Hugely readable and never obfuscating. * The Sunday Times *
This most enjoyable of books ... A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide. * The Times *
Bill Bryson has an unmatched gift for explaining the most difficult subjects in the clearest possible way. * Mail on Sunday *
Mr Bryson has a natural gift for clear and vivid expression. I doubt that a better book for the layman about the findings of modern science has been written. * Telegraph *
A fascinating idea, and I can't think of many writers, other than Bryson, who would do it this well. It's the sort of book I would have devoured as a teenager. It might well turn unsuspecting young readers into scientists. * Evening Standard *
A genuinely useful and readable book. There is a phenomenal amount of fascinating information packed between its covers ... A thoroughly enjoyable, as well as educational, experience. Nobody who reads it will ever look at the world around them in the same way again * Daily Express *
The very book I have been looking for most of my life... Bryson wears his knowledge with aplomb and a lot of very good jokes. * Daily Mail *
Of course, there are people much better qualified than Bill Bryson to attempt a project of this magnitude. None of them, however, can write fluent Brysonese, which, as pretty much the entire Western reading public now knows, is an appealing mixture of self-deprecation, wryness and punnery. * The Spectator *
Lucid, thoughtful and, above all, entertaining. * The Scotsman *