A short history!. Review on A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Byrson

Hi people,

My reading this book happened because of the carelessness of our library!

I usually read fiction (as we have enough of realities back home!) and auto biographies. However, when I was browsing thru the fiction section at our city's public library, I found this book there (this book is not fiction- they put it there by mistake!) and liked the title- The short description on the back cover page caught my attention and I brought this huge book (600 pages) home.

Bill Bryson- I had never heard of this writer till now- has written a wide variety of books- travel, fiction, science etc. This book is a scientific beauty!

As the title suggests, ''A short history of nearly everything'' is really that! I never found science boring, but I usually found that people who write science books usually make it sound soooo boring, this book is a tremendous exception- Science interlaced with humour and so many examples, I read it with more fascination than even a sidney sheldon novel!

The book starts with the origin of the universe and then goes on to varied topics like evolution of life, atoms, black holes, quantum physics, evolution of planets, solar system and on and on and on about so many things, which we think we know, but really dont (atleast I thought so). Bryson has a way of writing that'll make even these high-funda topics sound very very exciting. The best part is that he makes all of these complex sounding things accessible and understandable to the layman (which I am!!)

However, after the 500th page, when things were getting very very interesting, the book wraps up and there are almost 100 pages of acknowledgements (what research bryson must have done!). That's the only let down- he should have (or still can) made a part-II and / or III also. I'm looking forward to that in a big way.

Who should read this book- Everyone who can read! Forget about the knowledge we gain, we'll atleast be thankful for this life and cherish living on this beautiful planet earth (about which there is a fantastic chapter!).This book has got me hooked to science and I am presently reading carl sagan's contact!

I'd love to read reviews of others who've read ''A short history of nearly everything''