A Short History of Nearly Everything
Book by Bill Bryson
Book Review by Syed Nasir Ali Naqvi (B.S. Physics from SNS, NUST. Class of 2024)
In a perfect world, the goal of science communication would be to take abstract & complex scientific concepts and simplify them for the lay audience, in fact, one could argue that this is/was the forefront intent of science communication. But in doing so, a more prevalent problem shows up concerning school children reading dry textbooks written by authors hell-bent on meeting arbitrary standards set by weirdly deluded academic boards at the expense of approachable quality content. These are taught by teachers whose focus lies more so on ticking clocks rather than unknowingly inquisitive pupils. As an expected consequence, the students become doomed to forever believing that science is supremely dull, unable to help themselves discover otherwise. Now here comes the role of science communicators – shifting their priorities from the communication of advanced topics – endlessly struggling in vain to make up for such institutional flaws, a sorry state of affairs.
William McGuire Bryson, a British-American author/journalist and a victim of the above phenomena, takes the leap to convince people otherwise [by writing this book]:
“So I decided that I would devote a portion of my life, three years, as it now turns out reading books and journals and finding saintly, patient experts prepared to answer a lot of outstandingly dumb questions. The idea was to see if it isn’t possible to understand and appreciate/marvel at, enjoy even the wonder and accomplishments of science at a level that isn’t too technical or demanding, but isn’t entirely superficial either.”
A goal well met as A Short History of Nearly Everything, published in 2003, became one of the most well-known books in the popular science genre, right up with the big-dogs of the genre such as Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, or Richard Dawkins. Moreover, I hold, that A Short History of Nearly Everything must be known as the quintessential science book for the average reader looking forward to grasp a gist of Science as a whole, rather than a select field, since the book does try to cover Nearly Everything.
The general trend followed by the book is that of increasing complexity; the book starts by addressing fundamental physics and builds its way onto biology. Each chapter of the 30 chapters in the book is dedicated to a different field in science (therefore chronology is optional), meaning that there would be individual chapters addressing fields like Quantum Physics, Nuclear Physics, Geology, Microbiology, Zoology, Paleontology and so on – not to mention a masterfully written chapter dedicated to the dangers of lead contamination in the modern consumerist era. Though one could argue that Chemistry isn’t given enough love, or that medical sciences are wholly absent. (Following the success of this book, Bryson wrote another book which discusses branches of medical sciences in much the same manner)
For most of said chapters, Bryson interviews many experts of their respective fields who would answer any childish queries which he puts forward, inadvertently providing a human element to the science which students commonly believe to be disjoint from all experiences. Since Bryson himself is not from a scientific background, he makes a big deal out of writing such that any reader would find it enjoyable. A humorous tone, a prose which reads like contemporary novels, simplification of the complex, and cherry-picking the most astounding information one could retrieve from a given discipline, all make it an end to end fun-to-read book – an impressive feat for a chunky pop-science book. At repeated instances, one is prompted to think ‘Is this what I found so boring in school?’, ‘So that was the deal with *blank*’, or ‘Why wasn’t I taught like this?’
All in all, A Short History of Nearly Everything is one of the best-possible recommendations of popular science out there, but more than that, it should be a companion for all students who don’t quite find the charm in already charmless curriculum textbooks. And even though it isn’t a substitute for textbooks, the importance of Bryson’s book for a science teacher can hardly be overstated because while a student not interested in science can be excused as a matter of interest, a teacher doesn’t enjoy the same privilege. Any sort of negligence of scientific thrill could be disobedience to a teacher’s duty. To that end, Bryson’s book is a persisting reminder of what the ultimate goal of learning science should be; FUN.