Possibly the best scientific primer ever published.

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

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. And the famous, slightly cynical humour is always there

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

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 very book I have been looking for most of my life... Bryson wears his knowledge with aplomb and a lot of very good jokes

Impressive in his terse concreteness ... Hugely readable and never obfuscating

This most enjoyable of books ... A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide

Bill Bryson has an unmatched gift for explaining the most difficult subjects in the clearest possible way. If, like me, your brain tends to go numb when faced with terms like plate tectonics, genome, relativity theory, big bang and particle physics, then it is more than likely that A Short History of Nearly Everything is the cure you have always been looking for...It deserves to sell as many copies as there are protons contained in the full stop that ends this review (at least 500,000,000,000)

Lucid, thoughtful and, above all, entertaining

I don't doubt that with A Short History of Nearly Everything he is plugging a gap in the market. As a result, several hundred thousand people will end up knowing a little bit more about the universe than they did before

A terrific read.

Moore writes about this band of ad hoc scientists with brio, and it’s hard not to be awed and charmed by their united quest to prove that earth’s atmosphere was not chaotic beyond comprehension, that it could be studied, understood and, ultimately, predicted … Detailed and insightful, this book is as relevant as ever in this era of rapid climate change.

Rich and enlightening, I’ll never look at a dewy morning in the same way again.

For illuminating a byway of scientific history that many scarcely knew existed we must thank Peter Moore, whose superbly researched an grippingly written book is more than a dusty account of early meteorologists

Moore does an excellent job of telling the story of meteorological advances

enlightening… to read it is a joy

A compelling journey through the early history of weather forecasting, bringing to life the personalities, lives and achievements of the men who put in place the building blocks required for forecasts to be possible.

Enthralling history of weather forecasting… Moore’s book records the adventure, drama and occasional tragedy involved in bringing us the calm reassurance of the nightly weather forecast.

Superbly researched and gripping book… He darts across continents, embracing swashbuckling sea captains and fastidious bureaucrats, penny-pinching politicians and mad inventors, with as sharp an eye for absurdity and tragedy as for genius.