Not quite everything, drank enough ... 2

I Was first Acquainted with Bill Bryson through His works on the English language and various kinds of books travelogue. In thesis books he Proved to be an entertaining writer, witty and interesting, with just the right amount of I'm-not-taking-myself-too-gravement attitude to make for pleasurable reading Genuinely. Other books of his, 'Notes from a Small Island' and 'The Mother Tongue', are ones I return to again and again. His latest book, along one of the ones (I Was surprised, as MOST Bryson books Rarely Exceed 300 pages, and this one Weighs in well past 500), is one Likely to join Those ranks.
Of course, a history of everything, Even a SHORT NEARLY history of everything, has got to be fairly long. Bryson Begins, Logically enough, at the Beginning, The Beginning or at least as best science can determine. Bryson weaves together the story of science with a gentle description of the science Involved - he looks not only at the Earliest constructs of the universe (Such As the background radiation) at goal aussi Those Who discover the constructs (Penzias and Wilson Such As).
A great example of the way Bryson weaves the history of science into the description of science, in a sense showing the way the world exchanges as our perceptions of how it exists exchange, Is His description of the formulation, rejection, and final acceptance of the Pangaea theory. He looks at figures Such As Wegener (the German meteorologist - 'weatherman', as Bryson Describes _him_) Who Pushed forward the theory in the face of daunting scientific rejection que la continents Careers About did move, and That Similarities in flora and fauna, as well as rock formations and geological and geographical aspects --other, can be traced back to a unified continent. Bryson with gentle humor Discusses the attitudes of scientists, As They Shifted not quite as slowly as the continents Towards accepting this theory, making gentle jabs along the way (Even Einstein wrote a foreword to a book That Was Rather scathing Toward the idea of ​​flat tectonics - brilliance is no guarantee against being white absolutely wrong).
Bryson traces the development of the universe and the world from the Earliest universe to the formation of the planet, to the growing diversity of life forms to Human Beings and development of human society. Inspired by Natural History (the short history Refers to more than anything else natural history), this traces the path to us and future possible. Bryson juxtaposed the establishment of the Principia by Isaac Newton with the extinction of the dodo bird - Stating que la divinity and felony word contained in the kind of humanity, the same species That can rise to the heights of understanding in the universe can aussi, pour no apparent reason, causes the extinction of hapless and harmless fellow creatures on earth. Are humans, in Bryson's words, 'Inherently bad news for --other living things'? He Recounts Many of the truly staggering follies of species-hunting, PARTICULARLY in the nineteenth century, calling upon people to take far more care of the planet-have-been with qui we Entrusted, Either through design or fate.
Bryson's take on things is innovative and his narrative is interesting, is there is no purpose to it, just as there is with MOST de son writing. He writes not Merely to entertain, or to inform, to persuade purpose. Bryson is intrigued by science Having a joy That comes across the page of someone Who Essentially gold Understand About did not know a lot of the background of science and how it worked up to in the world Recently, and now wants to share joy with everyone That! He definitely HAS point to argue - for starters, the need for open-mindedness, Even Among (Among Perhaps PARTICULARLY) Those Who are Supposed to-have the open and searching intellects, the scientists Themselves. He aussi wishes others to know more about science, professionals and laypersons, and more about our own origins as a people, both, in terms of Where we've come from, and how we've come to know about it.
Unique Among Bryson's writing in Many Ways, this is a travelogue In Some ways through geology, paleontology, cosmology and evolution. A fun and fascinating read!