Bill Bryson - A Really Short History of Nearly Everything

P UFFIN BOOKS U K | US A | Can ada | I reland | Austr alia I ndia | N ew Zea land | South Afri ca P u n Book s i s part of the Peng uin Ra ndom Hous e grou p of comp anies whose addre sses can be found at global.pen guinrandomho use.co m. www .p enguin.c o.uk www .p uffi n. co.uk www .la dybird.c o.uk A S hort Histor y of Nea rly E very thing fi rs t publ ished i n Gre at Br itain by Doub leday , a d ivision o f T r answo rld P ublishers, : abri dged, ada pted a nd illus trated editi on A Reall y Shor t History of Nea rly E very thing fi rst published in Gr eat Br itain by Doub leday , an imp rint o f Rand om House Children s Books , 200 T his editi on with new il lustrat ions p ublished b y Pu n Book s 2 T ext c opyri ght Bi ll Br ys on, 200 3, 200 8, 2 A bridged and ed ited b y Feli cia La w S ubject c onsulta nts: Sarah Chant; Mart in We aver I llustrati ons cop yrig ht Dan iel Lon g, Dawn Cooper , Jess Sots , Kati e Pond er , 2020 T he pict ure cr edits o n page 1 cons titute a n ext ension o f this copyr ight p age T he mora l ri ght of th e auth or and illustra tors has b een as sert ed Ty peset i n Barl ow Cond ensed a nd Chroni c by Per fe ct Bo und Ltd 978 All corr espondence to: Pu n Books , Pen guin Random House Children s One Emb assy G ardens, 8 Viaduct Garden s, London SW 7BW

PUFFIN

CoNtEnT s FOREW ORD ....................................... L OST IN THE COSMOS HO W DO THEY KNOW THA T? ........................... COOKING U P A UNIVERSE ............................. TH E BIG BANG .....................................

HI! GL AD YOU COULD MAKE IT! ........................ LIS TENING TO THE BIG BANG ......................... T O THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE ...................... J OURNEY INTO SPAC E .............................. L OOKING FOR PLUTO ............................... J OURNEYS END ...................................

WHOS OUT TH ERE? ................................ TH E SUPERNOV A SEARCHER ......................... TH E SIZE OF THE EARTH B ACK ON EARTH .................................. M EAS URING THE EARTH ............................. E ARTHS BULGE ................................... HO W FA R ROUND? .................................

TR ACKING VENUS ................................. WEIGHING TH E EARTH .............................. FE ATH ERWEIGHT MEAS URES ......................... SO, H ERE WE ARE . .. ..............................

FINDING E ARTHS AGE .............................. TH E STONE -BREAKERS ............................. SL OW AND STEA DY DOE S IT .......................... FINDING FOSSIL S .................................. D ATI NG THE ROCKS ................................ T OOTH AND CLA W .................................

DINOSAUR HU NTERS ...............................

ITS BONE TIM E ........................... ........................... TH E MIGHTY A T OM ................................. A M ATT ER OF CHEMISTRY ........................... TH E PERIODIC T ABLE ...............................

GL OWING ELEMENTS ............................... A NEW A GE D A WNS EINS TEIN THE GENIUS ............................ S PACET IME ...................................... TH E BIG PICTURE .................................. B AD SCIENCE .................................... A METEORIC AGE ..................................

SO, HERE WE ARE . .. .............................. D ANGEROUS PLANET TR AVE LLING TRILOBITES ............................ CRUS T CRUNCHING ................................ ALL ADRIFT ......................................

TH E FIRE BELOW .................................. BOOM! .......................................... Y ELLOWSTO NE PA RK ............................... BIG QU AKES ...................................... IM PACT FROM SPA CE ............................... A STEROID HIT ....................................

LIFE ITS ELF OUR TINY PA TCH .................................. EARTHS BL ANKET ................................. WILD AND WINDY .................................. HOT- WA TE R BOTTLE .............................. AWAS H WITH W ATE R .............................. DOWN IN THE DEEP ...............................

PROTEIN SOUP ................................... BATT LING BAC TERIA .............................. YOUR MINI WO RLD ................................

M AKING YOU ILL ................................. SO, HERE WE ARE . ............................. .............................

CITIZEN CELL S .................................. HO W LONG CAN YO U STA Y? ......................... A RU NAW AY SUCCESS ............................. TIM E TO GET S TAR TED ............................. OUT OF TH E SEA ................................. WH ERE DID WE COME FROM? ........................

COMINGS AND GOINGS ............................. L ABELLING LIFE ................................. C ANT COUNT? ................................... J OURNEY TO TH E FUTURE .......................... TH E QUIET MONK ................................. ONE BIG HAPP Y FA MILY ............................

CHAIN OF LIFE ................................... TH E ROAD TO US HO T AND COLD ................................... CHILL Y TIMES ................................... SKULL AND BONES ................................ L UCY .......................................... FROM TH ERE TO H ERE .............................

T OOL-MAKERS ................................... SO, WE GO T HERE! ................................ HUM ANS TA KE OVER .............................. WHA T NOW? .................................... GOOD BYE ....................................... IND EX .........................................

PICTURE CREDITS ................................

F oReWoRd H ave you ev er c losed your ey es a nd tried to imag ine jus t ho w big infin ity is ? O r wondere d what there use d to b e befo re there was a un iverse ? Or trie d to e nvision what it would b e like to tra vel at t he spee d of light or pee r into a b lack hol e? A nd did all this make y our brai n hurt a litt le? We ll, don t worry , I am her e to h elp you. I spe nt abo ut fift y ye ars as king my self brain-s training quest ions and f inally deci ded (b ecause I don t move ve ry fa st) to s ee i f I couldn t find som e a nswers. Y o u are holding the r esu lt. A ll that has chan ged wit h this s pecial n ew edi tion is that it is much shor te r t hough the be st b its a re all st ill in - a nd cunningl y illus trat ed t o make it eas y t o se e exact ly how thi s univ erse of ours is put t ogeth er . I l earned tw o part icular th ings fr om do ing this bo ok.