A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated EditionThis new edition of the acclaimed bestseller is lavishly illustrated to convey, in pictures as in words, Bill Bryson’s exciting, informative journey into the world of science. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body, confronts his greatest challenge yet: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as his territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. The result is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Now, in this handsome new edition, Bill Bryson’s words are supplemented by full-color artwork that explains in visual terms the concepts and wonder of science, at the same time giving face to the major players in the world of scientific study. Eloquently and entertainingly described, as well as richly illustrated, science has never been more involving or entertaining. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 86
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... century and smart enough to know it, you also had to be the beneficiary of an extraordinary string of biological good fortune. Survival on Earth is a surprisingly tricky business. Of the billions and billions of species of living things ...
... century and smart enough to know it, you also had to be the beneficiary of an extraordinary string of biological good fortune. Survival on Earth is a surprisingly tricky business. Of the billions and billions of species of living things ...
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... century German observer. The most famous of visitors from the outer solar system, it has been noted on Earth every seventy-six years since 240 BC , though it wasn't until 1682 that the astronomer Edmond Halley realized it was the same ...
... century German observer. The most famous of visitors from the outer solar system, it has been noted on Earth every seventy-six years since 240 BC , though it wasn't until 1682 that the astronomer Edmond Halley realized it was the same ...
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... century showing different comets throughout history. Space, let me repeat, is enormous. The average distance between stars out there is over 30 million million kilometres. Even at speeds approaching those of light, these are ...
... century showing different comets throughout history. Space, let me repeat, is enormous. The average distance between stars out there is over 30 million million kilometres. Even at speeds approaching those of light, these are ...
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... taken in 1979 at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Siding Spring, Australia, showing the trails of unset stars around the south celestial pole. William Blake's fanciful and flattering nineteenth-century depiction of Isaac Newton,
... taken in 1979 at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Siding Spring, Australia, showing the trails of unset stars around the south celestial pole. William Blake's fanciful and flattering nineteenth-century depiction of Isaac Newton,
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... century because of the shape it appeared to present when viewed through early telescopes. The reason we can be reasonably confident that such an event won't happen in our corner of the galaxy, Thorstensen said, is that it takes a ...
... century because of the shape it appeared to present when viewed through early telescopes. The reason we can be reasonably confident that such an event won't happen in our corner of the galaxy, Thorstensen said, is that it takes a ...
Contents
The StoneBreakers | |
Science Red in Tooth and Claw | |
Elemental Matters | |
The Rise of Life | |
Small World | |
Life Goes | |
Goodbye to All That | |
The Richness of Being | |
Cells | |
Darwins Singular Notion | |
The Stuff of Life | |
Einsteins Universe | |
The Mighty Atom | |
Getting the Lead | |
Muster Marks Quarks | |
The Earth Moves | |
Bang | |
The Fire Below | |
Dangerous Beauty | |
Lonely Planet | |
Into the Troposphere | |
The Bounding Main | |
Ice Time | |
The Mysterious Biped | |
The Restless | |
Goodbye | |
DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | |
NOTES | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | |
ILLUSTRATIONS | |
INDEX | |
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Common terms and phrases
Africa American ancient animals asteroid astronomer atmosphere atoms Australia australopithecines bacteria bacterium became bones called Cambrian carbon Cavendish cells Celsius cent century chemical cloud comet crater creatures Darwin dinosaurs discovered discovery Earth Einstein electron elements event existence extinction fact Fortey fossil galaxies genes genetic Geological geologist GO TO NOTE Gould Haldane happened hominid Homo erectus Hubble hundred ice ages idea kilometres known least living look Lyell measure metres million years ago modern humans molecules Museum named National Natural History Neandertals nearly neutron never no-one Nobel NOTE REFERENCE ocean once organisms oxygen palaeontologist particles perhaps physicist physics planet Pluto produced proteins protons REFERENCE IN TEXT Richard Fortey rocks Sagan scientific scientists solar system space species specimens stars suggested supernova surface T. H. Huxley Tattersall theory things thought thousand tiny trillion trilobites types universe volcano Yellowstone