Bill Bryson’s book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, explains the history of science in laymen’s terms. Although Bryson is not a scientist or a historian, he does a surprisingly excellent job explaining why and when everything has happened throughout time. His book enters deeply into the subject while being clear, educational, and humorous. Bryson presents a large scope of scientific information including physics, chemistry, and biology, and he makes it incredibly easy and enjoyable for the reader to understand. Bryson successfully accomplishes his goal of helping people understand the history of science and its concepts in a delightful but educational manner. Each chapter of Bryson’s book is filled with scientific facts. For …show more content…
The interesting proportion of humans having ten-quadrillion cells to about one-hundred bacteria is astounding! (303). The human digestive tract alone hosts more than a hundred-trillion microorganisms (303). Bryson jokes, “By way of thanks, they give you B.O” (302). Bryson also mentions the AIDS virus and Group A Streptococcus bacteria, which can cause the very dangerous necrotizing fasciitis disease. These bacteria eat their victims’ internal tissues and are lethal in 70% of their victims (314). Of course, the devastatingly fast-acting meningococcal bacteria with people sometimes succumbing within twelve hours of being infected is mentioned (314). This chapter on microorganisms makes one feel vulnerable. Although his book was published in 2003, the deadly virus that causes Ebola is briefly discussed (319). All of this information can be easily comprehended by the average person. This chapter can be used as an example of Bryson’s thorough research, but all of his chapters go into the same depth without being ponderous. Bryson gives many humorous quotes and anecdotes pertaining to several scientists mentioned in his book. The oddities of many of these scientists are hilarious. For example, Ernest Rutherford, a remarkable physicist,