I learned a lot in school but I must admit that I had really no idea about chemistry, physics or biology. Ever. These topics always seemed impossible for me to understand. Sometimes this made me feel a little embarrassed and I was always hoping no one asks me anything about atoms or how the moon influences the tides. During school, I was never really interested in topics such as water, stones and fossils. This all changed because of Bill Bryson’s book A Short History of Nearly Everything. A Journey Through Space and Time which my boyfriend gave me for Christmas last year. You might wonder What is so interesting about fossils? What’s the deal with water? I get it. But read the review and you might understand why this book is here to change your perception.
Why I liked the book
It is the first book I’ve read by Bill Bryson and I had no expectations other than to maybe learn a little. Bryson manages to make the most difficult theories and finding easy to understand and even entertaining. He writes with wit, deep knowledge and from a perspective of infinite wonder and desire to know more. To know more about the earth, the oceans and its inhabitants, theories and concepts. He takes us on this journey through the history of our planet and the (human) beings on it. The book consists of many chapters, one not longer than 20 pages which makes it easy to read.
Bryson writes in a way that made me stand still and marvel at the things we know about the world, but also at the things that are still unknown. His enthusiasms for science and finding answers really took me by surprise and I am still amazed by how science changed the world, how we take certain things for granted. I have, for example, always thought that Dinosaurs have been known/discovered ages ago. But it turns out the T-Rex was only discovered in 1902.
Why you should read the book
I recommend the book to anyone who has a (very) basic knowledge of physics, biology and our planet or thinks these are topics that are just boring. We all need to be reminded that books actually teach us a lot, that we can get enthusiastic for topics we believed to be boring. I remember my geography lessons and being bored because I was not interested in stones and levels of earth. But after reading A Short History of Nearly Everything I am amazed by the knowledge people have and how we can find beauty and surprises in ordinary things.
Things I learned
- The Big Bang Theory became popular only in the mid-1960s.
- Only about 6000 stars are visible to the naked eye from Earth.
- Isaac Newton was the first person in Britain knighted for scientific achievements.
- Richard Owen (a horrible person apparently!) coined the term
dinosauria
- Even the cookbooks of Marie Curie contain so much radiation that they are too dangerous to handle.
- The plates of Europe and North America are parting at about the speed a fingernail grows – approximately two meters in
a human life.
- There are apparently 2 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or greater somewhere in the world every day
- Tokyo stands on a meeting point of three tectonic plates, which makes it an easy target for earthquakes
- The Earth would be uninhabitable if it was situated 5% nearer or 15% further from the Sun
- At any moment, 1.800 thunderstorms are happening around the globe, making it around 40.000 per day
- Every second, around 100 lightning bolts hit the ground.
- The Pacific holds just over half of all ocean water (51.6%), the Atlantic holds 23.6% and the Indian Ocean 21.2%.
Extract
This paragraph was my favourite and illustrates brilliantly how Bryson writes about the really interesting characters of the past:
On another occasion, while poisoning himself wit elevated levels of oxygen, Haldane had a fit so severe that he crushed several vertebrae. Collapsed lungs were a routine hazard. Perforated eardrums were quite common, too; but, as Haldane reassuringly noted in one of his essays, ‘the drum generally heals up; and if a hole remains in it, although one is somewhat deaf, one can blow tobacco smoke out of the ear in question, which is a social accomplishment.”
Do you enjoy reading books about science? Did any of the facts above surprise you?
Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything. A Journey Through Space and Time., ISBN 978-0-552-15174-0, 574 pages. All quotes are from the book.
