A Brief History of Everything

The book I am currently reading, A Brief History of Everything by Bill Bryson, is a historical description of discoveries in the field of astronomy. He begins with an explanation of the big bang, a mind blowing concept, with a focus on the scale of this event. He describes how in less than a second there was a change from nothingness to a universe full of matter, millions of miles in diameter. Bryson then goes on to explain other astronomical phenomena such as supernovas and the journey of light through space. He continues with a description of the solar system, putting the distances between planets into perspective. I am currently at the point where Bryson is explaining the discoveries of the scientific revolution, and specifically the idea of gravity. This book is already a medley of many ideas and concepts, and I'm not very far into it. I have a hard time imagining that there will be a lot of unity and cohesiveness between ideas presented in this book, but Bryson may tie it all back together.

Overall, I am interested in the subject matter, but the book seems a little dull. I think this is because he is covering so many topics and providing little detail for each one. I guess I should have expected this by the name of the book; each subject is briefly talked about, and while it is not a history of everything, it seems like he touches on everything astronomy related. I am curious to see Bryson's end goal with all of the subjects presented in the beginning of the book and how he will bring all of these together. I have read A Walk in the Woods by him, and his writing style seems consistent: a mixture of humor and fact that make for an intriguing story. I believe Bryson may be able to pull the book's subjects together, but I'll just have to wait and see.