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A Short History of Nearly Everything
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
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Publisher's Summary
A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson’s quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. His challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science.
It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?
On his travels through time and space, Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye-opening journey and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.
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Bill Bryson is the world's funniest travel writer, and a master of comic observation. His hugely popular books, spanning topics from linguistics to Shakespeare to the human body, have sold over 16 million copies and been translated into 30 languages, and his 2003 science book A Short History of Nearly Everything won the prestigious Aventis and Descartes prizes.
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Loved it.
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Content is good but the performance is not.
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Christmas is the single biggest annual event on the planet, a time for merry-making, over-indulgence, peace, goodwill, and the occasional family row. It’s as comfortable and familiar as a pair of old shoes and yet still glittery and exciting. But what do you really know about it? It’s stuffed full of traditions and rituals that most of us have been observing all our lives without having the slightest idea of where they come from.
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Pretty good - Short and Sweet
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Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don't sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life - eating, drinking, and reproducing - the purpose of sleep remained elusive.
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Would be better as a physical book
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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
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The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
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Great story, annoying music
- By Rob Smith on 2020-07-18
Written by: Jack Weatherford
What listeners say about A Short History of Nearly Everything
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Julie Cantin
- 2020-03-08
Eye opening!
So many facts and concepts all stung together in one magnificent story. I hung on every word from the first to the last. I would recommend this book to anyone I know.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mike Q
- 2023-01-10
Thought Provoking
A reliable effort from Bill Bryson. He reads his own work with a gentle, authoritative tone that is easy to follow. Some may find the work unnerving but it puts our place in the cosmos into perspective and at once makes the listener proud and humble to be a small part of the history of nearly everything.
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- Anonymous User
- 2023-01-18
Incredible!
What a great book, I feel like this book did a better job than my university degree.
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- Jena
- 2019-08-14
Awesome
Great book! I enjoy listening to it, which I have done multiple times! Every time I do I hear new information I miss from the previous times. The narrator is funny, and jokes around in between information.
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1 person found this helpful
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- John Watton
- 2022-03-30
Great Book
It’s a pleasant excursion…a short trip through all time and creation!Well read,and provides a wealth of information. Makes some diffficult topics very tangible.
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- p00psicle
- 2022-02-01
Love it
I've read the book and listened to the audiobook now. There's so much information to ingest and all presented in such an approachable easy way. I'm sure I'll revisit it again in another year or two.
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- Kenneth Crowther
- 2024-05-11
Homo Sapiens is intelligent?
Good stud the horse, good cocktail the hen, good bull the cow, good so it goes the woman is still enduring stress while giving birth? How can we use our medical intellect to lessen the fatality rate; What stood out for me was human beings have not lived a long lifetime, and likelihood that it is over for us is greater as the author alluded too the finality of existence, that it will require more than just luck.
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- Blair Walker
- 2019-12-05
Amazing Read / Listen
I understand this book was a NY Times Bestseller and no wonder. I was disappointed when I reached the end of the book because I wanted this read to go on forever. If you have studied math and science in high school and university, in a few hours Bill Bryson will take you through everything you have ever been taught and much more. If after the first chapter you don't appreciate how marvelous the uiniverse is on both atomic and galactic scales, then I feel sorry for you. An old classmate (who I work for now) recommended the book and I cannot thank him enough. Everyone can understand science, with the help of Bill Bryson.
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- Customer
- 2021-11-07
Fantastic
This is one of my favourite audio books I’ve ever listened to. So packed with great information and a fantastic presenter. I will definitely listen to it again.
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- Jamie Charles
- 2022-01-19
The Best Professor
January 2022 | 4.5/5
We start with the very beginning of everything and our journey concludes present day along the way we learn a little bit about basically everything - apt title. I had a blast, and though the material is a little dated at times, there's a plethora of interesting tidbits to gobble up. And learning with Bill Bryson is a treat.
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