Monthly Archives: November 2025

A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson

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This is a big thick book, and it took me a while to read it. Just 544 pages, including the notes and references.

I like the way Bill Bryson writes, and I will try to read more of his work now. I started to keep track of some of his references, but it probably would have been too much work. I did note on page 54 when he recommended Timothy Ferris and his book, Coming of Age in the Milky Way. I will try to get that sometime. There is a 1988 edition, and a 2003 version, but I am not sure how much the 2003 edition is different.

It did have some negative reviews in Amazon, and I could see how many readers would find this tedious and difficult to finish. Maybe if I read some of his other books, then I would see that this one was actually a bore. In any case, I found it interesting, but bite it a chapter at a time. It would be a chore to try to read it straight through.

The meaning of it all?

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Richard P. Feynman wrote the book, The meaning of It all: thoughts of a citizen scientist.

I was surprised to see that it came out in 1998, even though the lectures that the book is based on were given in April of 1963. It took 35 years for the lectures to be more widely distributed. Maybe he did not want the lectures to be published at all. It seems like the audio or video of the lectures were found, and the text of his lectures were transcribed into this book. There are many cases where the book reads directly from his audio statements; it was not from his notes. He says “and so on” an awful lot. This is his thought filler like the word ummm for many people. On page 109-110, he said “It’s hard for me to explain how exciting that is, and how interesting. And, I’ve used up more time than I ought.” He continues on till page 117-118 when he says “I also appreciate that I’m talking too long, so I will mention them only. But it’s out of proportion. I wanted to spend more time.” Those phrases would not have been written in his notes.

I also found that the book did not really address the meaning of it all. The first two lectures of the three were better, and I found the last lecture to be long and rambling from one topic to another. On page 61 out of 122 pages (half of the book), he did state that the first two lectures were more organized, and that the last of the three lectures was more off the cuff. Specifically, he said that “I developed them slowly and carefully, completely, in two.” and “So, since I already contracted to give three lectures, the only thing I can do is to give this potpourri of uncomfortable feelings without having them very well organized.” Yes, indeed he did.

He was also of a time when the vast majority of scientists were men, so most of the book reads in a misogynistic way. He just assumed that a scientist is going to be a man.

I agree with several other reviewers that sections one and two are the most coherent, so if you come up on this book, just delve into the first half of the book. I agree with Timothy Ferris when he said section three had a “somewhat ‘ragged’ speech that followed.” It is also “badly dated and atrociously edited” and the book “does not honor his memory.”