Listen free for 30 days
-
A Short History of Nearly Everything
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $25.77
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
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.
You may also enjoy...
-
The Body
- A Guide for Occupants
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body - how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted."
-
-
Required reading for the self-aware
- By Dr. Gordon K. McIvor on 2020-02-04
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
At Home
- A Short History of Private Life
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.”
-
-
Interesting, I learned a lot
- By Karen on 2018-02-25
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
- Written by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in digestible chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.
-
-
make the world smart again.
- By a2thak on 2017-10-19
Written by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
-
The Science of Why
- Answers to Questions About the World Around Us
- Written by: Jay Ingram
- Narrated by: Jay Ingram
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever wonder why onions make you cry? Or why lizards do pushups? Or why leaves change color in the fall? Don't worry, you're not alone. Acclaimed science writer and broadcaster Jay Ingram wonders the same things. After a long career of asking important questions (does time speed up as we age? How much Neanderthal is in me? Why do some animals throw their feces?), he's here to put our scientific quandaries to rest.
-
-
Interesting, but sound quality not great
- By Shannon Graham on 2024-07-12
Written by: Jay Ingram
-
One Summer
- America, 1927
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most admired nonfiction writers of our time retells the story of one truly fabulous year in the life of his native country - a fascinating and gripping narrative featuring such outsized American heroes as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and yes Herbert Hoover, and a gallery of criminals (Al Capone), eccentrics (Shipwreck Kelly), and close-mouthed politicians (Calvin Coolidge). It was the year Americans attempted and accomplished outsized things and came of age in a big, brawling manner. What a country. What a summer. And what a writer to bring it all so vividly alive.
-
-
listened to this book four times
- By Guy Graveline on 2019-08-25
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- Written by: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
-
-
So painfully blah!
- By Myself on 2019-03-13
Written by: Jared Diamond
-
The Body
- A Guide for Occupants
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body - how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted."
-
-
Required reading for the self-aware
- By Dr. Gordon K. McIvor on 2020-02-04
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
At Home
- A Short History of Private Life
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.”
-
-
Interesting, I learned a lot
- By Karen on 2018-02-25
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
- Written by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in digestible chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.
-
-
make the world smart again.
- By a2thak on 2017-10-19
Written by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
-
The Science of Why
- Answers to Questions About the World Around Us
- Written by: Jay Ingram
- Narrated by: Jay Ingram
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever wonder why onions make you cry? Or why lizards do pushups? Or why leaves change color in the fall? Don't worry, you're not alone. Acclaimed science writer and broadcaster Jay Ingram wonders the same things. After a long career of asking important questions (does time speed up as we age? How much Neanderthal is in me? Why do some animals throw their feces?), he's here to put our scientific quandaries to rest.
-
-
Interesting, but sound quality not great
- By Shannon Graham on 2024-07-12
Written by: Jay Ingram
-
One Summer
- America, 1927
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most admired nonfiction writers of our time retells the story of one truly fabulous year in the life of his native country - a fascinating and gripping narrative featuring such outsized American heroes as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and yes Herbert Hoover, and a gallery of criminals (Al Capone), eccentrics (Shipwreck Kelly), and close-mouthed politicians (Calvin Coolidge). It was the year Americans attempted and accomplished outsized things and came of age in a big, brawling manner. What a country. What a summer. And what a writer to bring it all so vividly alive.
-
-
listened to this book four times
- By Guy Graveline on 2019-08-25
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- Written by: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
-
-
So painfully blah!
- By Myself on 2019-03-13
Written by: Jared Diamond
-
The Bill Bryson BBC Radio Collection
- Divided by a Common Language, Journeys in English and More
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
Cosmos
- A Personal Voyage
- Written by: Carl Sagan
- Narrated by: LeVar Burton, Seth MacFarlane, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cosmos is one of the bestselling science books of all time. In clear-eyed prose, Sagan reveals a jewel-like blue world inhabited by a life form that is just beginning to discover its own identity and to venture into the vast ocean of space.
-
-
LeVar is like listening to a breathy James T. Kirk
- By Robert on 2018-04-04
Written by: Carl Sagan
-
Shakespeare
- The World as Stage
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself.
-
-
Wonderful
- By PDubya on 2021-05-16
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
Talking to Strangers
- What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know
- Written by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true? While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed - scientists, criminologists, military psychologists.
-
-
zero insight
- By catherine on 2019-10-27
Written by: Malcolm Gladwell
-
Mythos
- Written by: Stephen Fry
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, stylishly retold by Stephen Fry. The legendary writer, actor, and comedian breathes life into ancient tales, from Pandora's box to Prometheus's fire, and transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder. Learned notes from the author offer rich cultural context. This volume is a doorway into a captivating world.
-
-
Amazing
- By Kindle Customer on 2019-10-04
Written by: Stephen Fry
-
The History of the Ancient World
- From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
- Written by: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled.
-
-
Iffy narration, abrupt ending
- By Micah Clark on 2020-09-07
Written by: Susan Wise Bauer
-
The Science of Why 2
- Answers to Questions About the Universe, the Unknown and Ourselves
- Written by: Jay Ingram
- Narrated by: Jay Ingram
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and commentator Jay Ingram is back to explain the magic and mysteries of the world around us. Jay takes listeners on a tour of the universe, exploring wonders big and small. From the farthest reaches of space to the most perplexing historical riddles to the marvels of who we are and what we're made of, Jay answers the important questions, such as: What's inside a black hole? Will machines ever learn to feel? And how much pee is in the average pool?
-
-
A fun & interesting listen
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-09-18
Written by: Jay Ingram
-
Stuff You Should Know
- An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things
- Written by: Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant
- Narrated by: Chuck Bryant, Josh Clark
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the duo behind the massively successful and award-winning podcast Stuff You Should Know comes an unexpected look at things you thought you knew. Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant started the podcast Stuff You Should Know back in 2008 because they were curious - curious about the world around them, curious about what they might have missed in their formal educations, and curious to dig deeper on stuff they thought they understood.
-
-
Content is good but the performance is not.
- By AlfredoPL on 2021-01-14
Written by: Josh Clark, and others
-
Why We Sleep
- Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
- Written by: Matthew Walker
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Would be better as a physical book
- By NePatsGirl on 2019-02-06
Written by: Matthew Walker
-
Made in America
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.
-
-
Loved it.
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-06-28
Written by: Bill Bryson
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- Written by: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
A Perspective Changing Book
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-10-26
Written by: Robert M. Sapolsky
-
The Lost Continent
- Travels In Small Town America
- Written by: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hardly anyone ever leaves Des Moines, Iowa. But Bill Bryson did, and after 10 years in England he decided to go home, to a foreign country. In an ageing Chevrolet Chevette, he drove nearly 14,000 miles through 38 states to compile this hilarious and perceptive state-of-the-nation report on small-town America.
-
-
Disappointing!
- By Pierre Gauthier on 2021-05-17
Written by: Bill Bryson
What listeners say about A Short History of Nearly Everything
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2023-01-18
Incredible!
What a great book, I feel like this book did a better job than my university degree.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!