'To [listen to] Bryson is to travel with a memoirist gifted with wry observation and keen insight that shed new light on things we mistake for commonplace. To accompany the author as he travels with the likes of Charles Darwin on the Beagle, Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton is a trip worth taking.' -- Publishers Weekly 'Stylish [and] stunningly accurate prose ... Brims with strange and amazing facts ... destined to become a modern classic of science writing.' -- The New York Times '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.' -- The Sunday Telegraph '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.' -- The Daily Mail