Bill Bryson's latest book is an ambitious attempt to describe science's current view of humanity and our place in the universe, along with some backstory describing the people behind the scientific breakthroughs. In the 480 or so pages of prose, Bryson touches on everything from the big bang, to the makeup of the solar system, to elements, atoms, and quarks, to life itself, and to the fragility of our position in the universe.

It's a surprisingly successful undertaking. I hold three degrees in engineering, so it's fair to say that I know a thing or two about science. I've been exposed to most of the ideas in this book at one time or another, but never have I seen such a broad range of modern scientific thought articulated so well for a lay audience. Sure, Bryson probably spends too much time describing the social peccadilloes of famous (and not so famous) scientists, but although they are irrelevant to the value of the science, they do highlight the humanity of our scientific forefathers. I particularly appreciated that Bryson attempts to give credit to the scientists who first discovered particular phenomena rather than those who are credited by popular history.

If there's one core message in A Short History of Nearly Everything, it's that human life is precariously positioned. Geologically speaking, we've been on the planet for a infinitesimal timespan, and we've done a lot of things that are likely to throw the ecology of planet Earth sufficiently out of balance to force us into extinction. Surprisingly, no fingers are pointed (the environmental policies of the current Bush administration are incredibly destructive, but they are not mentioned). Clearly, Bryson makes his political points more subtly than I would.