Member Reviews

• 

  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 4 stars

  “What a trip!
  From the tiniest particle we know of to the largest object we have seen in this universe, from the time of big bang (or just right after) to the 21st century.
  
  If I learned anything from this book, it must be that we humans know so little about the world including ourselves. To be fair, it isn't so much that we are ignorant to all these, but rather the world is just so vast and there's simply so much more to know. Indeed, we only just begun to understand anything really.
  
  Another good thing about this book was that the author didn't seem to take a side on a inconclusive scientific theory. As it is, Science should be understood as a discipline of approach to understanding the world around us, not the understanding itself. Good science tells us "what" in the universe, and sometimes "perhaps this is how" of it. But It shouldn't attempt to, and cannot explain "why" questions, since the "why" question is the subject of theology (and if you'd refuse to believe there's a such thing as theology, then, maybe philosophy). This book is humble enough to stop at "perhaps how".
  
  Definitely a good read.”

  Timothy wrote this review Monday, September 10 2007. ( reply | permalink )
• 

  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “What a great book. If I had read this book as a high school student, I'd probably have been a physicist. Probably a POOR physicist given my average mathematical aptitude, but this book makes the topic just that much fun. And the author, Bill Bryson, actually tackles much, much more than physics in this book. It's kind of the history of all the "hard" sciences and many of their subdisciplines --physics, astrophysics, quantum mechanics, biology, microbiology, geology, meteorology, chemistry, archaeology, genetics, anatomy, and probably a few others I'm forgetting.
  
  It's the kind of stuff that you'd be expected to learn in an introductory course if majoring in any of these topics in college, but Bryson makes it so easy to read, so breezy that I just soaked it up and didn't want to put the book down. He has a marvelous style that makes all these topics approachable and lets you take something away from each of them without resorting to nasty formulas or tedious memorization. One of the other things I particularly like is that this book is equal parts history of science and history of scientists. Bryson injects every chapter with lively descriptions of the men and women behind the science, giving us amusing exposures to their foibles, eccentricities, and character. I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in ...well, ANYTHING. I'd also love to see a sequel or similar treatment for the social sciences like psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.”

  jmadigan wrote this review Tuesday, July 17 2007. ( reply | permalink )
• 

  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “A jam-packed book with information that you've never paid attention to when you were in school - until now. We'd all be scientists if we had textbooks like this. A brilliant and compelling read.”

  puteribelibelah wrote this review Friday, December 8 2006. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 5 stars

  “Fantastic read bursting at the seams (edges?) with fascinating facts. This book is now the most dog-eared book in my library (for quick access to interesting sections). It should be part of the curriculum in all schools - would get plenty of young adults fired up about the sciences.”

  scootergrrl wrote this review 6 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 0 stars

  “The only word one can use to synopsis-e Bill Bryson is an enormous, thumping , loud.. " Nice." "The Short History..." reads like a a ride on a rocketship designed entirely without brakes, intended to go straight and narrow, as faster than greased lightning from one end of the universe to another ( although Bill Bryson tells you that there are, actually, no ends to the universe ) , and then take a little peek beyond. The only book of science I know, that is hilarious, intriguing, eccentric in-a-good-way, and absolutely breathtaking.. often all of them together.
  I defy anybody to pick this one up and drop it half-way through, and then NOT suffer from a severe case of intestinal cramps. ”

  the_hitchhiker wrote this review 17 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 4 stars

  “Fascinatingly broad (specializing in characters and backstories), frustratingly shallow. Still, a great overview and a wonderful read.”

  Collin T wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 4 stars

  “Bryson's attempt to popularize science to the general reader is a great success. I appreciated his attention paid to the work of scientists throughout the ages, some well known, many more long-forgotten. While I enjoyed learning about the triumphs and failures of the scientists themselves, I feel that the book was a too-detailed history of scientific discovery. I would have preferred a more thorough natural history of ecological nature. Overall, however, Bryson has found the interesting in the dull and conveys scientific jargon in a way that is accessible to a casual audience.”

  Stefanie T wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 5 stars

  “For anyone who has every wanted a science book with out a question and answers section or political agenda. I could not put this book down. So much fun and surprisingly scary too!”

  Andrea M wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 3 stars

  “It is what is says on the cover.
  I approached this book with some trepidation surprisingly really enjoyed parts of it. However there are parts that slow down and become something of a chore to pass though. There are laugh out loud moments and, given the subject matter that is an achievement on its own.
  
  It will teach you a lot, provided you didn't pay attention in school, and will enlighten you a great deal as regards the nature of the western scientific community, its shortcomings and humanity's general lack of knowledge.
  
  Perhaps (ashamedly) I would have appreciated the illustrated version better.”

  Varun M wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 5 stars

  “I wonder how much effort is put to make this masterpiece.
  A must read for every science buff.
  Though personally I still do not believe that the universe and time were created after big bang ;)”

  s d wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )