Bryson is best known for his travel books, of which I have read a few, but also writes on various other subjects. His Mother Tongue about the English language is very good. The current review is on his book about science, more specifically about what we know and how we came to know it. It seems history is full of people who got it totally wrong or got it right and were ignored or derided. He also makes much of the fact that there is a lot we still don't know. The subjects range over the origins of the universe, the nature of matter, the planet we live on and the origins of life. Some of it is a little depressing when he writes about how vulnerable life on Earth is and how our species has made a mess of things, but a lot of it is inspirational. He writes a lot about the people who discovered various things. As always his style is very easy and enjoyable to read. I was continuously wanting to quote sections to others.

I learnt a lot of new things from this book and it filled in some gaps in areas I do know about. If this had been a textbook for science at school I would have enjoyed it even more.

Although the book looks thick it's a relatively easy read and there's over a hundred pages of notes, bibliography and index that most people will probably not look at.

I'm now reading Prime Obsession about an unsolved mathematical problem. It's slightly less mainstream, but I like numbers.