However, I was delighted to find that, apart from standing by itself as a nice little general science introduction book, this more colourful version is also like a nice little summary to the meatier original travelogue to science.

I must confess here too that just reading to my children for 30 minutes a night is, perhaps, some of the best 30 minutes of my entire day. It was one of the bestselling popular science books of 2005 in the United Kingdom, selling over 300,000 copies. Bill Bryson wrote this book because he was dissatisfied with his scientific knowledge—that was, not much at all. So when the YA version caught my eye, I jumped to the chance to learn stuff about nearly everything again.

He saw exhaust coming out of a vehicle this morning on the way to the bus stop and instantly understood what air pollution was and its harmful effect on our environment and, more important, on "the animals' environment, too" because,"what the heck," he reasoned, "they [the animals] have a right to a healthy environment, too! A Short History of Nearly Everything was lauded with critical acclaim, and became a huge bestseller. Textbooks and teachers alike did not ignite the passion for knowledge in him, mainly because they never delved into the whys, hows, and whens. The value in this book is its survey of earth’s history (as a planet within the Milky Way) and humankind’s scientific advancements as well as the people responsible. A billion more each came from Buddha and Genghis Khan and Beethoven, and any other historical figure you care to name.

And of course Google is always there, there's no excuse to be uninformed and/or anti-science nowadays. Curiously, this little wonder does leave you feeling that one person truly can make a difference -- whether for good or evil.Como dice el título, el libro te hace un repaso de casi todo, centrado en la evolución de la ciencia: cosmología, física, química, geología, paleontología, biología, genética, etc y etc. As the name says, it covers everything from cosmology to evolution, in a fantastic way that even children can understand in a way that makes sense.

Furthermore, I do agree with his assertion that if you look at the development of our planet and if we are truly the only "intelligent" life out there, then we have been EXTREMELY lucky and should not blow it. I love this kids' version of the book--it covers most of what we teach in sixth grade social studies and science all in one book! He also describes some of the most recent destructive disasters of volcanic origin in the history of our planet, including Krakatoa and Yellowstone National Park. I read the original book more than 10 years ago ( A Short History of Nearly Everything), since then I've praised it endlessly and often referred to it as one of my favorite books.A Short History deviates from Bryson's popular travel book genre, instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. The last few articles, "chapters" or topics about animal extinction, overpopulation, global warming and pollution were a bit of a downer; especially for my little artist who took the death and loss of animals and the effect of pollution on "their world" pretty hard. He then explores the history of geology and biology and traces life from its first appearance to today's modern humans, emphasizing the development of the modern Homo sapiens. It had an illustration that captivated him–a diagram showing Earth’s interior as it would look if you cut into it with a large knife and removed about a quarter of its bulk.

Time periods covering billions of years and the size of a bacteria are difficult concepts for grown-ups too.

We read about two or three of the short articles regarding some unique aspect of the history and development of our civilization, planet, solar system, galaxy and universe.