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fetterov's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
tieganlucy's review against another edition
3.0
Finally finished this! It took a paper copy and an audiobook but we got there after nearly a whole year. This book was a struggle I won’t lie. Considering it’s meant to be a short history, for me it was too long. Parts of it I found so interesting and I was gripped and left blown away by the facts, other sections of it I found completely boring and wasn’t interested in at all. I think if you really love science and history you will enjoy this more than I did but for me it was just not what I was looking for. I respect however that it is well written and the effort that must’ve gone into it is astounding.
reuben18's review against another edition
4.0
Extremely interesting book, very dense but I learned a lot and was able to understand a lot of it due to past classes I have taken.
thetandingo's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
zwinning's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting theories and ideas, and very very entertaining. Bill takes an interesting view towards scientific ideas and makes them into stories you actually want to read.
elusorius's review against another edition
4.0
Bill Bryson is an expert at describing complicated subject matters in both an entertaining and an understandable fashion. A really good read for anyone who is and isn't interested in science. Though I personally found some of the subjects uninteresting or dull, Bryson managed to write the chapters that did catch my interest in the most fascinating manner. Highly recommend it, especially if you're interested in its topics.
simplymegy's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
“But the thing is, most of the time bad things dont happen. Rocks dont fall. Earthquakes dont occur. New vents dont suddenly open up. For all the instability, it’s mostly remarkably and amazingly tranquil.”
Bill Bryson’s herculean effort of trying to summarise the history of the universe, solar system, earth, cells, and humans into a 543 page book is nothing short of impressive. I began reading the audiobook version but found it difficult because it was so easy to tune out- there was too much information being fired that less than halfway through, i ditched the audio and switched to the digital version.
Some chapters were really dragging and boring despite Bryson’s effort at humour, but some i found genuinely funny.
“Romans also flavored their wine with lead, which may be part of the reason they are not the force they used to be.”
“The Sun is ninety-three million miles away. To move a couple of thousand feet closer to it is like taking one step closer to a bushfire in Australia when you are standing in Ohio, and expecting to smell smoke.”
“Whatever it was that drew them (ancient humans) to Europe, it wasnt the glorious weather.”
I didn’t particularly enjoy the ones about space. Maybe that’s just me- quantum physics and chemistry just isn’t my thing 😅. I did enjoy the ones about the earth and the origins of life and humans. The penultimate chapter about Sapiens reminded me of Yuval Harari’s one which I found truly insightful.
It’s definitely worth picking up to learn a little bit of everything, then realising that we know practically nothing.
blaineduncan's review against another edition
3.0
This tome is a wealth of fascinating information and is well told, but Bryson sometimes gets bogged down in the history of the scientist rather than the history of the Earth itself.