A Short History of Nearly Everything

Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything

Author: Bill Bryson

Publisher: Broadway Books 2004 (First published 2003)

ISBN: 0-7679-0818-X

Pages: 478

Undoubtedly the ‘swiss army knife’ of a book! Maintaining justice to the somewhat pompous title, there are very few areas Bryson has not visited in this magnificent work. The bane of modern science is that it has gone so specialized that even full time professionals are only able to keep track of a very small field of their own interests. During the time of Isaac Newton, a determined scholar was able to acquire knowledge of every facet of science, at least to keep up an intelligent conversation. The deluge of information that inundated science during the last two centuries has put paid to the hopes of anyone aspiring to don the mantle of the universal scholar. Well, till he comes upon this book, that is! This title provides a great panoply of topics and the who’s who in science. Astrophysics, astronomy, mathematics, physics, botany, paleontology, biochemistry, genetics are all a few of the subject matter encapsulated behind the covers. The width of Bryson’s power of narration exemplified in this book is carried to incredible limits in his recent title – At Home, A Short History of Private Life (reviewed earlier in this blog). The author performs the role of an investigator putting his microscope against mundane things – the public enchanted with the show. His handling of the subject may be likened also to a traveller, stopping to examine each and every interesting pebble on the way on which he steps on, caresses each leaf and flower he sets his eyes on and dives headlong into each stream and lake on the wayside. The travel thus goes nowhere on schedule, but the delightful feast offered to readers is beyond words.

The book is written in such a way that the concepts become discernible to the most ordinary reader without overreaching any point. While discussing about Mendeleyev and his periodic table, he says, “the actual formal determinant in the ordering (of elements) is something called their electron valences, for which you’ll have to enroll in night classes if you wish an understanding” (p.107). The introduction itself is exceedingly fine, summing up life’s existence on earth as a great achievement in itself. Later, at the end, he declares that the lesson, if any, in the book is that life is extremely lucky to have originated here. Man is especially great in coming to be, as there is no assurance that the present evolutionary path would be chosen again, if a similar scenario presented itself again, anywhere in the universe. Man must understand the delicate balance nature has put at his disposal and should act wisely to perform as stewards of all life on earth.

In the general survey of science’s progress during the last century, Bryson presents a curious anecdote of how one man came to invent two chemicals which were immensely successful as industrial products, but undermined the well being and safety of people who were using them. Those inventions addressed a great deal of issues at the time, but opened another can of worms. Thomas Midgley, Jr invented tetra ethyl lead to reduce engine knocking in petrol vehicles and CFCs for refrigeration. Eclipsing the wide applicability of those products, health issues began cropping up among its users, particularly regarding lead poisoning. The harm caused by CFCs was not evident till the last quarter of the century – depletion of ozone layer in the upper atmosphere, causing lethal ultraviolet radiation to reach the ground unfiltered and cause fatal disorders to life forms, like cancer. Both were banned over a period of decades. Midgley himself met a tragic death when he was strangled by cables of his own contraptions to turn him in his bed – he was a polio victim.

Perusing the progress of ideas presented in the book, readers are sometimes compelled to suppose that scientific ideas appear to have a designated time of birth, though ideas leading to such specific ones may be dormant or bubbling with scholarly contributions. By designated, it is not meant to be by a designer – human or divine – but anyway, there is a time for ideas to mature and be accepted by one’s peers. Theory of evolution is a fit case in point. Darwin’s grand father, Erasmus Darwin had paid tribute to evolutionary principles in a poem called ‘The Temple of Nature’ even before Charles was born. Not only that, in 1844 – 15 years before the publication of Origin of Species – a Scottish publisher, named Robert Chambers had anonymously issued a book titled Vestiges of Natural History of Creation in which he argued that humans might have evolved from primates without the assistance of a creator. The public fury attracted to his book kept him from claiming authorship of the book. Alfred Russell Wallace had come to similar conclusions as Darwin just before formal publication of his ideas. In fact, what prompted Darwin to come out openly was the fear of competition from Wallace, who was his junior collaborator and correspondent. The Linnean Society read papers from both Darwin and Wallace in the same meeting to avoid the thorny issue of precedence, though Wallace was more than happy to give way for his illustrious companion. Quite amusingly, after the publication of the paper, a Scottish gardener, Patrick Matthew came out with the rightful claim that he had published the same ideas in 1831 itself, though in a little read journal called Naval Timber and Arboriculture. Matthew vociferously protested, but the discovery was undoubtedly independent. From all these connected events, we realize that the world had become just fit enough at that time to receive the seed of a totally revolutionary idea and grow it to a big and strong tree, growing stronger still.

The book is full of crisp examples and lucid comparisons. To assess the energy released in KT impact (the meteor impact in the cretaceous-tertiary boundary which is supposed to have killed off dinosaurs and paved the way for the rise of mammals), Bryson equates it to one Hiroshima-sized bomb for each living person would still be a billion bombs short (p.345). The witty asides and humorous sketches make the extremely appealing. No reader can finish the book without a feeling of parting with a most loved partner after a brief time of blissful togetherness.

There are not much shortcomings that can be hurled against the author and this book. Whatever given here are suggestions to make it a little more appealing which it undoubtedly is at present. The absence of a few colour plates is a serious omission however. A picture of the San Andreas fault to accompany the hair rising narratives of volcanic eruptions would have riveted the attention of readers. So also are the hot water geysers of Yellostone National Park which rise to several meters above ground. Another drawback which needs to be cited is that some of the references are not solid enough to be in a scientifically oriented work, even if it is popular science. Allusions to National Geographic may be classified in this unwanted list.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star