The most unusual encyclopedia in the world . A Short History of Nearly Everything # is designed to change your perception of science as an unnecessarily complex and boring field of human activity. Unlike many other popular science books, where the author consistently presents firmly established facts, Bill Bryson acts rather as a guide, leading a tour of science. The book is full of fascinating details - from unexpected facts to historical anecdotes - and is incredibly broad in scope. Here you will really find almost everything: the Big Bang and the origin of man, the history of the discovery of dinosaurs and mass lead poisoning, weighing the Earth and deep-sea diving. The book fits the entire universe from the moment of its inception to the present day, raises the most pressing and burning questions. the probability of collision of the Earth with a meteorite and the consequences of such a catastrophe, the pace of development of mankind and its potential, the nature of man and the nature of the planet on which he lives, as well as the history of great and most incredible scientific discoveries All this is written brightly, accessible, with humor .. According to the author, he tried to write #a simple book about complex things and show the whole world that science is interesting!#. Bill Bryson’s book has already become a bestseller in the UK and the US This is the first book to be awarded the prestigious European René Descartes Prize for contributions to world science. Recommended literature: