I'm no science dork but for some reason this book has definitely piqued my interest because Bryson writes about exactly what interests me so much about planets, atoms, evolution, you name it! Like friggin supernovaes! And the scientists (and perhaps ordinary scholarly types) who study and conduct research and experiments on these fascinating subjects. What is great about the book is that the chapters are blissfully short and hold your attention with his amusing anecdotes about these scientists and how they made their discoveries (sometimes just be chance and other times by constant observation for over 10 years or more). I think Bryson is able to be humorous, but also has a way with words at times. As I mentioned in a previous blog, sometimes science writers are not as accessible as they attempt to be, Bryson doesn't dumb it down too much, but nor does he write in scientific jargon all the time. I just like how he breaks it down. Anyway, I can't believe I found this book on a trash can! I think I know who left it though, I was looking through the pages and found a receipt for a Verizon bill and a BART pass. But I found this book months and months ago so the owner probably bought a new one already. The BART pass is duly accepted though, that can be useful. Although I don't take BART to work usually (it would be way faster though).
My history of everything is that I am sitting here bored outta my mind, contemplating that space that doesn't exist but does and how it bends the universe (so cool!). And I have to go to the bathroom. An example of what Bryson writes that really made me smile with pleasure: "Incidentally, disturbance from cosmic background radiation is something we have all experienced. Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive, and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this ancient remnant of the Big Bang. The next time you complain that there is nothing on, remember that you can always watch the birth of the universe." (Bryson, p. 12) He even brings up dark matter (which recently came up again in the Science section of the NYT). Ah, yes, the dark matter that is the yang of atoms. I need to pick up an accessible book about quantum physics and mechanics at some point. I so wish I took that physics class in high school (the teacher was no good...but neither was the biology teacher either). Hell, we should have had astronomy class in high school, I took one in college but it wasn't very interesting. Mostly, it was just math and memorizing facts. Perhaps I should have found an astronomy science writing class with Bryson, Sagan and that other guy (forgot his name) as texts for the class. That would be fascinating.
This book really helps me become interested in something again, even if it is for a fleeting moment. But that's what life is: a succession of moments. I have a feeling this will be the point that Bryson makes at the end...I think he made it at the beginning with his explanation of time and how it affects atoms. I can't believe we're made from billions of atoms all bounded together in a tight mass. That seems amazing and totally just...wow...and we can think too! Awesome! There must be some way of explaining our existence with quantum mechanics and philosophy intertwined. I actually met someone who had that major @ LSE. But she was a bit of a stoner and very quiet. Sometimes when you're a genius all you have is yourself to magnify these ideas about life and science together to others who are open to those very same ideas. And sometimes ideas spring concurrently forward on the same floor of the astronomy building (as Bryson mentions quite a few times in his book).
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