A Short History of Nearly Everything
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  • Published: 1 December 2003
  • ISBN: 9780552150729
  • Imprint: Corgi Audio
  • Format: Audio CD
  • Length: 5 hr 47 min
  • Narrator: Bill Bryson
  • RRP: $32.99

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Formats & editions
Paperback
15 Aug 2016
EBook
1 May 2010
Audiobook
1 Apr 2010
Audio CD
1 Dec 2003
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Bill Bryson’s bestseller, now available in audio format.

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely in his own study at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERTHING is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us.
Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. It's not so much about what we know, as how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?
On his travels through time and space he encounters a splendid collection of astonishingly eccentric, competitive, obsessive and foolish scientists, such as the painfully shy Henry Cavendish, who worked out important conundrums including how much the earth weighed, but failed to report many of his findings. In the company of such extraordinary people, Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye- opening journey, and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.
  • Published: 1 December 2003
  • ISBN: 9780552150729
  • Imprint: Corgi Audio
  • Format: Audio CD
  • Length: 5 hr 47 min
  • Narrator: Bill Bryson
  • RRP: $32.99
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About the author

Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. His bestselling books include The Road to Little Dribbling, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, One Summer and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. In a national poll, Notes from a Small Island was voted the book that best represents Britain. His acclaimed work of popular science, A Short History of Nearly Everything, won the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize, and was the biggest selling non-fiction book of its decade in the UK. His new book The Body: A Guide for Occupants is an extraordinary exploration of the human body which will have you marvelling at the form you occupy.
Bill Bryson was Chancellor of Durham University 2005–2011. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in England.

portrait photo of Bill Bryson

Also by Bill Bryson

The Body
A Really Short Journey Through the Body
The Body Illustrated
The Road to Little Dribbling
At Home (Illustrated Edition)
One Summer
A Really Short History of Nearly Everything
See all

Praise for A Short History of Nearly Everything

Possibly the best scientific primer ever published.

Economist

'A thoroughly enjoyable, as well as educational, experience. Nobody who reads it will ever look at the world around them in the same way again'

William Hartston, Daily Express

'Brims with strange and amazing facts...destined to become a modern classic of science writing'

Ed Regis, New York Times Book Review

'It deserves to sell as many copies as there are protons in the full stop that ends this review (at least 500,000,000,000).'

Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

'The very book I have been looking for most of my life...Trunkloads of information, amazing stories and extraordinary personalities'

Christopher Matthew, Daily Mail

'The amount of ground covered is truly impressive...it's hard to imagine a better rough guide to science'

John Waller, Guardian

'A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide who loves his patch and is desperate to share its delights with us'

Peter Atkins, The Times