Delve into the World of Nearly Everything.

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Have you ever wanted to know (nearly) everything about (nearly) everything pertaining to sciences of all kinds? If so, then Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything may be the book for you. As you travel through time and space with a witty and knowledgeable narrator, you learn about how the universe came to be, about how hard it was (is) to be a scientist, learn about how different theories and ideas were created, and much, much more. My only qualm with the book is that it is a long -544 pages long- and hard to read book, and it's only for people who enjoy the challenge, and are willing to work through it. I really enjoyed the book, as Bill Bryson writes in a casual but informative way that helps you to better understand, learn and enjoy what the book is teaching you.

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Here are some specific topics you will encounter in the book:

• How the universe started, and what it might become.
• How scientists figured out the size of the Earth without measuring it (which would be crazy).
• What would happen if a meteor crashed into the Earth?
• What would happen if a long overdue super volcano were to erupt? (The volcano is called Yellowstone National Park. Yup the whole thing is one huge volcano, and an eruption would be hundreds of times larger than the largest known eruption to date: Krakatau).
• The hardships that different scientists went through to get their ideas and discoveries out into the world.

Here's a video about the Yellowstone Park volcano:

Here's a link to the YouTube page in case you're having problems with the video.

Here's a PDF of the book, so you can read the first few pages and see what you think.

History of the Hunley

Lets go back 150 years, to the United States Civil War. Remember how the Abolitionists were the good guys? Well in Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, Solving the Mysteries of the H.L Hunley by Sally M. Walker, we see the war from the perspective of the Confederates, and their secret weapon that could sink an Ironclad Warship in one blow, the H.L. Hunley. 

Example of how big the Hunley is compared
to an average sized man.

The book starts back during the Civil War and a man by the name of H.L. Hunley (the namesake and creator of the submarine) was trying to make a submersible aquatic vehicle that could easily sink a Union Warship without being detected. After sinking and taking the lives of over twenty of its crew members, it finally goes out and sinks an Ironclad by the name of the Housatonic, but sadly, it never returned to shore.

Click here to explore the HL Hunley

Real life picture of the HL Hunley in an
environmentally controlled tank.

Now lets jump to 1995. We are taken on the last adventure of the H.L Hunley. It's found and after about five years of planning it's ready to be taken out of the water and put in a safe, preserving environment where researchers continue to study it. In the end, although we don't know why it sunk, we know who it sunk with and all the other important things about it.

Website of the HL Hunley

I think Sally M. Walker wrote this book (and I highly recommend it) because of the suspense it gives you about what will happen next to the Hunley and teaches you about what kind of technology was popular in the 1800's and to teach us about the first ever successful war submarine. This book is great for people who like to get hooked by a book and learn about earlier technology.