A Really Short History of Nearly Everything

Bill's own fascination with science began with a battered old schoolbook he had when he was about ten or eleven years old in America. It had an illustration that captivated him- a cutaway diagram showing Earth's interior as it would look if you cut into it with a large knife and carefully removed about a quarter of its bulk. The idea of lots of startled cars and people falling off the edge of that sudden cliff was what grabbed him in the beginning, but gradually his attention turned to what the picture was trying to teach him- namely, that Earth's interior is made up of several different layers of materials, and at the very centre of it all is a glowing sphere of iron and nickel, which is as hot as the surface of the Sun according to the caption. And he very clearly remembers thinking: 'How do they know that?'

Bill's story-telling skill makes the 'How?' and, just as importantly, the 'Who?' of scientific discovery entertaining and accessible for all ages. In this exciting new edition for younger readers, he covers the wonder and mysteries of time and space, the frequently bizarre and often obsessive scientists and the methods they use, the crackpot theories that held sway for far too long, the extraordinary accidental discoveries that suddenly advanced whole areas of science when the people were actually looking for something else (or in the wrong direction) and the mind-boggling fact that, somehow, the universe exists and, against all odds, life came to be on this wondrous planet we call home.

Children's non-fiction (ages 8 and up) plus adult readers

A Short History of Nearly Everythign is a worldwide bestseller with sales of over 4 million copies and has been translated into 33 languages.
This new large format edition in full colour (and with holographic silver jacket) makes a perfect gift for enquiring minds of 8 years and over.
Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. He settled in England in 1977, where he lived for many years with his English wife and four children before moving with his family to America. In 2003 the Brysons came back to England where they intend to remain. He is the bestselling author of The Lost Continent, Mother Tongue, Neither Here Nor There, Made in America, Notes from a Small Island, A walk in the Woods, Notes from a Big Country and Down Under.

A Really Short History of Nearly Everything
Random House Australia
Author: Bill Bryson
ISBN: 9780385614801
Price: $39.95