Description: In this book, bestsellling author Bill Bryson confronts his greatest challenge: to understand--and, if possible, answer--the oldest, biggest questions posed about the universe, everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. High school & older.
Review Quotes: "Stylish [and] stunningly accurate prose. We learn what the material world is like from the smallest quark to the largest galaxy and at all the levels in between . . . brims with strange and amazing facts . . . destined to become a modern classic of science writing."
--The New York Times
"Bryson has made a career writing hilarious travelogues, and in many ways his latest is more of the same, except that this time Bryson hikes through the world of science."
--People
"Bryson is surprisingly precise, brilliantly eccentric and nicely eloquent . . . a gifted storyteller has dared to retell the world's biggest story."
--Seattle Times
"Hefty, highly researched and eminently readable."
--Simon Winchester, The Globe and Mail
"All non-scientists (and probably many specialized scientists, too) can learn a great deal from his lucid and amiable explanations."
--National Post
"Bryson is a terrific stylist. You can' t help but enjoy his writing, for its cheer and buoyancy, and for the frequent demonstration of his peculiar, engaging turn of mind."
--Ottawa Citizen
"Wonderfully readable. It is, in the best sense, learned."
--Winnipeg Free Press