title: A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition
author:  Bill Bryson 
description: <b>Praise for <i>A Short History of Nearly Everything</i></b><br /><br />A modern classic of science writing. . . . The more I read of <i>A Short History of Nearly Everything</i>, the more I was convinced that Bryson had achieved exactly what hed set out to do. <i>New York Times Book Review</i><br /><br />A highly readable mix of historical anecdotes, gee-whiz facts, adept summarization, and gleeful recounts of the eccentricities of great scientists. It moves so fast that its science on a toboggan.<i>Seattle Times<br /></i><br />[Bill Bryson] makes science interesting and funny. . . . You can bet that many questions you have about the universe and the world will be answered here.<i>Boston Globe</i><br /><br />Here are answers to the stupid questions you were afraid to ask in school . . . [Bryson] peppers the book with wit and great details. . . . Bottom line: Science with a smile.<i>People</i><br /><br />It is one of this books great achievements that Bryson is able to weave a satisfying universal narrative without sparing the reader one whit of scientific ignorance or doubt. . . . [<i>A Short History of Nearly Everything</i>] represents a wonderful education, and all schools would be better places if it were the core science reader on the curriculum.Tim Flannery, <i>Times Literary Supplement</i><br /><br /><br /><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>
zlib_text: ![](Images/image00233.jpeg)
  
  This book has been optimized for viewing at a monitor setting of 1024 x 768
  pixels.
  
  Bryson’s Dictionary
  
  _for_ Writers _and_ Editors
  
  a l s o by b i l l b rys o n �
  
  _The Lost Continent_
  
  _Mother Tongue_
  
  _Neither Here nor There_
  
  _Made in America_
  
  _Notes from a Small Island_
  
  _A Walk in the Woods_
  
  _I’m a Stranger Here Myself_
  
  _Bryson’s Book of Troublesome Words_
  
  _Bill Bryson’s African Diary_
  
  _A Short History of Nearly Everything_
  
  _A Short History of Nearly Everything Illustrated Edition_ _The Life and Times
  of the Thunderbolt Kid_
  
  Bryson’s Dictionary
  
  _for_ writers _and_ editors
  
  Bill Bryson
  
  **B r o a d w a y B o o k s | N e w Yo r k**
  
  published by broadway books
  
  Copyright © 1991, 1994, 2008 by Bill Bryson
  
  All Rights Reserved
  
  Published in the United States by Broadway Books, an imprint of The Doubleday
  Broadway Publishing Group,
  
  a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
  
  [www.broadwaybooks.com](http://www.broadwaybooks.com)
  
  Earlier edition