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Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything"

Updated: Jan 21, 2022

“It is easy to overlook this thought that life just is. As humans we are inclined to feel that life must have a point. We have plans and aspirations and desires. We want to take constant advantage of all the intoxicating existence we've been endowed with. But what's life to a lichen? Yet its impulse to exist, to be, is every bit as strong as ours—arguably even stronger. If I were told that I had to spend decades being a furry growth on a rock in the woods, I believe I would lose the will to go on. Lichens don't. Like virtually all living things, they will suffer any hardship, endure any insult, for a moment's additional existence. Life, in short, just wants to be.”


Like the title of this novel, this blog post will be short. Unlike the novel, “short” will be less than 624 pages. “A Short History of Nearly Everything” tackles a lot of different topics: how our universe was formed, the process by which we discovered the size of the Earth, astronomy, chemistry, various theories that make sense of the universe, oceans and atmospheres, the start and evolution of life on Earth, and so much more. Bryson ends the book with a cautionary tale for readers to focus on our impact on the world around us; in some ways, humans are life’s “worst nightmare”, killing off an unknown number of species, and that we need to do better if we want to keep life going.


The student that recommended this book told me that the book spoke to their inherent curiosity, that they were fascinated by how things work and why things are the way they are. The book’s simple and accessible language allows readers of all backgrounds to learn and while I was not particularly curious when I first downloaded the book on my Kindle, the format and style was incredibly engaging and I learned immensely. Returning to the “how” (specifically how this book shaped the student and how I can learn from this perspective), I made the simple realization that there is so much that we don’t know about each other. While I have known this individual since freshman year, I did not realize the depth or breadth of their curiosity until I asked them for a book recommendation and we had a brief conversation on why this particular book. It’s easy for me to see someone within their known context–a fellow econ student in an econ class, for example–and it’s just as easy for me to forget about the dimensions that a person embodies beyond what I may see. This book ultimately served as a valuable lesson not only in the history and mechanics of the universe, but also in remembering there is more to a person than you may know.



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