A Short History of Nearly Everything

by Bill Bryson

Read by the Author

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A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson - Audio Book CD

Brand New (still shrink wrapped):   Abridged -  6 Hours 5 CDs A Short History of Nearly Everything is a general science audio book by Bill Bryson, which explains some areas of science in ordinary language. It was the bestselling popular science book of 2005 in the UK, selling over 300,000 copies.

A Short History deviates from Bryson's popular travel book genre, instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology.

Bryson tells the story of science through the stories of the people who made the discoveries, such as Edwin Hubble, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein.

Bill Bryson wrote this book because he was dissatisfied with his scientific knowledge — that was, not much at all. He writes that science was a distant, unexplained subject at school. Textbooks and teachers alike did not ignite the passion for knowledge in him, mainly because they never delved in the whys, hows, and whens.

It was as if [the textbook writer] wanted to keep the good stuff secret by making all of it soberly unfathomable.

— Bryson, on the state of science books used within his school


It was in his later years that he realised with stunning shame that he was ignorant about many things and that he wanted to understand. Thus from his own life experience, Bryson discusses topics from a unique angle unseen in most science books: simple explanations, funny dialogue, interesting facts, and much more.

Contents Bryson describes very graphically how big the universe is, and how small atoms and subatomic particles are. Furthermore, he reports on the likeliness of the earth being struck by a meteor, how unlikely it is that humans will spot a meteor before it impacts the Earth, and the extensive damage that such an event would cause. He also explores the history of biology, botany, and zoology, and traces life from its first appearance all the way to today's modern humans, placing much emphasis on the development of the modern Homo sapiens. Throughout the book, there are many reports on the way humans destroy the earth (both its climate and its species) as well as how the earth is a very destructive planet itself, briefly touching about earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and mass extinctions. His tendency to look for big explosions and awe-inspiring devastation takes him to the most destructive disasters in the world, from Krakatoa to Yellowstone National Park.

Bryson ends the book by noting how many extinctions humans are responsible for, and how lucky mankind is to be living on planet Earth today.

About  the Author Bill Bryson

William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on scientific subjects. He was a resident of North Yorkshire, England, for most of his adult life before moving back to the US in 1995. He has lived in Norfolk, England since 2003. Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of William and Mary Bryson. He has an older brother, Michael, and a sister, Mary Elizabeth. Bryson was educated at Drake University but dropped out in 1972, deciding to backpack around Europe for four months. He returned to Europe the following year with his high-school friend, the pseudonymous Stephen Katz. Some of his experiences from this trip are relived as flashbacks in Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe, which documents a similar journey Bryson made twenty years later. Bryson first visited the United Kingdom in 1973 during a tour of Europe, and decided to stay after landing a job working in a psychiatric hospital - the now defunct Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey. It was there that he met a nurse named Cynthia, whom he eventually married. The couple returned to the USA in 1975 so Bryson could complete his college degree, after which, in 1977, they settled in England, where they remained until 1995. Living in North Yorkshire and mainly working as a journalist, Bryson eventually became chief sub editor of the business section of The Times, and then deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent. He left journalism in 1987, three years after the birth of his third child. Still living in Yorkshire, Bryson started writing independently and in 1990 their fourth and final child, Sam, was born.

In 1995, Bryson returned to the United States to live in Hanover, New Hampshire for some years, the stories of which feature in his book I'm A Stranger Here Myself, alternatively titled Notes from a Big Country in the United Kingdom and Canada. In 2003, however, the Brysons and their four children returned to England, and now live near Wymondham, Norfolk. Also in 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, voters in the United Kingdom chose Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island as that which best sums up British identity and the state of the nation. In the same year, he was appointed a Commissioner for English Heritage. In 2004, Bryson won the prestigious Aventis Prize for best general science book with A Short History of Nearly Everything. This 500-page popular literature piece explores not only the histories and current statuses of the sciences, but also reveals their humble and often humorous beginnings. In 2005, the book won the EU Descartes Prize for science communication. Bryson has also written two popular works on the history of the English language — Mother Tongue and Made in America — and, more recently, an update of his guide to usage, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (published in its first edition as The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words in 1983). These books were popularly acclaimed and well-reviewed, though they received criticism from academics in the field, who claimed they contained factual errors, urban myths, and folk etymologies. Though Bryson has no formal linguistics qualifications, he is generally a well-regarded writer on the subject of languages.

In 2005, Bryson was appointed Chancellor of Durham University, succeeding the late Sir Peter Ustinov, and has been particularly active with student activities, even appearing in a Durham student film: the sequel to The Assassinator and promoting litter picks in the city. He had praised Durham as "a perfect little city" in Notes from a Small Island. He has also been awarded honorary degrees by numerous universities. In 2006, Bryson ran (as part of a celebrity relay team) in the Tresco marathon, the Scillian equivalent of the London marathon. The same year, Frank Cownie, the mayor of Des Moines, awarded Bryson the key to the city and announced that 21 October 2006 would be known as, Bill Bryson - "The Thunderbolt Kid" day.

In November 2006, Bryson interviewed Prime Minister Tony Blair on the state of science and education. On 13 December 2006, Bryson was awarded an honorary OBE for his contribution to literature. The following year, he was awarded the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin. In January 2007, Bryson was the Schwartz Visiting Fellow of the Pomfret School in Connecticut. In May 2007, he became the President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. His first area focus in this role was the establishment of an anti-littering campaign across England. He discussed the future of the countryside with Richard Mabey, Sue Clifford, Nicholas Crane and Richard Girling at CPRE's Volunteer Conference in November 2007.

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson - Audio Book CD