A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0

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The 21st century's bestselling popular science book has now been fully revised and updated in Bill Bryson's inimitable style to reflect the many advances in science since this book was first published in 2003.

This journey through time and space will inform a new generation of readers as well as those who read this book on first publication with a new perspective based on what we know now.

A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 is the result of Bill Bryson's quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization – how we got from being nothing at all to what we are today. Now fully updated to include all the latest advances in science, it is more ground-breaking than ever before.

Bryson makes complex subjects fascinating and accessible to everyone with an interest in the world around them. A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 reveals the world in a whole new way.

'Possibly the best scientific primer ever published.' Economist
'Truly impressive...It's hard to imagine a better rough guide to science.' Guardian
'A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide' The Times

Hugely readable and never obfuscating.
The Sunday Times

About Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. His bestselling books include The Road to Little Dribbling, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, One Summer and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. In a national poll, Notes from a Small Island was voted the book that best represents Britain. His acclaimed work of popular science, A Short History of Nearly Everything, won the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize, and is the biggest selling non-fiction book of the 21st century. The Body: A Guide for Occupants was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize and is an international bestseller.
Bill Bryson was Chancellor of Durham University 2005-2011. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in England.

Details

Imprint: Transworld Digital
Published: 21/10/2025
ISBN: 9781529941067
Length: 738 pages
Price: £13.99

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Hardback 2025
Ebook 2025

A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0

Format:

Pre-order:

Hugely readable and never obfuscating.

This most enjoyable of books ... A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide.

Bill Bryson has an unmatched gift for explaining the most difficult subjects in the clearest possible way.

Mr Bryson has a natural gift for clear and vivid expression. I doubt that a better book for the layman about the findings of modern science has been written.

A fascinating idea, and I can't think of many writers, other than Bryson, who would do it this well. It's the sort of book I would have devoured as a teenager. It might well turn unsuspecting young readers into scientists.

A genuinely useful and readable book. There is a phenomenal amount of fascinating information packed between its covers ... A thoroughly enjoyable, as well as educational, experience. Nobody who reads it will ever look at the world around them in the same way again

The very book I have been looking for most of my life... Bryson wears his knowledge with aplomb and a lot of very good jokes.

Of course, there are people much better qualified than Bill Bryson to attempt a project of this magnitude. None of them, however, can write fluent Brysonese, which, as pretty much the entire Western reading public now knows, is an appealing mixture of self-deprecation, wryness and punnery.

Lucid, thoughtful and, above all, entertaining.

About Bill Bryson

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