A short history of nearly everything

                                                                              NO MATTER HOW hard you try you will never be able to grasp just how tiny, how spatially unassuming, is a proton. It is just way too small.

A proton is an infinitesimal part of an atom, which is itself of course an insubstantial thing. Protons are so small that a little dib of ink like the dot on this i can hold something in the region of 500,000,000,000 of them, rather more than the number of seconds contained in half a million years. So protons are exceedingly microscopic, to say the very least.

Now imagine if you can (and of course you can't) shrinking one of those protons down to a billionth of its normal size into a space so small that it would make a proton look enormous. Now pack into that tiny, tiny space about an ounce of matter. Excellent. You are ready to start a universe.                                                                                                                             


Author- Bill Bryson
Publisher- New York: Broadway Books 2003 

a light-hearted look at the history of everything. starting at the big band Author Bill Bryson takes us through an unconventional history lesson from the definitive start of everything and weaving through the biggest events and achievements in the scientific world through conversations with some of the worlds best mathematicians and scientist Bryson brings the history of everything to life.

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2001 a space odyssey

The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended. Here on the Equator, in the continent which would one day be known as Africa, the battle for existence had reached a new climax of ferocity, and the victor was not yet in sight. In this barren and desiccated land, only the small or the swift or the fierce could flourish, or even hope to survive.

author- Arther c Clark
publisher- New York: New American Library c1968

annotations-  from the award-winning author of childhoods end and Rendezvous with Rama comes the inspiration for one of the 20th centuries most groundbreaking film, 2001: a space odyssey. the story starts with a discovery on the moon that humanity has been dreading and hoping for since it first looked into the night sky. the possibility that we may not be alone in the universe sparks a manned mission into the outer reaches of the solar system, but in the deep reaches of space, with a crew of two and an AI named HAL disaster is brewing. a thought-provoking read, descriptively written, with a strong plot and                                                                   great world-building. a true classic.
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