10 Books That Anyone Who Cares About Science Needs to Read
8. A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
It is a slightly arresting notion that if you were to pick yourself apart with tweezers, one atom at a time, you would produce a mound of fine atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but all of which had once been you. - Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything Famously an author who writes in a very comedic yet emotive style, Bryson might not seem like the most ideal candidate for a book that requires some very factual science. Yet A Short History of Nearly Everything has been praised for its ability to depict science in a way that appeals to the general public and rightly won the Descartes Prize for science communication. To give an idea of why this book is so important to science, Brysons main source of inspiration was the fact that teachers and textbooks failed to brew any sort of inspiration in him, despite the content being so fascinating. He uses this as a framework for his attempts to make reading enjoyable, while also factual. With the book being humorously referred to as annoyingly free of mistakes. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the ultimate rough guide to science. Not only discussing the universe and the facts that most people find appealing, but also exploring the boring bits like the history of scientists and their discoveries, doing so in a perfectly irreverent and bizarre way that appeals to just about everyone.
