Stephenson Family Ties The Barn Burnt Down
And Now I See The Moon

is for Knowledge.....











"It seems hard to sneak a look at God's cards.
But that He plays dice and uses 'telepathic' methods
....is something that I cannot believe for a single moment."
quote by: Albert Einstein
from: A Short History of Nearly Everything
by: Bill Bryson

You know you've found a good book when you find yourself talking to people about it.  Not just in recommending it...but sharing what you've learned!!!
Here is a book that succeeds  marvelously in explaining complicated sciences in fairly easy and interesting ways.  Bill Bryon is a clever and talented writer.  He's written many books...and Im going to go find them and read them!!!  I think its saying something when a writer can grab your attention when hes writing about quirky scientists and their discoveries.  My imagination was peeked when he wrote about and explained the vastness of space and the in numerable universe out there.  Bryson has a wonderful sense of humor and a great writing style.  Learning new things is great fun with Bill Bryson!!!
The book begins with the birth of our universe and the creation of the Earth.  He touches on evolution and the discovery of the elements on the periodic table.  We speculate along with the many bright scientific minds of the 1800's who were trying to determine the age of the Earth.  And who knew how many atoms can sit on a pin head or what a super-nova is?  You will after reading A Short History of Nearly Everything!

Just a Very Few Things I Learned From Reading this Book:
-dimes have a half-life of 30 yrs.
-God is DEFINITELY in the details!!!
-lead and chlorofluorocarbons --BAD, Nasty stuff!!
- the Earth is 4,550 million years old...plus or minus 70 million years.
-an accelerator can whip particles into "such a state of liveliness that a single electron can do 47 thousand laps around a 4 mile tunnel in a second."  GASP!!
-there are 15 million, yes I said million...hogs in Iowa.
-the Earth is 8000 miles in diameter...for some reason I thought it was a bigger number.
- Yellowstone is due to blow....and I mean BLOW!!! (its sitting on top of a super volcano)


I truly cant recall a text book or any other book for that matter that has caught my imagination and that has been more comprehensive about this world we live in.  Why cant textbook writers take a lesson from Bill Bryson and add some personality, wit and the wisdom to throw in lesser known facts of our history to make it all the more interesting...its beyond me!!!???
This book should be required reading in high school. To heck with The Yearling and the other drivel that is required these days.  Every kid, young or old, should read these 478 pages!!! If such a thing were to happen...who knows how many kids might "turn on" to one of the many sciences, or at least have their eyes opened  to wonder and magnificence of this planet on which we live.  There are unspoken lessons in this book on WHY to be green without the dry, whining lecturing on recycling or ozone etc, etc....you'll find the logical reasoning here without the preaching.  Here is a book that can spark a real interest in paleontology, meteorology, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology or even physics without causing one to sweat or break out in hives.

Five Stars for me!!! *****

2 comments:

Cindy Winward said...

If you want to read another interesting book, just as good, read "The World Without Us." These 2 books should be required reading.

Cindy Winward said...

It is hard to read in the beginning but stick with it, well worth the effort...