That being said, for the most part this book remains just so damn energizing. It might seem like I’m nitpicking now, especially considering how Bryson wryly highlights the racism and sexism of our past, but that’s exactly why I don’t want to let him slide on something like that. At one point, in the last chapter, Bryson comments how it was such a shame that the Chinese were grinding up bones for medicines instead of studying the bones to learn more about our past. Moreover, reading this now with a more critical eye than I did in 2010, I’ll acknowledge there’s a pinch of Western gaze going on here. Some of the mysteries that Bryson mentions here have been solved-while others have deepened. Our scientific knowledge certainly has advanced since then. I will add that I think this book, by and large, holds up even 15 years on. I was going to talk about Bryson’s repetitive phrasing, praise how he explains how much we don’t know, and remark on how good this book is at just … luxuriating in the knowledge we have. I thought I had lots to say, but re-reading my review from 2010 below … I already said it there. A Short History of Nearly Everything is one of those formative books that has stuck with me for a long, long time. Has it really been nearly 9 years since I re-read this? No.
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