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  • A Short History of Nearly Everything

  • Written by: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: Bill Bryson
  • Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (730 ratings)

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A Short History of Nearly Everything

Written by: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
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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.

©2003 Bill Bryson (P)2003 Random House Audiobooks
  • Abridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
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What listeners say about A Short History of Nearly Everything

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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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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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Incredible!

What a great book, I feel like this book did a better job than my university degree.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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