a fascinating journey through science

Bryson delivers a truly mesmerising account of scientific exploration and the people behind it in this fantastic work. All of the areas one would expect are covered, with cosomology, astronomy, geography, geology, and biology all given comprehensive cover.

That Bryson is not a scientist undoubtedly helps him cover such a wide range. His tone is that of man on a voyage of discovery himself (as he surely was) and not as an academic in an ivory tower. This abstraction allows for touches of Bryson's humour to shine through when similar texts from within science would perhaps be a little dry.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of 'A Short History' is the attention given to the human stories behind the great discoveries discussed; we are given insights into the minds of Darwin, Newton, Lyle and countless others that fascinate, inform, and leave you grasping for the nearest pen as you feel the need to track down that certain biography or key text. This move lightens the factual density nicely and allows us to see another aspect of science. This imposing, faceless entity that is 'Science' is not the clean, crisp discipline its practitioners would wish, but a place filled with all the deceit and vengeful intent of your average episode of Eastenders.

For my money, Bryson spends a little too long discussing the catastrophic (although this is probably reflected in science itself) without putting his facts it into context, and this is perhaps the books greatest flaw. Still, 'A Short History' is peerless and certainly warrants your attention. I would also implore you to listen to this unabridged version. While the abridged version is read by Bryson which is an appeal, the narrator here is fantastic and certainly does the book justice. The chapters last around 40 minutes meaning that while the sum total is large, each segment can be easily digested. If you do choose the unabridged version; you are in for a 20 hour treat that won't easily be forgotten.

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11 people found this helpful

Not easy listening

This is a chunky book, and the audio version is no different. There is a LOT of scientific ground covered in this, and there's no time for hanging around, explaining things twice over. However, unlike lectures, you can rewind this, stop when you get a bit overwhelmed and (certainly what I'm going to do) listen to it all over again.
This probably wouldn't suit anyone who's got A-levels or higher in science, but also, you have to be interested in finding out stuff, as although the author has little stories within, you ARE going to be listening to a lot of scientific histories and theories.
Nice narration and I especially approve of the author's view on carbon dating !

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6 people found this helpful

Narration

So much more enjoyable than when Bill Bryson narrates his own work. All his books are a delight but not, unfortunately, when being read out loud by him.

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3 people found this helpful

Great book

I think this is a great book by Bryson and I loved reading it many years ago. The narration however I was not impressed with. Why Mr Roberts has to put on weak accents, god only knows. Mr Robert ruins the actual information being delivered.

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2 people found this helpful

A brilliant Bryson travelogue through Science.

This is a delightful, funny, Bill Bryson travelogue through the history of the Cosmos, and how we got here. It's full of interesting discoveries, from the Big Bang, to the evolution of Victorian shooting parties dedicated to hunting rare species to extinction. In true Brysonesque manner, it is peppered with funny anecdotes about the often weird and wonderful characters behind each discovery - like the dinosaur hunters; Marsh and Peabody, who's competitive hatred of each other spurred them to such frenetic heights of palentology that between throwing rocks at each other (literally!) they discovered most of the dinosaurs the average person can name. Or the villainous Richard Owen who's seated statue used to preside in the Natural History museum, who suppressed, erased and stole other people's discoveries to claim the credit as his own.



One recurrent theme of the book is how often important scientific insights have been ignored or suppressed by those with influence. Lord Kelvin, though a great scientist retarded a true appreciation of the age of the Earth, because of his insistence that it could not be more than a few hundred thousand years old. Plate tectonics was dismissed as ridiculous for decades, despite mounting evidence and the obvious visual and geological jig-saw fit of the continents.



This is a delightful "Cooks Tour" of almost every aspect of Science, and of scientific history, covering a huge range of disciplines, and with Bill Brysons characteristic wit and charm. I love his travel books, and this audiobook - journeying through time and nature is no exception.

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1 person found this helpful

Very interesting. Worth reading. Good Bryson

This is another good Bryson. This book does what is says on the tin and you get a short history of nearly everything. Some parts are more interesting than others but Bryson does his best with some difficult topics. It's overall a great read and well narrated.

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1 person found this helpful

Absolutely Delightful

I know Bill Bryson has somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 books on here but this was my first listen. I was quickly captivated - - William Roberts narrates like an ol' time Disney cartoon character...you know, the Disney cartoon shorts that usually began with a duck professor pulling out a projector and screen and "teaching" something - - those style Disney cartoons are what I thought of as soon as I heard his voice. That hooked me right from the outset and I found it easy to visualize what Bryson wrote and Roberts narrated in splendid cartoon imagery. I took this audio on a business trip, shut off the t.v., turned off the lights and let this book talk to me until I fell asleep; promptly rewinding in the morning to the part I last remembered.
Beyond the narration, the book provides a lot of interesting information - many concepts I haven't heard of or thought about before, answers to questions I had but never looked up, and people and events I rediscovered in a new way. I, probably like you, buy audio books to help me think, expand my ideas, and for enjoyment - this book nailed it! I have had many interesting talks with my son and daughter discussing various topics from this book - fantastic!

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent

What a delightful yet sobering journey through the little we know about the universe and our planet. Bill Bryson’s writing, as ever, was thoroughly researched and presented with a near perfect blend of facts, rueful explanations of how we came to those facts and a dash of hope so as to make the more worrying portions just a little more palatable. Plenty of humour is also to be found in this book and all of it was expertly read by William Roberts. I couldn’t stop listening to it and would recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject matter.

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1 person found this helpful

Finished and my review is raised.

The narrator is great. The content is not exactly what I would wish for, but, I finished the book, increased my rating of it and bought another book by the same author.

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Complicated made easy to understand

I epitomise Mr Average and have often wondered about a myriad of things I have no real idea about. My lack of education hasn't dulled my curiosity but I've always been too intimidated by weighty text books or embarrassed by my lack of understanding to venture beyond Facebook articles as sad as that sounds. This audiobook although 15yrs old has opened my eyes, I feel like I've been given a glimpse behind the curtain of understanding. Undoubtedly, I've learned a few things and I enjoyed the informal tone of this book. I felt like it was written exactly for someone like me, thank you Bill Bryson for taking the time to look into so many things and breaking them down into simple terms.

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