A Short History of Nearly Everything - 10th Anniversary Edition

Ayant découvert que ce qui s'était passé dans le monde depuis deux siècles s'était retrouvé sous forme d'objets et de rituels quotidiens dans notre intérieur, le plus drôle des écrivains voyageurs américains fait le tour de sa maison pour nous raconter cette grande aventure du génie humain - de l'invention de la tapette à souris à la conception de la tour Eiffel, de la saga des acariens à celle des milliardaires. Une histoire de l'envers du décor.

Une histoire du monde sans sortir de chez moi

In Bryson's biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.

Une petite histoire de tout, ou presque...

Confinés à vie dans notre corps, nous sommes pourtant loin de bien le connaître. L'illustre Bill Bryson a donc endossé sa double panoplie d'écrivain-voyageur et de vulgarisateur scientifique afin de nous guider avec bonheur dans l'exploration de notre organisme jusqu'à l'infiniment petit. Il en révèle toute la complexité le plus simplement du monde, interroge les meilleurs chercheurs et prend un malin plaisir à dénoncer les enquêtes douteuses. Mais pour lui, raconter le corps humain c'est aussi raconter l'histoire de médecins géniaux (tel William Halsted, un cocaïnomane qui encouragea la pratique de l'anesthésie), de savants fous (comme Walter Freeman, maniaque de la lobotomie frontale), de malades célèbres (tel Proust l'asthmatique) ou encore de patients méconnus, comme Charles Osborne, un fermier américain qui hors de ses heures de sommeil eut le hoquet sans interruption de 1922 à... 1990. Tout à la fois maître de l'érudition joyeuse et membre honoraire de la très sérieuse Société royale de Londres, Bill Bryson nous offre ici le dernier volet d'une passionnante trilogie, après Une histoire de tout, ou presque... et Une histoire du monde sans sortir de chez moi. Mais n'oublions pas que ce natif de l'Iowa établi en Angleterre est en outre l'auteur de récits de voyages désopilants sur sa patrie d'origine, sa patrie d'adoption, et même sur l'Australie.

Une histoire du corps humain à l'usage de ses occupants

Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, and with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, David Attenborough, Martin Rees and Richard Fortey amongst others, this is a remarkable volume celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society.

Seeing further: the story of science and the royal society

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet and heads for Europe. He retraces his travels as a student twenty years earlier with caustic hilarity and his own unique brand of humour. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Bill Bryson lived in North Yorkshire for many years. First published in 1991 by Secker & Warburg.

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER _______ 'A directory of wonders.' - The Guardian 'Jaw-dropping.' - The Times 'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson...an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book.' - The Sunday Times 'It is a feat of narrative skill to bake so many facts into an entertaining and nutritious book.' - The Daily Telegraph _______ 'We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.'   Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological make up. 

A wonderful successor to A Short History of Nearly Everything, this new book is an instant classic. It will  have you marvelling at the form you occupy, and celebrating the genius of your existence, time and time again.

'What I learned is that we are infinitely more complex and wondrous, and often more mysterious, than I had ever suspected. There really is no story more amazing than the story of us.' Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything - 10th Anniversary Edition

Plus de livres de Bill Bryson

Critiques

Ce livre n'a pas encore de critiques