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January 2004
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This months choice for book of the month is "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. This ambitious book was written for people who want to know a bit more about sciece, without having to go to school for it. Bryson tackles everything from the formation of the universe to the discussion of human origins, and everything in between. Bill Bryson typically writes about traveling; many people recognise him for his works about living abroad. So why would he write a book about science? Bryson tells us early on in the introduction of his fascination with science. Even as a kid, he wondered how scientists knew what they did. This childhood curiousity hadn't really ever died, it was just postponed until later in life, when Bryson had decided to read about the things that make the universe work. Indeed, this was no small task, but the fruits of his labor are found in this book. Bryson, without any formal training in science, came about the information for this book with a keen interest, and a fresh outlook. Indeed, he ultimately came about writing a book about science for the lay public, from the laypersons point of view in a clear and concise language. |
Bryson broke his book down into six parts, each dealing with a particular topic. Part 1, called "Lost in the Cosmos" deals with astronomy. It contains three chapters, and help put in perspective how small our place in the universe is. This section of the book is rather small, only contained in the first 40 pages or so (in the hard cover edition). I think part of this is due to how much math is involved with many aspects of astronomy; after all, Bryson is writing about general ideas, not making a technical manual.
The next part of the book, "The Size of the Earth," deals with what we know about our planet, from how big it is to how old it is. Several key concepts are found here (at least key in my view as I am a geology major, and this section deals mostly with geology): deep time, and radioactive decay. Deep time was a tremendous influence on scientists of the 19th and early 20th century, because scientists were coming around to the notion of Earth having a very dynamic and extensive history. Scientists were beginning to understand that the Earth was old, but just how old was it? People were largely influenced by the Bible up until this point, and reckoned that the Earth was relatively young, about 6000 years or so old. With the discovery of dinosaurs and mammoths, however, it seemed impossible that man might have survived with these monstrous beasts, so when did the beasts live? Thousands, millions of years ago? About the same time geologists were pondering the age of the Earth, Marie Curie discovered Radium, a radioactive substance that will be mentioned later in the book. This particular portion of the book was rather interesting to me, because it marks the time in human history when preconstructed and preconceived notions were being replaced by new ideas and bold new concepts that would help define the way we do things in the 21st century.
"A New Age Dawns" is the title of the next section, and it gets back to a bit of astronomy, more geology, and a bit of physics. The first chapter talks about Einsteins contributions to the modern era, and the Big Bang. Bryson likes to give out the history of the development of an idea, and does a wonderful job in this section in particular. Next comes atomic theory, the stuff stuff is made of. Finding out about atoms was crucial in forming the science of modern chemistry. It also helped bring in understanding of atomic structure, and gave an explanation for why some elements do what they do. Next comes a discussion of how we know how old the Earth is, through radiometric dating. Another neat aspect of radioactive elements is that they also provide an explanation for the mechanisms behind plate tectonics, the last subject Bryson covers in this section of the book. With all the new concepts coming forth, truly a new age did dawn.
The next section deals mostly with geology, and a bit of astronomy. It touches on asteroid and comet impacts on Earth, both of which are fairly new concepts, as well as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, giving an appropriate title to this section as "Dangerous Planet." Although it was generally accepted that the Earth was subject to lots of impacts early on in its history, the idea of impacts during the ater parts of Earth history seemed out of the question. It took some hard, diligent work and some vision by geologists to understand that some geologic anomalies were explained as impact craters. Once the impact sites were understood for what they really were, craters were soon popping up everywhere. Next he talks about the interior of the Earth, and how the molten stuff inside plays a role on what happens on the outside of the Earth. As mentioned earlier, the molten interior is responsible for plate tectonic movement, which in turn is responsible for most of the earthquakes and volcanoes experienced on the surface. Speaking of volcanoes, Bryson has a very nice, if alarming, chapter on Yellowstone National Park, home of one of the world's largest supervolcanoes. I won't spoil it by talking too much about it, but it's one of the better chapters in the book.
So far, Bryson has touched on the history of the universe, the solar system, and of Earth itself, but he hasn't mentioned life, which is the topic of the next section, called "Life Itself." This perhaps the largest section in the book, comprising 11 chapters over about 160 pages. Bryson deals with how likely (or unlikely depending on your perspective) life is, where life is generally thought to have formed, what life is, and how life changes over time. He does a rather thorough job of doing it, too. One of the least understood topics is that question of the origin of life, and it is also one of the most hotly debated, in scientific circles as well as philosophical and religious ones. Bryson spends a decent amount of time with each of these topics, which is probably a good idea. This section segues into the next which deals with "The Road To Us."
One of the most popular questions aside from that of the origin of the universe, and of life, is the origin of Man himself. It is generally easy for many to accept that natural processes apply to living things, but harder to accept that humans are subject to them. This last section in the book deals with the history of how man came to be, and the influence we have on other forms of life on Earth. Bryson covers these topics carefully, but accurately, which isn't always an easy thing to do even for scientists.
Summary
The appeal for this book is that it is written for nonscientists by a nonscientist. For many, science isn't viewed in a very positive light; it involves math and lots of study. Bryson circumvents all that by showing you how appealing the meat of the ideas are. Science doesn't necessarily have to be difficult, and he does well in showing that. Overall, this book comes highly recommended.
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