The book reveals hidden gems, from protons on a pinhead to the cosmic background noise. Its true magic lies in making the reader feel in conversation with the universe.
Syed Mustafa Ahmad
I am an ordinary writer and reader. I sometimes consider it a duty to dedicate some moments of life to books. Keeping this passion in mind, I am currently reading Bill Bryson’s book, A Short History of Nearly Everything. I would like to express my gratitude to the famous bookseller in Lal Chowk, the Best Seller Book Shop, which makes such books available to people at affordable prices.
As mentioned before, this book is currently part of my reading. Now, for the sake of the readers and especially for my own peace of mind, I wish to present my opinion about this book. There is a hundred per cent room for disagreement, but there is no harm in presenting the matter before the readers.
As is evident from the book’s title, it is a short history of nearly everything in the world. Covering everything is nearly impossible for the author. Yet, the book is written in such a manner that it keeps the reader engaged. Its volume is not excessive. Reading each of its pages makes one feel as if the reader is in conversation with the author and with every single thing in this vast universe. The book’s initial chapter is ‘Lost in the Cosmos’, and the final one is ‘The Road to Us’. This book contains such hidden gems that the reader feels like reading it again and again. Being a student, I wish to emphasise that I have never seen any book on the history of things written in this style before. The writing style of this book and its method of presenting everything is so magnificent that a person becomes oblivious to their surroundings. Some of the lessons this remarkable book provides us are mentioned in the following lines.
The first lesson is a completely different perspective on the universe. In the first chapter of the book, such a picture of the universe is painted that one wants to keep reading. Novel but interesting information is provided, ranging from The Big Bang Theory to The Black Holes. It discusses the theories of the world’s great physicists besides Albert Einstein. There is a wealth of fascinating information about the Proton as well. Proof of its small size is that approximately 500,000,000,000 protons can fit within the point of a pin. Priceless points about the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation are also mentioned. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978 for discovering the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
The story of this Nobel Prize is also interesting. But we will record this interesting topic in the next session. They had heard the noise or sounds that were produced when the universe was created from the singularity. Since then, those sounds or noises have been echoing throughout the universe, which the aforementioned individuals heard during their observations in New Jersey. This sound or noise was causing significant interference in their work. While repairing their equipment, they succeeded in discovering a rare thing. These are the kinds of details that are missing from most books found today. The Supernova and Nebula are discussed in detail. How the Supernova led to the emergence of many elements necessary for life is also described in a comprehensive manner.
The second lesson is the strange world of germs. Bryson has presented facts about bacteria and viruses at a genetic level that are known to very few people. Bryson has included the words of Carl Sagan, a famous American astronomer, in his book, thereby enhancing the book’s usefulness. Carl Sagan, stating his point, writes that the Amoeba, commonly found in ponds and lakes, has such diversity in its DNA that its genetic information could be used to produce eighty books of five hundred pages each. Its DNA contains 400 million bits of genetic information. These are pieces of knowledge that are not a feature of every science and history book.
To be continued…
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