"A Short History of Nearly Everything" entry #4

pauthor: Bill Bryson; published: 2003 & 2004

Question being considered: what was the point of this book?

The plausible reasons why Bryson wrote this book are many and varied. One of the obvious reasons that Bryson wrote this book is because he must have an interest in science. Well, he must have either an interest in science or the history behind the development of science. This is just me but personally I find the history part more interesting but science?? I know its a huge part of our world today and all- but seriously. Another part I might consider is the psychology part behind it- Bryson's make-up behind it all. Not only would I consider that Bryson might've written this book out of interest in science and history in science but also because he must've had a curiosity in it all. This curiosity drove him to write a book about science and the history of science. Yet another possibility I'm considering is that some part of Bryson's personal history might've sparked Bryson's interest in writing this book- possibly some event that occurred between him and his dad or his mother. Perhaps something in Bryson's recent history caused him to write this book- maybe something with his wife or children (if he has them), an event that caused him to hark back to his days as a child when he used to read his science book just for the fun of it, to find out the scientific history of the world in which he lived. All of these possibilities as possible but perhaps even more possible, as from speaking from personal experience- lately whenever I go online I always see articles about various events occurring all over the world from the latest gossip about tv stars to scientific discoveries. Mostly, perhaps the only time science is even remotely interesting to the point where I'm driven madly curious by it, is when its in these articles (that and a tv show called "Mythbusters"). If my personal experience is like this then its a possibility that Bryson's experience could be similar- after all I check my e-mail on yahoo, which is where I often read such articles. Considering such numerous possibilities, I conclude that Bryson was driven to write this book through his curiosity of science and the history of science through some event his personal life, whether it be recent or have occurred some time during his childhood. This event drove him to write this book.