Every now and then I pick a non-fiction book. I'm truly delighted by the approach of Bill Bryson. It's a different take than other books such as the famous "A Brief History of time" by Stephen Hawking. This is written for a much broader audience and it's trying to get those on board who really struggle to get into science. He is mixing easy language, facts and gossip to keep the story interesting and the readers on board. Really enjoyed reading this book!

Also, I blame school that they succeed to make science boring and more complicated than it needs to be. We really need this kind of storytelling if we want our next generations to get more interested in these themes.

Sorry, Bill Bryson, I think this may be the MOST boring thing I've ever read in my life. I really loved Walk in the Woods..I loved his witty banter and his engaging, story-telling writing style. I'm not sure WHO, if anyone, would actually enjoy this bland book. I love science and history, but this was just excruciating and mind-numbingly boring and tedious. I ended up skimming most of it. Life is too short for boring books!

I loved this book! You don't have to be a scientist to enjoy A Short History of Nearly Everything as part of Bryson's motivation was to make science more accessible to Joe Public, but I have to say that as a scientist this book resonated deeply with me. Bryson delivers the most interesting facts of many of the greatest, and sometimes pretty obscure, men and women in the history of science. Since some scientists can be rather eccentric it makes for some very good stories! It's a remarkably easy read considering the complexity of some of the science and does a wonderful job of showing the evolution of science and the associated politics. This is a must read!!

What I appreciated most about this book is that it recognizes the lesser-known pioneers of our time. To be more precise, the book in large part, introduces and acknowledges some of the barely known Western scientists (along with the famous ones) that researched, discovered, and in part laid out the foundation for modern astronomy, geology, paleontology, chemistry, physics, biology, but never received the deserved recognition!

The author answers the questions, how and with whom, we arrived at the scientific knowledge we know today, and what those results are. The book very briefly discusses the evolution of the cosmos and our planetary system and in more details the evolution of planet Earth and its living organisms. We also see that the field of science, like in any other field of profession, is full of greed, deceit, and bitterness.

As far as the title and content of the book is concerned, I have my remarks. The book is called A Short History of Nearly Everything and it only covers science and scientists. Not what I expected.

Also, not introducing and discussing, in a history of science book, the Mesopotamian, ancient Egyptians and Greeks, Mesoamerican civilization, the Islamic Golden Age period, and others, deprives the reader from seeing and grasping the whole picture of the chronological development of the study of the physical and natural world.

Lastly, all the short stories revolve around Western European and North American scientists. Which I personally love and appreciate. For example, as far as Asia is concerned, the author dedicated space within the book to inform us that Tokyo could be expecting a devastating earthquake, and the Asian shark finning cruel practice brings in their restaurants up to $100+ per bowl of shark fin soup. But, no mention of Asian scientists, and their achievements.

Therefore, in general the content of the book can be viewed as US-Eurocentric, which in return presents the reader with a short-sighted view of the history of science, all wrapped up in an ambiguous title.

Not to end on a negative note, Bryson is an enjoyable storyteller and the many short stories, along with the science lessons, nicely flow together. Bryson is not a scientist, but he did a fine job.

(3.5/5)

A short history of nearly everything

This is a remarkable accomplishment. From the author, of course, but also from me, to have read it. I'm not a scientist, so when I started reading this book, I expected that I would skip some parts. But I didn't ; I read every single page of this highly readable and enjoyable book.
I won't bother you with all the scientific stuff I learned. Instead, I compiled a top 5 list of the frightful fates of some scientists.

1. Max Planck (1858-1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose work on quantum theory won him the Nobel Prize in physics in 1918. Max Planck had to deal with many tragedies in his life. His beloved first wife, Marie, died at a young age in 1909, probably from TBC. They had four children (with his second wife Magda he had a fifth child Hermann). During the first world war, his son Erwin was taken prisoner by the French in 1914, while his other son Karl was killed in action at Verdun. His daughter Grete died in 1917 while giving birth to her first child, and two years later her twin sister Emma died the same way, after having married Grete's widower. In February 1944 his home in Berlin was completely destroyed by an air raid, annihilating all his scientific records and correspondence. In 1945, Erwin was sentenced to death by the Nazi Volksgerichtshof and executed, because of his participation in the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in july 1944. His death destroyed much of Max Planck's will to live.
Tragic

2. Doctor Thomas Midgley Jr. (1889 – 1944) was an American mechanical engineer and chemist. He was a key figure in a team of chemists that developed the lead additive to gasoline (TEL) as well as some of the first CFCs. His work led to the release of large quantities of lead into the atmosphere as a result of the large-scale combustion of leaded gasoline all over the world. Thomas Midgley Jr. died three decades before the ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas effects of CFCs in the atmosphere became widely known. Bill Bryson remarked that Midgley possessed "an instinct for the regrettable that was almost uncanny". In 1940, at the age of 51, Midgley contracted poliomyelitis, which left him severely disabled. This led him to devise an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. This system was the eventual cause of his own death when he was entangled in the ropes of this device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.
Horrible

3. Gideon Mantell (1790 – 1852) was an English obstetrician, geologist and paleontologist. He and his wife discovered several large teeth of an Iguanodon in 1822, but they were dismissed as belonging to a fish or mammal or rhinoceros, by other scientist. Mantell was mocked by his peers, and especially sir Richard Owen (the coiner of the word "dinosaur") made his life a hell. Mantell became financially destitute and his wife left him in 1839. His son emigrated to New Zealand that same year, and his daughter died in 1840. In 1841 Mantell was the victim of a terrible carriage accident in London. Somehow he fell from his seat, became entangled in the reins and was dragged across the ground. Mantell suffered a debilitating spinal injury. He became bent, crippled and in constant pain. Richard Owen took advantage from this and tried to ruin Mantell's reputation as an important contributor to the science of paleontology. In fact, Owen even transferred claim of a number of discoveries from Mantell to himself. Mantell could no longer bear the pain of his spine and the burden of Owen’s hatred and on 10 November 1852, Mantell took an overdose of opium and later lapsed into a coma. He died that afternoon. An anonymous obituary appeared shortly afterwards in the Literary Gazette, which denigrated Mantell’s achievements and claimed his scientific work was no more than mediocre at best – although anonymous, the style of the obituary quickly identified it as coming from Owen’s pen. Then, as a final act of indignity, Owen had a section of Mantell's spine removed and displayed his pickled spine in a jar in his museum.
Dreadful

4. Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) was a German polar reseacher, geophysicist and meteorologist. Today he is most remembered as the originator of the theory of continental drift by hypothesizing in 1912 that the continents are slowly drifting around the Earth. Wegener's fourth and last Greenland expedition was in 1930. The 14 participants under his leadership were to establish three permanent stations from which the thickness of the Greenland ice sheet could be measured and year-round Arctic weather observations made. Success depended on enough provisions being transferred from West camp to Eismitte ("mid-ice") for two men to winter there, and this was a factor in the decision that led to his death. On 24 September, although the route markers were by now largely buried under snow, Wegener set out with thirteen Greenlanders and his meteorologist Fritz Loewe to supply the camp by dog sled. During the journey, the temperature reached −60 °C (−76 °F) and Loewe's toes became so frostbitten they had to be amputated with a penknife without anesthetic. Twelve of the Greenlanders returned to West camp. On 19 October the remaining three members of the expedition reached Eismitte. There being only enough supplies for three at Eismitte, Wegener and Rasmus Villumsen took two dog sleds and made for West camp. They took no food for the dogs and killed them one by one to feed the rest until they could run only one sled. While Villumsen rode the sled, Wegener had to use skis, but they never reached the camp: Wegener died and Villumsen was never seen again. Wegener died probably of a heart attack (Bill Bryson wrote he froze to death). Villumsen buried Wegener’s body in the snow and marked the grave with skis. Villumsen then resumed his journey, but did not complete it. His body was never found. In May 1931, after a search, Kurt Wegener discovered his brother’s grave. He and other expedition members built a pyramid-shaped mausoleum in the ice and snow, and Alfred Wegener’s body was laid to rest in it. The mausoleum has now, with the passing of time, been buried under Greenland’s ice and snow.
Terrible

5. Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) was an American astronomer who is known for playing a vital role in the development of extragalactic astronomy. What became of Edwin Hubble after his death at his home on the 28th of September 1953, is a mystery. The whereabouts of his body were known only to his widow. It is not known whether he was buried or cremated or where his remains now lie. This secret his widow took to her own grave. His wife who adored him, devoted years of her life to writing an almost mythical account of her husband's life, much of which is evidently false.
Creepy

9/10

"(...) a vida, mesmo ao nivel mais simples, é, aparentemente, um fim em si mesma".
David Attenborough

Sempre fui uma curiosa da divulgação científica com uma franca predileção por comunicadores que tornam o tema tão legível que, ao terminar os seus livros, nos sentimos instantaneamente mais inteligentes, uma espécie de cientistas de bolso, ou intelectuais de bancada.
Por outro lado, se há coisa que as ciências transmitem, sem exceção, e que é tão benéfica a leigos como a doutos, é a certeza de que a vida na terra é extraordinária - sob todos os pontos de vista. E é impossível não ficar abismado com aquele que é aqui o nosso papel.

"Cada átomo que possuímos já passou com certeza por variadíssimas estrelas e foi parte de milhões de organismos pelo caminho, até se tornar parte de nós. Todos nós somos tão atomicamente numerosos, e tão vigorosamente reciclados no momento da nossa morte, que uma parte significativa dos nossos átomos - até cerca de um bilião para cada um de nós, como já houve quem sugerisse - provavelmente já terá pertencido a Shakespeare.
(...)
Quer isto dizer que somos todos reincarnações - embora de curto prazo. Quando morremos, os nossos átomos desagregam-se e vão à procura de novas utilizações noutro lado - como parte de uma folha, ou de um ser humano, ou de uma gota de orvalho."

Primeiro que tudo, Bill Bryson merece um louvor pela tarefa hercúlea a que mete mãos neste volume. E outro pela motivação que o leva a isso:

"Parecia haver uma conspiração universal entre os autores de livros de estudo no sentido de garantir que a matéria de que tratavam nunca chegasse demasiado perto de algo com um mínimo de interesse, e se mantivesse sempre a uma distância imensa do que fosse francamente interessante."

Em cerca de 500 páginas recuamos consigo à idade do gelo, atravessamos continentes, somos encolhidos à escala atómica...

"Continua a ser uma noção dificil de apreender considerar que os átomos são basicamente espaços vazios, e que a solidez que sentimos à nossa volta é mera ilusão. (...) Se nos sentarmos numa cadeira, não nos estamos a sentar verdadeiramente, mas a levitar sobre ela à altura de um angstrom (um centésimo de milhão de centímetro), já que os nossos electrões e os electrões da cadeira se opõem implacavelmente a uma maior intimidade."

... convivemos com bactérias e germes...

"Se estivermos de boa saúde e formos medianamente cuidadosos com a nossa higiene, teremos uma multidão de cerca de um trilião de bactérias a pastar nas planícies do nosso corpo - cerca de cem mil em cada centímetro quadrado de pele. Elas estão lá para se alimentarem dos cerca de dez biliões de flocos de pele que soltamos todos os dias, além das saborosas gorduras e revigorantes elementos minerais que eliminamos pelos poros e fissuras. Para as bactérias somos um restaurante por excelência, com as vantagens adicionais do calor e da constante mobilidade que o nosso corpo lhes oferece. (...) Cientistas australianos encontraram micróbios conhecidos como Thiobacillus concretivorans que só conseguem viver em concentrações de ácido sulfúrico suficientemente fortes para dissolver metal. Uma espécie chamada Micrococcus radiophilus foi encontrada a viver alegremente nos tanques de resíduos de reactores nucleares, devorando plutónio e tudo o mais que lá encontrava."

... e viajamos pelo cosmos.

"Podemos muito bem ser apenas uma entre milhões de civilizações avançadas. Infelizmente, como o espaço é tão espaçoso, a distância média entre quaisquer duas dessas civilizações deve ser de pelo menos 200 anos-luz, o que é muito mais do que parece à primeira vista. Para começar significa que, se esses seres sabem que aqui estamos e nos conseguem ver com os seus telescópios, estão na realidade a observar luz que já deixou a Terra há 200 anos. Ou seja, não estão a ver-nos, a si nem a mim. Estão a ver a Revolução Francesa, Thomas Jefferson, pessoas com meias de seda e cabeleiras postiças(...). Portanto, mesmo que não estejamos realmente sós, em termos práticos acabamos por estar de facto sós."

O humor de Bryson é contagiante e faz valer a viagem.
É certo que o facto de se ver obrigado a condensar muita e mui variada informação acaba por gerar alguma confusão e ambiguidade em determinados capítulos (em especial naqueles em que a história temporal interfere com a narrativa dos muitos feitos destes homens), mas, de todas as vezes que cruzei a bibliografia com o texto de Bryson, não lhe encontrei erros - há lacunas, claro, e algumas insinuações que não ficam esclarecidas, mas não falácias que manchem grandemente o trabalho. Certamente existirão erros, mas Bryson apenas replica os estudos de outrem...

No entanto, Breve História de Quase Tudo é isso mesmo: um livro breve sobre a história de quase tudo. Não é um livro, como é vendido, de divulgação científica propriamente dita, mas um livro de história das ciências (acho que não nos tentou enganar a esse respeito, afinal, está no título). Mas, em virtude de encarar a história como uma longa lista de nomes, cargos, descobertas e relações entre cientistas, aí por volta da metade ou do último terço do livro, este torna-se repetitivo e maçador - por isso, a partir de determinado ponto, acabei por ir adiando a leitura. Outro defeito (de qualquer livro de divulgação científica ou, como neste caso, de história da ciência) é a rapidez com que tudo se torna rapidamente obsoleto ou, no mínimo, como aqui, desatualizado - mas aí nada a fazer.

No geral é um livro agradável, para conhecer a "história" de quase tudo, mas que fica muito limitado, pela abordagem não científica e pelo distanciamento pessoal entre o domínio científico e o escritor (que é jornalista e escritor de viagens). Para divulgação científica prefiro os nomes tradicionais, mas para uma pequena e divertida aventura pela louca história do universo, é bastante bom.

"(...)se tivéssemos de conceber um organismo destinado a salvaguardar a vida no nosso solitário cosmos, a vigiar a sua evolução e a manter um registo dos sítios por onde passou, o ser humano não seria o mais indicado para essa tarefa.
Mas aqui chegamos a um ponto muito importante: fomos escolhidos, pelo ou pela providência, ou o que lhe quisermos chamar. Tanto quanto sabemos, somos o melhor que há. Talvez sejamos mesmo a única coisa que há. É irritante pensar que talvez sejamos a realização suprema do universo, e ao mesmo tempo o seu pior pesadelo."

حقیقت مأیوس‌کننده‌ای که با خواندن برخی کتاب‌ها گریبان‌گیرم می‌شود این است که چگونه یک نظام مدون آموزشی و پژوهشی و همچنین شرایط متناسب جامعه، باعث می‌شود چهره‌ها، استعدادها و مسیرها برای تحقق یک کشف مهیا شوند. بسیاری از چهره‌ها از علاقه‌های جزئی به سمت اکتشافات بزرگ کشانده می‌شوند. از جمع‌آوری صدف و سنگریزه و گیاه به اکتشاف و چاپ مقاله و تحقیق می‌رسند. جالب است که اغلب این چهره‌ها نه نبوغ آن‌چنانی دارند و نه وجه تمایزی برجسته، تنها و تنها علاقه دارند و اشتیاق. چیزی که مردم این‌جا هم دارند. اما مسیرها به کجا می‌روند و چه شرایطی مهیا می‌شود، جواب سوال است. به‌قول فروغ اینجا راه‌ها ادامۀ خود را در تیرگی رها کردند... ما زمین و آسمان را تبدیل کردیم به دانشگاه، سر خیابان‌ها مقاله و پایان‌نامه می‌فروشیم. حراجِ هر روزه زده‌ایم به دانش و تولید دانش، با شعارهایی هزاران برابر بدتر. ما هر سال‌مان را با «شعار» شروع می‌کنیم، شعار دانش، شعار برتری، شعار پیشرفت، شعارِ عمل! و سالی که با شعار شروع می‌شود، نکو بودنش از بهارش پیداست!

امیدوارم روزی برسد که اشتیاقِ هر کسی {نه روابط و ضوابط و حتی نبوغ فردی} به تبحر در دانش و پژوهش برسد.

Full review coming soon...but I just wanted to mention how much I enjoyed this. Entertaining, enlightening, and provide plenty of fodder for my creative writing. I'm a huge fan of Bill Bryson and have moved on to his Applacian Trail book.

Esse livro é um amplo e delicioso passeio pela história da ciência, em seus mais diversos ramos, cortesia de Bill Bryson e sua prosa irresistível.

Acho que é um livro que de tempos em tempos todo mundo deveria ler, para parar um pouco, deixar um pouco de lado a "correria e a estupidez do mundo moderno" (como diz o professor Renato Brolezzi), e pensar sobre a nossa condição, nosso planeta e "a vida, o universo e tudo o mais". O livro nos faz refletir sobre quão pouco sabemos a respeito disso tudo, e ao mesmo tempo sobre como é fascinante tentar descobrir e aprender um pouco mais. Pensei muito, ao longo do livro, na frase de T. H. Huxley (por sinal, ele aparece diversas vezes no livro):

“The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land, to add something to the extent and the solidity of our possessions."

Bom, é um dos melhores livros de divulgação da ciência que já li. O livro já tem uma certa idade, e em ciência isso faz muita diferença, então algumas informações já estão um tanto desatualizadas. Mas acho que a ideia principal do livro é a inspiração, é o encantamento com a ciência, seu objeto, sua história e seus personagens. Gostei tanto que, quando meus filhos fizerem uns 14 anos, vou dar uma cópia para cada um, para que leiam e se maravilhem, e, quem sabe, escolham um rumo que os leve no futuro a reivindicar um pouco mais de terra para nossa ilhota de conhecimento.

I almost wanted to smack myself for not reading this book earlier. Having said that, since I've only started on audiobooks about 2-years back, perhaps it's not such a bad thing, because I believe with all my heart that I enjoyed this much more with the superb narration.

Firstly, A Short History of Nearly Everything is a title which is ambitious by any measure. Really? Nearly everything? Bill Bryson sure did a nifty job at creating this riveting read which I can describe alternately, though not perfectly, as 'A layman's summary of leading scientific thoughts, discoveries and events that shaped our understanding of the planet Earth as well as the life which resides therein.' And the truth is that even now, we are still pretty far from truly understanding or knowing very much.

Bryson's writing style can be described as eloquently delightful. A topic such as this can easily be dry in its rendition, instead Bryson has injected an insouciant dry sense of humour therein. He also has a way of putting together the most amusing or incredibly apt yet elegant descriptions. An example which I loved was how he described a person who was tall, thin and not very nice as 'a lanky assemblage of shortcomings.'

The audio narration was delivered with such deadpan flair that combined with the author's style it made for many hours of great entertainment. I've caught myself laughing aloud so many times that passersby must have thought me a bit mad.

I particularly appreciated the real life analogies that helped to explain scientific measurements which were either infinitesimally too small or too large for the every day person to comprehend. The flow of the narrative from one scientific branch to another was almost seamless and it was written in a manner that actually makes the title of the book relevant.

In short, this book was both enlightening and enjoyable. I highly recommend this to anyone who has even a little interest in science.

There are some things that make you like a book and some things that put you off. For me, this one had more of the latter. I can understand why Bryson wrote this. A book on science, with the difficulty taken out makes it all the more accessible to the reader. What is traded off to achieve this, is the kind of scientific rigour which makes the subject matter so enticing in the first place. Bryson all too frequently fails to explain statements made or explanations given for scientific phenomena. This leaves me thinking, what is the point?

There is some interesting history and some of the characters are fascinating (hence two stars rather than one). But not enough to make 423 pages interesting to read. This is science 'extra-lite', for those who don't have the desire for knowledge which would drive them to read a scientific book with more substance.

I guess the final conclusion would be that the chapters are disparate, with no clear progression from one to the next. A hodge podge of trivia, which I would defy anyone to remember, is the result.

With so much popular science out there, it is hard to excuse Bill Bryson for penning something that seems to lack everything I would want from a science book. No doubt others would disagree but for me, this one was a bit of a waste of time.

از عنوان شروع کنیم

عنوان کتاب تقریبا گویای همه‌چیز هست. نویسنده نزدیک سه سال به شکل حیرت‌آوری حجم عظیمی از کتاب‌های علمی توی رشته‌های مختلف رو خونده و به جاهای مختلف سر زده و تقریبا توی تمام شاخه‌های اصلی علم روز دنیا حداقل سی چهل صفحه‌ای نوشته

آیا این کتاب ارتباطی به ما دارد؟

خوب. این یه سوال جدی برای من بود. چون شخصا هیچ ارتباطی با کتاب‌های علمی نداشتم و ندارم. اما خیلی وسوسه‌انگیزه که کتابی رو بخونی که توش عصاره‌ی همه‌ی علوم گنجونده شده باشه. کتاب‌هایی که به این شکل وجه دایره‌المعارفی دارن این فرصت رو به خواننده‌هاشون میدن که با یه مطالعه‌ی مختصر راجع‌به این شاخه‌ها حوزه‌ی مورد علاقه‌ی خودشون رو پیدا کنن

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توی مرورهایی که روی کتاب نوشته شده ایرادهایی رو بهش وارد کردند. با همه‌ی این احوال قطعا تاریخچه‌ی تقریبا همه چیز کتاب خوبیه. نویسنده انسان شوخ و دوست‌داشتنی‌ای هست و سعی کرده جا به جا از اتفاق‌های جالب علمی بگه که شاید توی متون "رسمی" علمی هیچ‌وقت ازشون صحبتی به میون نمیاد [بخش‌هایی از همین تیکه‌ها رو تو استتوس‌هام می‌تونید پیدا کنید]. دیگه این‌که نویسنده یه نیم‌نگاه خیلی جدی داشته به تاریخ غیررسمی علوم مورد بحث و سعی کرده از کسایی هم اسم ببره که در اثر بی‌توجهی مردم روزگارشون یا دزدیده شدن طرح یا ایده‌شون به شهرت واقعی و درخور فعالیت‌شون نرسیدن.

دنیای دانشمندها اون‌قدرها که فکر می‌کنیم دنیای اخلاقی‌ای نبوده
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کتاب دوست‌داشتنی و خوش‌خونی هست با یه ترجمه‌ی خوب. هرچند که انتظار داشتم بخش مربوط به حیات موجودات زنده‌ش جذاب‌تر از این باشه. اما در کل یکی از بهترین گزینه‌ها برای یه آدم غیرمتخصص [مثل من] هست که ببینه بالای سرش، زیر پاش و توی بدنش چه دنیاهایی هست
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