A Short History of Nearly Everything Puns

Hi puffs! Hope you enjoyed our factual book, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Yay learning! Here are the discussion questions for the book. Feel free to add any other thoughts in the comments!

1. Were you surprised to read that so many of science’s mysteries are unsolved? How do you feel about our lack of certainty?
2. A theme in the book was science being held back by resistance to change and new ideas. Which discovery were you most frustrated to see get delayed?
3. How has this book changed your perception of evolution?
4. Why do you think so many of the scientists mentioned had sad endings? Which story did you find most tragic?
5. How was the information in the book different than what you were taught in science classes in school?

This is one of the few books I actually read out of pure interest. This is a great and informative book. As someone who loves history and trivia, this as good as it gets. He is also very funny.

The book got me hooked at the beginning. So much interesting information thrown at you. But some of the middle chapters were hard to get through for me. However, it finished strong. The last couple chapters were as interesting as the ones in the beginning. I am propably gonna read the book again in couple of weeks. I highly recommend this book.

They're all packed with content and supported by evidence. All authors repeat themselves, but these books have enough content that the authors don't repeat themselves that much. They're also simple enough for laypeople.

I'm looking for similar natural science or social science books for laypeople.

I can't stay focused long enough to get through fluffy books that either repeat the same thing a lot or make statements without supporting arguments.

I used to be a curious kid, but as I'm entering adulthood, I feel like that curiosity has diminished.

Luckily I read A Short History of Nearly Everything. This book brought back those feelings I used to get while watching NOVA and Bill Nye back in the day on PBS.

To me, this book felt like a literary version of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Both of which shows us just how small we are in the universe and just how lucky we are.

I was hoping /r/books would be up for a little philosophical discussion around our purpose on this planet and what it means for our future.

I think it all starts with driving our curiosity...

#Why We All Need To Be More Curious

Take a step outside of yourself for a moment...

In fact, take a step outside of being a human at all.

Imagine for a second that you are the universe.

When you do this, you realize that us humans are completely insignificant from the perspective of the universe. Every human ever born lives and dies on a chunk of rock, rotating around the sun, rotating around the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of the billions in our infinite universe.

We're far less important than we think we are.

And yet...

Everything had to work out exactly the way it did for us to come into existence.

The Milky Way *had *to form ~12.21 billion years ago and the Earth *had *to form ~4.43 billion years ago. Our species, Homo sapiens, had to survive countless threats to pop up ~160,000 years ago, which is but a minor blip on the vast cosmic timeline.

What makes us significant is that we're the first species to realize all of this.

That's what makes us matter --- we're the species that was curious enough to ask questions and develop cognitive tools to help discover the answers.

#How Will You Decide To View This World?

We have two options for viewing our world.

The first viewpoint is predefined. All the questions are answered from on high, based on whichever religious doctrine we adhere to.

The second is undefined. All of our questions haven't been answered (and may never be) because we're acutely aware of just how much we do not know.

The opinion of us here at Thought Stack is simple...

A life devoid of curiosity is boring.

With new mind-blowing discoveries happening all the time, we need to realize there is much left to learn. Curiosity is a core trait that we need to continually cultivate.

You might be asking, "Where does curiosity end? Isn't there a point at which we can rest easy?"

It neve

Just started reading this book and it's excellent. However it was published in 2003 and there's definitely been some discoveries/developments in the past 17 years that I'm also curious about. I'm still going to finish this book, but is there anything like this that is more recent that I can also read?

I’m finishing up Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, a page-turning summary of what we know about the universe and the natural world and how we came to know it in under 500 pages. I love the combination of broad scope, amusing anecdotes, mind-boggling details and wit. I’d love to read similar books on subjects I have less familiarity with, especially art or architecture, but I’m open to all compelling suggestions! Length doesn’t matter if it’s engaging enough. Thanks!

I'm desperately (fine, maybe eagerly) looking for an MP3 version of his book, BUT read by Bill Bryson.

I have the Richard Matthews version, which I thought was pretty well narrated, until I listened to At Home, ready by Bill Bryson himself, who's style I prefer.

I know there's a version on Audible, but I don't use Audible for my audiobooks.

To be clear, I'm more than happy to pay for it, I just want it in MP3 version so that I can use the audiobook app of my choice. I tried downloading it from Audible but you then have to download additional software that will try and convert the file to MP3...didn't work.

Any suggestions?

To reiterate I'm looking for the version read by Bill Bryson himself.

Cheers

Preferably not textbooks but leisure books. Audio books are a ++ but not necessary. It’s okay if they’re fairly technical.

I've heard and seen great reviews on this book and decided to get it for a road trip. I typically would give a book a little longer to build up before I make a decision about it, I've also never returned a book...

but I couldn't turn that book off fast enough, it was beyond daunting. I love Sci-Fi books and the science behind it, in fact, I just finished The Martian and loved it, so why not try so Sci-Non Fiction. Listening to ASHONE, I felt as if I had extreme ADHD. It was so unfocused, overly broad and used way too many unnecessary adjectives, which just made the book feel slower and slower.

"The size of this planet is a Billion Billion Billion times larger than the stupendous, irreplaceable, magnificent and wonderful, planet Earth. Dr. So and So even said this slightly relevant thing about it! Now lets talk about something completely unrelated and not focus on one topic long enough to be interesting!"

I know I'm exaggerating a little, but it seemed to follow that formula over and over again. It seemed very hard to actually learn anything, because it jumped to the next point so quick. Did I quit too early? The book has great reviews and still seems right up my alley but it was so tedious to listen to! I switched over to The Expanse #1 and I'm loving that, but wouldn't mind Non-Fiction in my life.

Thoughts?

Also, I noticed a lot of out to date info in that book, like Pluto officially being a planet.

This is one of my favourite pop science books because it's a genuinely enjoyable read that presents dense and complicated scientific discoveries in a comprehendible and accessible way. As a travel writer he takes us on a journey through science rather than hitting us with thoery after theory. Also I don't think it comes off a patronising or overly dumbed-down.

What are some other fun books have you found that do something similar but maybe with psychology or philosophy or any other complex subject really?

For those of you that haven't read this book, it details a lot of the origins of modern scientific thoughts and theories from their inception to implementation. What i find to be even more interesting is the attention detail the author pays in bringing the reader along for the ride. Instead of just saying what the Einsteins, Darwins and Newtons did, Bryson paints a more complete picture about how the lives of the people whose thoughts, theories and experiments have shaped the modern world.

However, there is a lot of discourse regarding religion's role in recent scientific history. After all, Darwin wanted to become a clergyman, and the Vatican had (has?) a huge science division.

So, for those of you that have read this book, do you think it would be particularly offensive to someone who is deeply religious? I personally think this person in question would enjoy this book based on the details alone, and histories of many prominent people and events. Also, this person's kids have grown up to be scientists (biologists and medical doctors).

Any and all comments are greatly appreciated!

I listened to the audio book of the latter two by Bill Bryson and really enjoyed them, then I recently listened to Moby Dick, and similarities in tone and style seemed really obvious too me, particularly in A Walk In The Woods. Did anyone else here notice that?

The way he'd tell his story and sprinkle in tangents of really interesting facts and science.

Is this a common style of narration?

I saw a ton of mentions about how many people liked this book. I read Sapiens and Surely You’re Kidding Me Mr. Feynman - I thought this book would have the conciseness and science-ness of either of these books, it does not.

I’m 10% into the book - chapter 5. So far, to me it just seems that the books lists about 30 different scientists, a small blurb about quarrels with other scientists and some discoveries they made. Maybe I’m being negative but I have not found anything interesting in this book.

I looked to the middle of the book and it seems to be the same thing.

What am I missing? Tell me why you like this book so much.

Not sure how many of you have read this book, but I loved it! This was my first Bill Bryson book and won't be my last. But I am curious, since the book is nearly 15 years old, how many scientific discoveries since then in the fields he discusses have either greatly expanded upon what he had concluded at the time or proven his findings wrong. My reasoning behind this is since he has awakened my interest in many of these fields of history and science, I long to know how much we have progressed in the major areas he discusses.

Does anyone have suggestions for a.book similar to this? I've never read anything quite like it -- I'd love to read anything that maintains such an aura of awe with the universe. Anything too technical seems to lose that.

Hello, I'm looking for a book for my brother that would spark curiosity about the world in him. He's having first communion this year, and while religion isn't a big part of our family's life, he's been raised as a catholic and didn't have any contact with other religions or atheism (although I'm a non believer, but we don't live together and religion doesn't really come up - funny how he isn't old enough to talk about faith, but old enough to accept catholicism).

I want to give him a book he could read now or in a few years (he's 9) that would open up his mind and help him accept and understand different religions, views, ways of life etc.

I know he's too young for Sapiens, but I haven't read A Short History, is it okay for children? If not, what would you recommend?

I read A Short History of Nearly Everything on my honeymoon and really enjoyed it. (I’m not a big non-fiction reader!) I would love to read something similar to it - something where I learn a lot, but it’s written in laymen’s terms, has interesting trivia, and is a little funny.

It doesn’t have to be science (but it could be). I’m open to anything that has a similar tone.

Thanks!

Any better options?

I just want to learn more, I go to trivia nights often and I think it'll help

My 5 Questions:

1. How did you get in to travel writing?
2. What is your research process like prior to travel?
3. What was it like putting together a book with the scope and depth of "A Short History of Nearly Everything?"
4. "A Walk in the Woods" inspired me to start hiking and exploring my native country. Have you done similar outdoor explorations, or did the Appalachian Trail do you in?
5. Most important question: I love to travel and I love to write. Now, how do I get paid?

http://www.billbryson.co.uk/

Hello! I am looking for a suggestion for a book (it will actually be an audiobook) that relates to World History, preferably Ancient, similar to Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything in that it is broad and covers many topics. So far I am considering either The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits by by Steve Wiegand, Erik Sass, Johny Heller or The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer. any suggestions or comments on either of those two would be appreciated. thank you!

As the title says. I've read and re-read A Short History of Nearly Everything somewhere in the double digits, and it remains one of my favorite books of all time. I'm about to take a trip overseas and will have lots of lounge time, and I'm looking for something that's similar. Those books that are sort of a broad historical look at science fascinate me. Nothing too focal. Thanks a bunch!

Google the pdf of it and Ctrl F 'New Zealand'. Anyway interesting reading nonetheless. Although, one of the mentions of NZ is that like USA, Russia and China we have dumped radioactive waste in the sea - did not know that.

Is "A briefer History of Time" by Hawking similar to "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bryson? And if it is, so much so that it might be a little repetitive to read them back to back? I ask because I just finished a brief history of time and am trying to decide between a few books for what too read next. Im considering, a short history of nearly everything, guns germs and steal and, meditations on first philosophy - Descartes.

Just finished reading it Link, and I've gotta say, Bryson does an absolutely amazing job of making learning enjoyable.

The book covers a variety of topics ranging from the birth of the universe, to the rise of mankind.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn about, well, nearly everything.

going on a trip. both are equal in size, and only have room for one.

Im interested in both equally, but anyone who's read both which did you prefer?

It doesn't need to be on the same topic, but it needs to be a page turner and written with the average reader in mind.

I welcome all suggestions in the same genre.

Sometimes I like a singular book to really dive into a particular topic, but lately I've been enjoying books like Bill Bryson's. I will likely read In A Sunburned Country next, but SHONE really grabbed me in that it was the history of how we know what we know, and At Home was basically a comprehensive history of modern life. Both were fascinating and I learned a ton of information I wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to, but the structure and narrative did a really good job of keeping my interest.

What other books would you Historians suggest that are similar to these?

Which do you guys suggest for a beginner or someone who wants to rekindle their interest for science? In what ways are they similar and different?

Thanks!

Hello guys. So i wanted a book that basically resumes the main history of mankind. Can you help me? Thanks

As the title says, I'm looking for similar audiobooks. Thanks for any suggestions :)