A Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson (2004)
Just finished reading this delightful survey of modern scientific thought and the history of how we got here. Some of the biographical vignettes are truly inspiring, and others heartbreaking.
I found only one area where recent discovery has superseded his account—so called “junk” DNA. It is now known that these areas perform important regulatory functions and are anything but junk!
This book should be required reading by every high school senior or college freshman! It does more to explicate science and scientists than any watered-down textbook ever could.