I am not a big fan of the Books that, Bill Byrson writes. I did hear about his latest one, on another site that I write on. It sounded like something I would enjoy. I bought this Book a few days ago.
Bill Byrson, usually writes Books on Travel, and this is a Book that takes you back in time.
My Prologue
Mr. Bryson, believes he is an expert, on travel, so it didn't surprise me that at the beginning of the Book, he wrote, ''This is a Book about how it happened.'' I guess if you believe in the Big Bang Theory, you would agree with him.
In the introduction, the Author tells us that he is on a flight across the Pacific Ocean. He began thinking, about Earth.
He decided to tell us what the great Scientist didn't know up until 1970! It took him three years to write the Book. Well, my dears I was in School long before that, and he didn't tell me much I didn't know.
My Book Review
After the time that the Bang, (over 4 million years ago), happened we read about how Earth became part of the Solar System, (pg.19), the size of the Earth, (measuring things, breaking stones and about the elements. This is all under the Chapter titled The Size Of The Earth, (beginning on pg. 41).
A Gilbert & Sullivan quote, (from the Book):
''You go from protoplasmal, primordian, atomic globule, (I'm not sure if the atom was known, by G & S),to sentient, upright, modern Humans.</>''
We hated oxygen, laid eggs, and our favourite mean was lichens, mice and sandworms.
We had fins, that became limbs because of a random shift in evolution.
A New Age does Dawn on page 113, where we read about Albert Einstein theory on relativity . (Am I back in Highschool?) If you missed learning about the how the Earth rotates around the Sun or about the Atom at School, you can read all about it here.
There are Dinosaurs that roam through the Book, but they only left us bones and eggs, after the Ice Age, (pg.419).
The Restless Ape will lead you into Darwin's theory that we all stemmed from the Ape. Some of us do resembled them!!!
I guess we must have come from one of the other trillion Species, or maybe we are special, and the only!
The last chapter is titled Good-bye, and sums up my feeling of joy that my back to School experience is over.
My Thoughts
I adored the Illustrations, that were drawn by Mary Evans. This Book is a quick read.
If you love the Sciences with a bit of humour put into the pot, you'll love this Book. If you don't need the humour I suggest you buy a Text Book.
I am not recommending this Book, and I'll drift out of here, on one of the trillion, Atoms, that are floating around.
I'll end with a quote for the Book written by Geoffrey Marcy, (an Astronomer):
They are all in the same plane. They are all going around in the same direction. It's perfect, it's gorgeous, it's almost uncanny!
I agree it is perfect, gorgeous and uncanny, but not because of any Scientific Theory, but because G-d, made it that way.
Vital Info
I bought the hard cover Book for $20.00 CAD
Number of pages: 500, (over 100 are the acknowledgements, introduction, index, notes and bibliography).
Printed in 2003 by Broadway Books, (that is a Branch of Random House. Inc.
ISBN # 0767908171
Thank you for reading my review.
I must say good-bye to you all for a while. we are moving at it is taking up all of my time.
©LL2003
