This was my third time through the book, and it has remained entertaining through each re-reading. While the particulars cannot stay with me, overall I am left with a great sense of wonder.
We are, as the song used to say, a fluke in the universe. We have no right to be here. And we--our selves, our species, our planet--won't be forever and forever, world without end, amen. A massive volcano--like Yellowstone--or a giant meteor--like Yucatan--could wipe out most of human life in one devastating second, without warning, at any time. Those not instantly destroyed will soon hope that they were with the massive dislocations to ecosystems. Or the planet could more slowly as a move back to the little ice age and massive starvation.
Some other life forms will eventually supersede the human species, whether sentient or not. And this planet is really all there is, and when it comes down to it, we don't know jack shit about the universe, about the planet, about life, about ourselves. It seems to me that about all we can grasp is how much we don't know. And it took us a damn long time to even reach that conclusion. About the only thing that Bryson didn't include was neuroscience and the development of language and psychology.
Author: Bryson, Bill
Date Published: 2003
Length: 560pp & 18hr 15min
electronic print and audio
Narrator: Matthews, Richard
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