Now, Science is not one of my strong points, I feel I need to state that at the beginning. I am never going to be found on Mastermind answering questions about Quantum Mechanics, Newtonian Physics or anything similar. No, Science to me is very much like Tequila. Something I enjoy every now and then, it always seems like a good idea at the time, but invariably I end up with my head in my hands with my brain playing its own little Keith Moon drum solo between my ears. I could put this down to many things really I suppose. I could claim that I have more artistic leanings, or that I prefer to channel my energies into expanding other areas of my (lack of) knowledge. But the real reason, in my head at least, is the fault of a Northern Irish supply teacher we had at school for three weeks during the early days of our GCSEs. At the end of the first lesson he told us to go away and read the section in the text book concerning “Paarr”, as there would be a test the following week. I am a competitive bugger by nature, so this, I thought, would be right up my alley. Now, being the studious type I spent a fair amount of time looking through the book for the right bit, however, I couldn’t find it. Days and nights I spent reading, researching, trying desperately in vain to find out something about the elusive “Paarr”. I assumed it must be some kind of law of Physics, but more than that I had no idea.
I was wrong, obviously.
The teacher meant “Power”, I had just failed to decipher his accent. I decided there and then that Physics wasn’t for me.
So, it will probably come as a bit of a surprise to see that the subject of this little Book review is Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything”. Bryson, as I am sure you know, is famous for his travel writing. He has written books about Europe, the USA, the UK, Australia, Africa and a few others besides, and all are very, very good. This book, in terms of subject matter, is just about as far removed from his comfort zone as possible. Essentially, it is a history of scientific progress and achievement, detailing how we know what we know, how it is that we came to know it, and now that we know it, what else is there to know. Confused? Read the book, it is brilliant, and not at all confusing. All the major discoveries are covered obviously, but the most interesting, and indeed entertaining parts, are the stories behind the discoveries. For example Darwin, the godfather of evolution (think of him as a bookish James Brown), spent 5 years sailing the world and collecting thousands of specimens that would later contribute to his ground breaking theory. He did this on a ship called Beagle, and was chosen to accompany the captain because the captain liked the shape of his nose. Or Sir Isaac Newton, who pushed a needle normally used for mending shoe leather between his eyeball and eye socket “just to see what would happen” – amazingly, nothing! Evidently, in order to make a scientific discovery of any merit it helps to be stark raving mad. There are hundreds of anecdotes of famous and not so famous, figures from history who offer undeniable proof that the line between genius and nutter is very, very thin. And of course, this being Bryson, you will find yourself laughing regularly.
Laughter and science are not the most likely bed partners I admit, but what helps is that Bryson is no scientist. In his own words he realised that he didn’t really know much about the world around him, so he decided to do a bit of reading. Three years later it seems he has worked his way through most of the books, articles and journals of merit, and produced essentially a concise summary for us to enjoy. The most remarkable thing is that while summarising what are undoubtedly fiendishly difficult sources to understand, he has managed to make his book accessible to pretty much everyone. Of course there are some parts that delve a little deeper than others into the actual science, but even these left my head mercilessly ache free. In general it is simple, concise, and most of all riveting. This is the history of the Earth as we know it after all, if that doesn’t interest you maybe you should leave the planet!
So, my advice would be to buy it, and then read it. Obviously.
I was wrong, obviously.
The teacher meant “Power”, I had just failed to decipher his accent. I decided there and then that Physics wasn’t for me.
So, it will probably come as a bit of a surprise to see that the subject of this little Book review is Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything”. Bryson, as I am sure you know, is famous for his travel writing. He has written books about Europe, the USA, the UK, Australia, Africa and a few others besides, and all are very, very good. This book, in terms of subject matter, is just about as far removed from his comfort zone as possible. Essentially, it is a history of scientific progress and achievement, detailing how we know what we know, how it is that we came to know it, and now that we know it, what else is there to know. Confused? Read the book, it is brilliant, and not at all confusing. All the major discoveries are covered obviously, but the most interesting, and indeed entertaining parts, are the stories behind the discoveries. For example Darwin, the godfather of evolution (think of him as a bookish James Brown), spent 5 years sailing the world and collecting thousands of specimens that would later contribute to his ground breaking theory. He did this on a ship called Beagle, and was chosen to accompany the captain because the captain liked the shape of his nose. Or Sir Isaac Newton, who pushed a needle normally used for mending shoe leather between his eyeball and eye socket “just to see what would happen” – amazingly, nothing! Evidently, in order to make a scientific discovery of any merit it helps to be stark raving mad. There are hundreds of anecdotes of famous and not so famous, figures from history who offer undeniable proof that the line between genius and nutter is very, very thin. And of course, this being Bryson, you will find yourself laughing regularly.
Laughter and science are not the most likely bed partners I admit, but what helps is that Bryson is no scientist. In his own words he realised that he didn’t really know much about the world around him, so he decided to do a bit of reading. Three years later it seems he has worked his way through most of the books, articles and journals of merit, and produced essentially a concise summary for us to enjoy. The most remarkable thing is that while summarising what are undoubtedly fiendishly difficult sources to understand, he has managed to make his book accessible to pretty much everyone. Of course there are some parts that delve a little deeper than others into the actual science, but even these left my head mercilessly ache free. In general it is simple, concise, and most of all riveting. This is the history of the Earth as we know it after all, if that doesn’t interest you maybe you should leave the planet!
So, my advice would be to buy it, and then read it. Obviously.
Bye for now
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