A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

With a title like A Short History of Nearly Everything, you might think that Bill Bryson has bit off more than he can chew, but you will be pleasantly surprised how readable it is. Much of what Bryson covers are things you would have learned in a good undergraduate program, but have forgotten over the years.

The book covers general sciences topics such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. Bryson explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology, to try to answer big questions like how old is the earth? Where did humans come from? And what are our chances of being around for a while?

Bryson is a great story teller who keeps you interested in some pretty dry topics by weaving in the stories of the people who made the discoveries, such as Edwin Hubble, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. The biggest take away for me as I read this book was how little we actually know about the planet we live on, and how many mistakes we have made in trying to explain it over the years. Another interesting thing is how shaky some of our trusted theories are. For example, no one knows why Denver is a mile high. It has no tectonic plates under it, pushing it up like the mountains do. It is basically a mystery.

If this kind of thing interests you, you will love this book. For me it was a great opportunity to ponder all the things I really should have taken a little more time to think about in college.