After many decades of calling this planet home, and after many decades of reading my way through countless books, I can confidently say that one of my favorite genres is “fun science.” That doesn’t mean I can’t read academic science, I just find it much more enjoyable to inject some levity into my learning.
And within this sub-genre, there are few better examples than A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
It’s very tempting to compare this book to A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, which is also highly readable, but I wouldn’t call it fun. It’s more of an “accessible” read in the realm of popular science. Bill Bryson, on the other hand, has figured out a cheat code to enliven these reads. In short: he dishes the gossip.
This book covers the entirety of our existence, from the early universe to modern science. It’s been done a billion times before, but never in such a way that lets you laugh and scoff at the players involved. It reminds us, in very plain terms, that brilliant scientists are also just regular people. They suffer from the same flaws and crutches, be it huffing nitrous oxide or engaging in petty squabbles.
Bill lays it all out in brutal (and hilarious) detail, all while teaching the reader why these people and their discoveries matter. They shaped our understanding of the universe and it’s easy to forget how little we knew before their ground-breaking work. I often found it more amusing to learn what people thought before the birth of a common fact.
There is also a playfulness to Bryson’s narrative that I found deeply endearing. You almost expect him to shout, “Isn’t that neat?!” after every paragraph. He is also quite skilled at staying out of the weeds, something that bogs down a lot of popular science books. He gives you just enough detail to stay engaged without losing you to the minutia.
This is doubly impressive because A Short History of Nearly Everything is a very big book. My hardcover copy clocks in at 547 pages, which gave my arms a workout when reading. Every chapter is a banger, regardless of topic. They are also sequentially relevant, which keeps your anticipation permanently piqued. I had to force myself to stop on several occasions because the interwoven narrative was just too damn interesting.
It should come as no surprise that I highly recommend A Short History of Nearly Everything. It’s easy to read, endlessly informative, and a fantastic summation of why we exist. I tip my hat to Bill Bryson for writing such a unique and rewarding tome. If this is what I can expect from your other offerings, then consider me a new fan.
