Science · Similar reads
Books like A Short History of Nearly Everything
The best books like A Short History of Nearly Everything are Cosmos, The Selfish Gene, and Chaos: Making a New Science. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is about scientific history, cosmology, evolution. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Cosmos
01
Carl Sagan · Science
Cosmos is Carl Sagan's attempt to tell the full story of the universe and humanity's place in it — from the Big Bang to the origins of life to the rise of science as a way of knowing.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - The Selfish Gene
02
Richard Dawkins · Science
The Selfish Gene reframes evolution from the organism's point of view to the gene's.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Chaos: Making a New Science
03
James Gleick · Science
Chaos: Making a New Science, published in 1987, tells the story of how a loose network of scientists working across meteorology, mathematics, biology, and physics in the 1960s and 1970s developed chaos theory — the study of systems that are deterministic but unpredictable because tiny differences in initial conditions produce wildly different outcomes.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary →
- The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
04
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
James Gleick · Science
The Information traces the history of information — as a concept, a technology, and a way of understanding the universe — from the talking drums of West Africa through the telegraph, the printing press, the telephone, and into the digital age.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - The Gene: An Intimate History
05
Siddhartha Mukherjee · Science
The Gene is Siddhartha Mukherjee's account of the gene — what it is, how it was discovered, and what humanity has done and might yet do with that knowledge.
Shares scientific history and evolution with A Short History of Nearly Everything.
Read the summary → - A Brief History of Time
06
Stephen Hawking · Science
A Brief History of Time is Stephen Hawking's attempt to explain the biggest questions in physics — where the universe came from, how it behaves, and where it might be going — to readers with no scientific training.
Both dig into cosmology.
Read the summary → - A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
07
A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg · Science
A Crack in Creation is Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg's account of how CRISPR-Cas9 works, what it can do, and why its possibilities should give everyone pause.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - A Universe from Nothing
08
Lawrence M. Krauss · Science
A Universe from Nothing is Lawrence Krauss's argument that modern physics has resolved, or at least reframed, the ancient philosophical question of why there is something rather than nothing.
Both dig into cosmology.
Read the summary → - Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
09
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
Frans de Waal · Science
Frans de Waal's central argument is that we've spent most of the last century asking the wrong questions about animal intelligence.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
10
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Neil deGrasse Tyson · Science
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is Neil deGrasse Tyson's deliberately compact introduction to the biggest ideas in modern astrophysics.
Both dig into cosmology.
Read the summary → - Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
11
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
Robert M. Sapolsky · Science
Behave is Robert Sapolsky's attempt to explain why humans do what they do — the violence, the altruism, the tribalism, the heroism — by working through every layer of biology that contributes to a single act.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary → - Climbing Mount Improbable
12
Richard Dawkins · Science
Climbing Mount Improbable is Richard Dawkins's response to the persistent intuition that complex biological structures — the vertebrate eye, insect wings, spider webs — are too improbable to have evolved by chance.
Both dig into evolution.
Read the summary →
Books like A Short History of Nearly Everything: quick answers
What are the best books like A Short History of Nearly Everything?
The best books like A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson are Cosmos by Carl Sagan, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick, The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with A Short History of Nearly Everything, such as scientific history, cosmology, evolution.
What should I read after A Short History of Nearly Everything?
A natural next read after A Short History of Nearly Everything is Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Both dig into evolution. Other strong choices are The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick.
What books are similar to A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson?
A Short History of Nearly Everything centers on scientific history, cosmology, evolution. Books with a similar feel include Cosmos by Carl Sagan, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick, The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
