Talk:A Short History of Nearly Everything
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[edit] New cover
There is a new version of this out, the illustrated version. I happen to have it and would be willing to provide a picture of the cover if anyone thinks it would prove useful. JohnCub 20:03, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Errata
I'm concerned that there's no list of errata for this book. I haven't found many, but there are a few, such as the footnote about the Hindenberg, attributing the explosion to the hydrogen rather than the materials which made up the skin of the airship, which are now used as solid rocket-booster fuel. Would an Errata list be appropriate in this page? --216.99.213.165 04:46, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
- -I'd say this is as good of a place as any so long as references are cited. JohnCub 09:44, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
- -Indeed : sounds like an interesting section for the article. Some more examples of mistakes in the book can be found [1] --OscarTheCattalk
10:11, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
- I think the errors for this book should be be put up here, it is worthwhile information. Especially because the author points out nearly every chapter myths and inaccuracies in other text books or popular books written by experts in the field. Also an error he made that I did not catch in the above mentioned article (i may have missed it i merely scanned it) is that glass is a slow moving solid. This is widely known as a myth [2] --Baumstev 02:53, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
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- Regarding the glass thing, I have a 2004 Black Swan edition which carries the following footnote: "...in the summer of 2003, after this book came out, Science News reported a study by Prof. E. D. Zanotto of Brazil suggesting that the flow of glass, however venerable the plane, is actually much too slow to be detected by the naked eye." Zanotto has his own Wiki entry, regarding his glass lectures. I'm not sure if that helps or simply confuses more! Black 2 10:02, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
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- The whole glass as a liquid thing can be very confusing, because there have been studies to show glass flow, however it is at a much slower rate than can be seen in 400 years of glass windows. So then we get into the definition of a solid vs. a liquid, and what does flow really mean etc. Anyway, what is certain is that Bryson's version glass flowing in cathedral windows making them thicker at the bottom is a myth.D-rew 20:24, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
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Just to note that the section of the book on Charles Darwin (at least the version in my local library) contains remarkable inaccuracies, thus leading to the need for this correction. The book also makes the claim that after the Beagle returned, Darwin never left England: as author of Notes from a Small Island, Bryson should have known better! ...dave souza, talk 14:02, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Category:2004 books?
Is the book really published in 2004? Article Bill Bryson had the year 2003 in the bibliography list until someone changed it to 2004. According to http://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/0767908171 the publishing date was 2003-05-06. 81.197.12.28 15:09, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
The book must be from 2003: footnotes no. 2 and 4 of the article support this, along with some other sources ([3]). I'll replace the information in this article and the Bill Bryson article. 81.197.12.28 20:59, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
