Short History Of Nearly Everything Summary

Bronowski, J. (2012). Science. In The Norton reader: An anthology of nonfiction (13th ed., pp. 886-889). New York: W.W. Norton

The article ‘On the Recentness of What We Know,’ written by Verlyn Klinkenborg, is a pleasant read about the author’s fondness of astronomy and his insight regarding the science of it and knowledge gleaned from it. Klinkenborg recounts a few of his star-gazing memories and then proceeds to analyze the effects cosmological discoveries have on him personally and humanity in general. The author shares bits of theoretical history of the universe and information on the early astronomers whose hypotheses have developed that history. He goes on to reference various well known discoveries throughout the years and marvels at how drastically information in recent years has changed the stories of our universe.

The variety of information available on the internet is astounding and that makes it humanity's best invention. Eventually, certain sources of information become biased or untrustworthy, however, there will always be new sources that come into existence to replace the ones who outlived their purpose. I want to continue exploring the avenues and opportunities for Science to reveal our true history and lay bare the human stories that enrich our understandings of

the old view of atoms as the basic building blocks of the material world and Newtonian physics

Around 2,500 years ago, Democritus and his partner Leucippus were the first ones to develop the atomic theory in written history. Their theory proposed that every kind of matter was made up of tiny particles, which were named atomos, which means that it is indivisible. This meant that Democritus and Leucippus thought there were little particles of everything, but, the next breakthrough in atomic theory wasn’t made until the early 1800s with a french chemist by the name of Antoine Lavoisier, he was the one who came up with the idea of the law of the conservation of mass, which states that matter stays the same even when it changes shape or form. Then, James Dalton said that all matter was made up of atoms, which were indivisible, and unbreakable.

Science and history may seem like an odd couple, two fields with completely different origins and discoveries. However, as illustrated in The Disappearing Spoon, without one area of study, more than half of the knowledge that is known today would never be obtained. Since the start of the world, mankind has consistently utilized science to explain the mystery behind how the world works and has in the process produced the past that has now shaped the present and which will shape the future. Throughout The Disappearing Spoon, Kean continuously intertwines the relation between a certain element, such as chlorine and world war one, or iron and the origins of all celestial beings. The hidden backstory behind the formation of the periodic table and

One of the most prolific eras in our world’s history is the Scientific Revolution. During this time men began to think outside the realm of possibility and delved themselves deep into the exciting unknown world of science. The innovative minds of these people churned out inventions like gunpowder and the printing press, as well as, inventive new ways of thinking like the scientific method. Aside from the inventors and innovators, there were also the publicists and writers without whom no one would know or understand the new ideas of the time. One such person was Margaret Cavendish who was born and raised in England. She received the same education that a lady during her time did. However, due to her husband, Sir Charles Cavendish, she was exposed to the world of science. The subject intrigued her so much that she ended up publishing her own theory on atoms. Though her atomic theory contains many scientific Renaissance ideals, it is still seen as a major contribution of thought during the Scientific Revolution.

Francis Fukuyama; political scientist, economist, and author, in his article “The End of History?” discusses he rise and fall of major ideologies such as absolutism, fascism and communism, and suggests that human history should be viewed in terms of a battle of ideologies which has reached its end in the universalization of Western liberal democracy. Fukuyama concludes that the idea of Western liberal democracy has triumphed in the world through a variety of different ways and is a thriving piece of world order today. However, there are certain flaws to his argument including a US- centric view on the events of the twentieth century.

Moreover, Bryson show the significance of the human race, by chronologically showing the discoveries we have made in seeking scientific knowledge. He states that science has always been a trial of errors and discovery by accidents. For instance, Bryson explains that Marie Curie ultimately gave her life up for science when working with radioactive chemicals to widen the knowledge we have know (109). In the last chapter of the book, Bryson does conclude that humans are “awfully lucky” (478) to have been able to survive for this long, even though we have only been apart of earths exist for 0.01 percent of it, and to be able to use our minds to achieve such knowledge about the universe and the earth.

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 End of History” is an article by Francis Fukuyama in which he argues that the beginning of Western Liberal democracy could be interpreted as the “end of history”. In essence he is arguing that democratic liberalism is the final product of human politics. Once this is achieved there will be a few remain issues, however all minimal. In addition to analyzing Fukuyama’s argument I will also be analyzing John Gaddis’ “The Long Peace” which addresses the structural elements of stability.

This week’s reading assignment was The End of History by Francis Fukuyama. I thought that it was a great essay that displayed the concerns on ideologies that rise and collapse such as autocracy, fascism and communism, and he proposes that history should be observed in terms of a conflict of beliefs that has reached its end in the universalization of Western liberal democracy. Fukuyama does argue that the western liberalism has triumphed even though it is still in process of materializing in the world. He mentions that it is evident that we are all moving to a more western liberal society due to the growth of western consumerism and the gradual movement that we see in countries that were not a democracy and now are transitioning to a more democratic

instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology.

instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology.

In order to attempt to trace the origins of the modern science that we now refer to