنسبة للكيمياء و الجدول الدورى للعناصر و اكتشاف اسرار المادة
- لا دى بقى تاخد لها فيلم فيديو من ثلاث أجزاء
https://youtu.be/jQmyR0hnd9c?list=PLg...
- آينشتين و نيوتن و أساطين الفيزياء أسمع عنهم كثيرا فهل أجد لديك شيئا من أعمالهم و تأثيرهم فى العلم
- عندى طبعا مجموعة كتب كويسة بس للأمانه بعضها لسه هقرأه بس بيشكروا فيها جامد
- حسنا ماذا عن الذرة و تاريخها و الكواركس و ميكانيكا الكم و نظرية الأوتار الفائقة
- عندى كتاب الثورة العلمية و كتاب الفيزياء المسلية هاجيبهم لك
- أريد كتاب أيضا عن التلوث و حماية البيئة و كيف ساهم الإنسان فى ذلك
و أيضا البراكين و الزلازل و الألواح التكتونية و تكون الجبال و الجزر أيضا أنا مهتم بها و بطريقة معرفتنا لها و توقعها
و لو توفر لديك شىء فى طبقات الجو و علوم الأرصاد الجوية و تأثيرات البحار و المحيطات على المناخ العالمى
- لا دى صعب تلاقيها هنا
- ماذا عن الخلية و الكائنات الدقيقة من ميكروبات و فيروسات و متعضيات و تكوينها و طريقة عملها و تصنيفها و تطورها
- عندى كتب كتير هتعجبك من لويس باستير لتشارلز دارون للجينوم هتحتاج حوالى خمس كتب علشان تغطى الموضوع ده.

كنت بالمصادفة جالسا فى نفس المكتبة بانتظار تغليف مجلد ميكى و منشغلا بقراءة عدد خاص من سلسلة رجل المستحيل و رغم ذلك تابعت الحوار الذى انتهى بأمين المكتبة الذى جهز حوالى خمسة عشر كتابا لهذا الشاب
اعتدلت قليلا و حييت الشاب و خاطبته قائلا
- بقولك ايه يا معلم .. الكتب دى كتير جدا و شكلك لسه جديد فى السكة دى
ما تاخد موجز تاريخ كل شيء تقريبًا

كتاب رائع و ممتع و مكتوب بإسلوب أدبى بليغ و هو ساخر أحيانا لدرجة الكوميديا. تجنب فيه المؤلف أى تعقيد علمى أو معادلات أو رسومات توضيحية و به كل ما تسأل عنه و زيادة فى حوالى خمسمائة صفحة من القطع المتوسط
باختصار هتقرأه و تدعيلى
هززت رأسى بثقة و نظرت إلى الشاب لأرى رد فعله على نصيحتى و لشدة دهشتى لم أجد لا شاب و لا مكتبة و وجدتنى ما زلت أسطر هذه المراجعة لهذا الكتاب الرائع
لمدمنى البطيخ من أمثالى أهدى هذه البطيخة الحلوة المتنكرة فى صورة كتاب
و أخيرا بعض الإقتباسات
1-
الحياة من وجهة نظر الكيمياء

2-
ماذا لو لم نكن وحدنا فى هذا الكون الشاسع

3-
العلم قد لا يكون معقدا و لكن العلماء هكذا يفعلون

4-

5-

6-

7-

8-

9-
ليس من السهل أن تكون عالما

10-
لماذا وجدت الحياة

11-
حتى كاميرون دياز ستجدها بين صفحات الكتاب

I was never any good at science. At the grammar school I attended we were shepherded into laboratories for lessons on physics, chemistry and biology. These were scary places; I’d never been anywhere like this before. The physics lab had gas taps and Bunsen burners and the walls were filled with incomprehensible charts. The chemistry lab held rows of specimen jars, more gas taps and burners and an underlying smell of something unpleasant and vaguely dangerous. The biology lab displayed pictures and diagrams of human body parts and there were constant rumours of creature dissections and other nasty things to come. Beyond the physical fears it was clear that each subject had its own language. I was fluent in none of them. I ceased study on all of these subjects at the earliest opportunity.

But I left school feeling that I’d missed out on part of my core education. And I had. So I’d had my eye on this book for some time. I’ve long been a fan of Bryson’s insightful yet amusing take on the world. Surely his commentary of all things scientific couldn’t be too painful, could it? The book walks through just about every significant scientific discovery from the creation of the universe to the present day. Well, not quite the present day, given this book was published some fourteen years ago. But given the universe is currently thought to be some 13.7 billion years old, I’m comfortable it covers the mother lode.

The list of sciences included is exhaustive, I spotted whole bunch but I’m also convinced I missed a few. My list comprises:

Anthropology
Astronomy
Botany
Cosmology
Chemistry
Ecology
Geology
Human Biology
Meteorology
Oceanography
Physics
Zoology

It’s fascinating stuff – staggering, in fact. I’d heard of the Big Bang theory, of course, but I’d never delved into the detail of it. The explanation here is clear and concise - it’s still mind bending, but I was able to follow most of the explanation. There were some sections where the detail did become a little heavy – the account of plant life being categorised lumbered on interminably – but on the whole the pacing felt spot on. It’s also very well structured, with relevant topics being grouped together. It flowed well and told a compelling story.

As I worked my way through this book, the thought that kept leaping to the fore was that these brilliant theories and discoveries came about largely as a result of scientists and non-scientists working something out via observation, association and calculation – the kicker being that nearly all of these milestone events predate computers, email and the internet. It’s incredible. In one example twenty years was spent on a calculation using pencil, paper and a slide rule. The same calculation could now be completed using a computer in a single day.

Yes, because of its publication date there are a few recent finds that aren’t included - confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson particle in 2012 is one example – but I really don’t think it missed out too much of any significance. For anyone looking for a comprehensive but easy to follow history of scientific discovery, from the very beginning, look no further. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

11/10 - a book everyone should read simply because of the knowledge it imparts to the reader.

This is one of those books where I realised after a few pages that I couldn't even plan to write this book, let alone put the words on to the page.

A stunning achievement and if I had to recommend one anecdote, it would be Edmond Halley (of comet fame) going to see Isaac Newton about the path the Earth follows around the sun.

Halley and Christopher Wren (in the time when he was a famous mathematician / astronomer before he became a famous architect) and Robert Hooke (the man who proved the law of elasticity) couldn't agree on the path - was it a circle, an ellipse, a parabola?

Isaac was able to prove what kind of curve the Earth took around the sun, however he couldn't put his hand on the written-down proof because his desk wasn't too tidy, so Isaac wrote it down again and sent the proof to Edmond Halley.