Bill Bryson Has a Good Job

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book reads a bit like a TV documentary series on science. Thirty chapters that start with the big bang, move to the formation of the solar system, the Earth, the appearance of life and so on up to our species in the present day. The actual contents of each chapter are driven by accessibility and interest, though--what makes an entertaining twenty pages as opposed how best to explain some specific topic. So you could get the science, the history of the ideas, anecdotes about quirky scientists, or why it's possible that Wyoming could explode (yes, the whole state.)

Bill Bryson has a knack for entertaining explanations, so the book is wonderfully enjoyable. And I don't mean to imply I didn't learn anything--I learned a ton, even about areas I felt I was reasonably well informed about. I am a bit jealous, as "reading about science, interviewing scientists and writing an essay" sounds like a great job description that would suit me just fine, if you ignore that I'm missing the required research and writing skills. Instead, I settle for cocktail party anecodtes about Huxley asphyxiating himself (for science!) or Lavoisier's income as a tax collector (mind-bogglingly large.)