ipl-logo

Bill Bryson's A Short History Of Nearly Everything

962 Words4 Pages

Bill Bryson, author of “A Short History of Nearly Everything” (ASHONE), writes to address the public about the cosmos and space in their entirety. For an adolescent to grasp the concepts of cosmology is a virtually impossible feat. Although it is a difficult phenomenon for the ‘Average Joe’ to grasp the analytical ideas, Bryson gets the job done. Whilst the vast expanse of universe overwhelms the masses, the author manages to present the information in a masterfully lackadaisical manner. Lax as Bryson may be in his narration, all of his scientific facts relate to rudimentary examples that even the quaint can find common ground in. The chapter ‘A Lonely Planet’ discusses how slim the odds are of an organism’s existence. The typical person knows that in the vast expanse of the universe, only a select few planets have a distance perfect enough from a star to maintain life sustaining temperatures. Moreover, of those few, only a slim amount has weather that allows organisms to thrive. The universe itself must have looked upon earth with mercy for the pieces to fall into place. Even in our own planet, we can only inhabit half a percent of this very world (239, Bryson). The game of odds is a very touchy thing to play. As humans, we face death in every aspect of daily life. Steel death …show more content…

The average scholar has a difficult time grasping the ideas and facts of such a complicated topic, but Bryson offers the alternative. Bryson gives us ASHONE, which gifts us the rudimentary, condensed ideas of the otherwise intimidating subject. Although this information is typically one to fear solely because of its complications, Bryson helps the mediocre to understand. Bryson presents the arduous, convoluted information in a way that even the most whimsical adolescent could process, understand, and

Show More
Related

  • Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    165 Words  | 1 Pages

    Over the years, there has been an ongoing debate about “street smarts” and “book smarts” throughout the world. Many people side with either or for their own personal reasons. Although “street smarts” has developed a poor reputation which pushes people to neglect the positive aspects of this particular way of learning. In the article, “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff evaluates the structure schools use to teach literature. He explains that intellect is not only found in the academic form of thinking.

    Read More

  • Review Of Larry Schweikart's Seven Events That Made America

    606 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even with the high caliber of information provided, Schweikart has a very large underlying bias that is subtly seen in all the chapters. Though despite this Schweikart deserves applause, the information is presented well and the bias can be overlooked when

    Read More

  • The Comanche Empire Summary

    966 Words  | 4 Pages

    Agreeing with Flores and Minor, Martinez believes Halamlainen’s advanced research allows the monograph to stand out. Two common weaknesses that the reviewers share involve the structure of the text. The reviewers agree that the contradictions Halamlainen makes towards the citations used in the text leads the reader to question the validity of the progression of the monograph’s arguments. Lastly, another flaw that Flores and Minor highlight is the writing style of the text. Minor states that the text is “dry”, which he believes may turn many readers away from the book.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Bill Bysson's How You Became You

    1224 Words  | 5 Pages

    These words are understandable by most but allows the audience to feel the enthusiasm and respect Bryson has for this topic. Bryson’s specific choice of words, along with his

    Read More

  • Kalam Cosmological Argument Essay

    590 Words  | 3 Pages

    I intend to defend a version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument that does not require the use of the A-theory of time, that is, that the Kalam Cosmological Argument cannot be rejected on the grounds of this assumption. In a syllogistic fashion, Craig presents the

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Bambara's The Lesson

    917 Words  | 4 Pages

    Their website describes the journal as “a must for college and university libraries and teachers of literature”. The purpose of this article is to show readers that although it seems apparent what Bambara wants her readers to glean from her story, Cartwright proposes might just be an underlying theme. His hope is that by examining the text he can prove that the conflict is not the differences between the rich and the poor; on the contrary, the conflict is the sometimes present resistance to learning even at the detriment of the student. Cartwright states, “the dramatic question that powers the story, that moves it forward, is whether Miss

    Read More

  • Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

    1330 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Art in Education In first grade we had to draw a picture of what we would be doing 20 years from then. We had to draw what job we would have, what our hair would look like, what we would be wearing, and I chose to draw a picture of me drawing a picture. As a first grader I knew that my future would mirror what I was doing in that exact moment; I would still have curly hair, and I would still be an artist. Loudly proclaiming that I was going to be an artist when I grew up was ok in elementary school, but at the end of middle school it was often challenged with “but what are you really going to be?”

    Read More

  • The Creation Story Of Edwin Hubble's Early Life

    1028 Words  | 5 Pages

    But when the twentieth century was at the gates of new and historical events, that began to change. New discoveries shook the old certainties and paved away for questions about "where the universe came from?". One observation transformed our ideas about the true scale of the universe. It began with a mystery in the sky. By the early part of the twentieth century, it was well known that our solar system lay within a galaxy, the milky way.

    Read More

  • Poem Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee

    793 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through shifting points of view, a purposeful structure, and settle choices in diction the author adds

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's Influence On Education

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first time one is able to comprehend the meaning of a word is a momentous childhood moment that is forever engraved in one’s memory. Books and reading are significantly impactful to people’s lives; Mark Twain said that, “books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.” This statement is apropo for Sherman Alexie, who was a Native American living on a reservation during the time he learned to read. Sherman Alexie convinces his audience that an education is crucial to being successful by using personal anecdotes to captivate and create a connection with his audience and repetition to reiterate the importance of having an education. Alexie's use of personal anecdotes fortifies the impact he has on his audience.

    Read More

  • Carl Sagan Rhetorical Analysis

    836 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is after two paragraphs exploring notions of man’s cosmic connection that Sagan asserts his first claim in the essay, “plainly there is no way back… we are stuck with science” (1). The compassionate tone persists even in assertions, as seen through the use of first person. More compassionate is the gentle acknowledgement of the pseudoscience appeal. “Yes, the world would be a more interesting place if there were UFOs lurking in the deep waters off Bermuda… or if our dreams could, more often than can be explained by chance and our knowledge of the world, accurately foretell the future” (1). This series of sentences ends the introduction.

    Read More

  • Dava Sobel's Longitude Rhetorical Essay

    637 Words  | 3 Pages

    Overall, Sobel is successful in her argument as she develops it through accounting multiple sources and perspectives on the topic. She also engages the reader in the argument by creating a biased attachment to Harrison, and lays out the argument of how successful Harrison’s work was by accounting her ethos once more.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Persecution Of Socrates

    1756 Words  | 8 Pages

    Today virtually every child grows up learning that the Earth orbits the Sun, but four centuries ago the heliocentric solar system, where the Earth orbits the Sun, was so controversial that the Catholic Church classified it as a crime of heresy (UCLA). In the age of early philosophy, Socrates’ is well known. Between the Socratic method and his line of successful students, Socrates’ makes the history books. Galileo Galilei turned astronomers on their heads when he discovered moons around Jupiter. Giordano Bruno didn’t back down from any of his brilliant and different ideas.

    Read More

  • The War That Made America By Fred Anderson

    1207 Words  | 5 Pages

    Anderson, Fred. The War that Made America. New York, New York: Penguin Publishing Group, 2006. Fred Anderson's work on the Seven Year War center's upon an argument that the events during the conflict led up to and contributed to the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. Moreover, Anderson argues that the seeds of civil strife between England and its colonial possessions were sown at a time when English victory in North America was assured.

    Read More

  • Wislawa Szymborska Analysis

    1483 Words  | 6 Pages

    Thus, “microcosmos” describes how there can be a world comparable to the size of a solar system far smaller than Earth, which contradicts the denotations of smallness and a large system. This oxymoron reflects how the cosmos of bacteria was so much smaller than the cosmos of humans, just as humans are but the size of bacteria when looking at the universe.

    Read More

More about Bill Bryson's A Short History Of Nearly Everything

Open Document