这是一部有关现代科学发展史的既通俗易懂又引人入胜的书，作者用清晰明了、幽默风趣的笔法，将宇宙大爆炸到人类文明发展进程中所发生的繁多妙趣横生的故事一一收入笔下。惊奇和感叹组成了本书，历历在目的天下万物组成了本书，益于人们了解大千世界的无穷奥妙，掌握万事万物的发展脉络。
书中回溯了科学史上那些伟大与奇妙的时刻，引用了近年来发现的最新科学史料，几乎每一个被作者描述的事件都奇特而且惊人：宇宙起源于一个要用显微镜才看得见的奇点；全球气候变暖可能会使北美洲和欧洲北部地区变得更加寒冷；1815年印度尼西亚松巴哇岛坦博拉火山喷发引发的海啸夺走了10万人的生命；美国黄石国家公园是“世界上最大的活火山”……而那些沉迷于科学的科学家们也是千奇百怪：达尔文居然为蚯蚓弹起了钢琴；牛顿将一根大针眼缝针插进眼窝，为的只是看看会有什么事情发生；富兰克林不顾生命危险在大雷雨里放风筝；卡文迪许在自己身上做电击强度实验，竟然到了失去知觉的地步；发现第一批陆地动物鱼甲龙化石的瑞典古生物学家贾维克居然数错了手指、脚趾的数量，还把化石藏了48年不让别人看……
本书在讲述科学的奇迹与成就的同时，还浸润着浓郁的悲天悯人的人文关怀。作者一次次把目光对准人类那些糟糕的发明，震惊于人类对海洋的危害、对大气的污染以及对动物的赶尽杀绝等。全书从科学发展史的角度对“
我们从哪里来？我们是谁？我们到哪里去？”这一千古命题作了极为精当的阐释。每一个人在阅读此书之后，都会对生命、对人生、对我们所生活的世界产生全新的感悟。一位美国小读者的父亲说，读过《万物简史》之后，他对死亡不再感到恐惧……作者认为，这是一本书所能获得的最高评价。
Bill''s own fascination with science began with a battered
old schoolbook he had when he was about ten or eleven years old in
America. It had an illustration that captivated him - a cutaway
diagram showing Earth''s interior as it would look if you cut into
it with a large knife and carefully removed about a quarter of its
bulk. And he very clearly remembers thinking: ''How do they know
that''? Bill''s story-telling skill makes the ''How?'' and, just as
importantly, the ''Who?'' of scientific discovery entertaining and
accessible for all ages. In this exciting edition for younger
readers, he covers the wonder and mysteries of time and space, the
frequently bizarre and often obsessive scientists and the methods
they used, the crackpot theories which held sway for far too long,
the extraordinary accidental discoveries which suddenly advanced
whole areas of science when the people were actually looking for
something else or in the wrong direction and the mind-boggling
fact that, somehow, the universe exists and, against all odds, life
came to be on this wondrous planet we call home.
關於作者：
比尔·布莱森，享誉世界的旅游文学作家。1951年出生于美国艾奥瓦州，毕业于美国德雷克大学。从1973年起，在英国居住20之久，任职于《泰晤士报》与《独立报》，同时也为《纽约时报》、《国家地理杂志》等刊物撰文。之后搬到美国新罕布什尔州的汉诺威市。
Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. He settled
in England in 1977, and lived for many years with his English wife
and four children in North Yorkshire. He and his family then moved
to America for a few years but have now returned to the UK. He
succeeded Sir Peter Ustinov as Chancellor of the University of
Durham in April 2005. His bestsellers include The Lost Continent,
Neither Here Nor There, Notes From a Small Island, A Walk in the
Woods, Down Under and, most recently, A Short History of Nearly
Everything which won the Aventis Prize for Science Books in
2004.
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