Bill Bryson's A Short History Of Nearly Everything

On the brink of discovery there is a thrilling glow of hope and promise. The hope of a betterment of life as it is and the promise of something new and exciting. The turn of the twentieth century was this threshold of opportunity and anticipation, and a booming era for scientists and inventors alike. Between 1900 and 1920 a plethora of modern day conveniences and concepts were brought to life. Without this unique period in time civilization might have had to do without escalators, Gillette’s double edged safety razor, modern vacuum cleaners, air conditioning, the Teddy Bear, crayons, airplanes, E=mc2, automobiles, Life Savers candy, and the bra, just to name a few.1 Along with the glitter of innovation can come an unintentional (and sometimes

Lisa Jardine’s Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution provides a comprehensive breakdown of the discoveries that defined the Scientific Revolution and the history behind them. The story of the scientific revolution truly begins with a separation between the Catholic Church and the denizens of Europe brought on by the Protestant Reformation. This separation led directly to the questioning of the church and what they deemed to be true. The growing suspicion of the church applied not only to the politics and religious views but the scientific “facts” the church was built upon. The suspicion of these scientific facts quickly grew to an open challenging of these facts, The Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution is something we have all studied in our grade school years and the discoveries of people such as Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei are well documented and arguably common knowledge but Jardine’s book Ingenious Pursuits encapsulates the scientific revolution in a new light. Jardine accomplishes this by telling the stories of some of the greatest achievements of the Scientific Revolution. These stories reveal the collaborations of some of histories most brilliant minds as well as the secrecy amongst them and uncover the motives that fueled many of these accomplishments.

Can Discovery truly allows us to view life in a new and fresh way? Due to the complex and abstract nature of the concept of discovery, a true sense of discovery harbour's the ability to incite individuals in many differentiating ways as it can be provoked through their different past experiences. The concept of discovery has evidently evoked curiosity and inquisitiveness through the protagonists of both the indigenous play “Rainbows end” composed by Jane Harrison, and also through the novel “The fault in our stars” authored by John Green.

Even after he kills a fish in a seemingly careless fashion, in his sleep “[his] mind lit up by the…flickering of the dying [fish]” seems to haunt him with resentment (Martel 186). This subconscious image is a product of Pi’s internal conflict with his new methods of survival. Therefore, Pi is unable to completely eliminate his feelings while trying to survive due to his torn thoughts between morality and necessity.

The Age of Discovery, also known by others as the “Age of Exploration”, was a period starting in the 15th century, lasting for over 200 years, and was conceived by the pioneer Portuguese and Spanish explorers in their search for precious metals and very costly spices, such as saffron and cardamom. Although the expansion of knowledge about the world was a good intention, it ultimately turned out be have extremely severe consequences, which its effects are still being suffered to this day!

Undoubtedly, humanity and modern civilization would have never reached their current form with the research. Research is the key element behind any type of evolution and progress. Contemporary, broadly established theories, varying from the understanding of the universe to the revelation of human evolution, are the result of valuable innovations in different fields of science and technology. Every day life has been simplified due to the constant advance of knowledge and discoveries. However, none of this would be possible without constant research. Therefore, and since research is vital to the development of human civilization, the need to augment and supplement current research methods has become apparent. Even though research outcomes

Advancement is both the most noteworthy accomplishment and worst thing about humankind. Innovations and revelations are not innately great or underhandedness; nonetheless, contingent on who wields them they can be a power for kindheartedness or noxiousness.

Sometimes mistakes can lead to great discoveries. An explorer can be searching for a waterfall and then trip and fall into a hidden cave. The possibilities are endless when it comes to this topic. Like in “Lost Cities, Lost Treasure”, “How a Melted Bar of Chocolate Changed Our Kitchens”, and “In Praise of Careful Science”. These things can change people's lives in good and bad ways.

Much credit should belong to scientists for making important technological and medical discoveries in the world. In Bishop,'sEnemies of Promise," well known scientists point out views regarding their belief in science. Representative George E. Brown, Jr., who has been trained as a physicist admits that "his faith in science has been shaken." He feels that as our knowledge of science increases, so do the occurrence of social problems. Brown, Jr. Feels that the progression of science should lead to diminishing social problems rather than an increase.(238) The real question is, is science to blame, or are the humans creating science to blame? Critics such as Brown and Lamm "blame science for what are actually the failures of individuals to use the knowledge that science has provided." Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, is a good example of a myth about a scientist who took science to an extreme.

The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, which spanned from the late 1500’s to 1700’s, shaped today’s modern world through disregarding past information and seeking answers on their own through the scientific method and other techniques created during the Enlightenment. Newton’s ‘Philsophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica’ and Diderot’s Encyclopedia were both composed of characteristics that developed this time period through the desire to understand all life, humans are capable of understanding the Earth, and a sense of independence from not having to rely on the nobles or church for knowledge.

Throughout history, scientific advancements have been viewed as having a positive impact on the lives of all people. No matter how large or small the discovery is, few see it as possibly having a negative effect on society. Too much time has been spent throughout history on praising scientists and their new works; however, how these advancements affected society when eventually used is often overlooked. Kurt Vonnegut attacks this ideal and provides a story that reveals how scientists do not care about how their findings could impact society in a positive or negative way. He exemplifies the importance religion can have on a population when everyone follows its scripture strictly. How a leader can have control over an entire population through

A Short History of Nearly Everything describes the experiences and circumstances under which scientists discovered elements of nature and invented devices that revolutionized the world. As a result of knowledge of the experiences of others that led to their prestige, I would be inspired to formulate methods by which I could maximize the quality of life within my vicinity. In addition, the amount of knowledge within Bryson’s book will satisfy my curiosity by providing a means of education in an uninteresting environment. Consequently, the contents of the novel will undoubtedly make the surrounding environment much more interesting as I would be able to relate to how some of the discoveries within the novel came about through an extensive observation of

The rate at which science develops and transforms the world is rapid. However, despite having the best goals of improving the human society, science always leads to several negative influences on humanity. For instance, Dr. Moreau’s desire to use science to give animals human like qualities is an example of the negative results of rapid scientific developments. Dr. Moreau’s scientific curiosity has driven him out of compassion since the creatures he comes up with turn out to cause more harm than good. Dr. Moreau’s speech to Prendick in his attempt to justify his actions is particularly important for this theme. He states that pain and pleasure are insignificant factors to consider when progressing with scientific developments. This is absolutely wrong as most of the scientific developments often have the ability to either cause harm or create excessive outcomes to the human

Humans do some amazing things. The leading force behind our success is innovation. Science 's many advantages make life easier but also include drawbacks. The technology to solve many problems exists, but our ability to create a solution does not necessarily mean we should. Most problems of these problems can be fixed, but what is the cost? World hunger is an issue that many people wish they could solve. It seemed impossible in the past, but modern technology has provided a possible solution.

Humanity’s interest in unknown world has been universal and enduring. Accompany with human development, discovery the unknown world has become more and more important to human life. Some people think discovery is a good thing. They will tell you how X-ray used by medical professionals to help diagnose and treat a wide range of medical problems. They will also tell you what a mass your life will be if Benjamin Franklin did not discovered electricity. But other argue people think discovery bring disaster to human. They will tell you if Martin Heinrich Klaproth did not discover uranium, maybe atomic bomb would not been invented. Although the question about whether discovery always a good thing has so many