A Short History of Nearly Everything

I FINALLY FINISHED THIS BOOK. I started it over a year ago.

It's a history of how of world formed to look like it does today. Most of the story takes place between billions and millions of years ago. If the history of the world were a 24 hour day that starts a midnight, homo sapiens come on the scene at 3 minutes to midnight the following day.

Our existence seems entirely improbable and very tenuous. There is no chance we are going to survive indefinitely as a species because no species ever does .. although did you know alligators were around with the dinosaurs? I also learned that Yellowstone is a giant volcano and the bulk of the park is the cone that is 40 miles wide. 

He also introduces us to the great thinkers of the 19th and 20th century ( and a few from earlier centuries ) who studied how the universe was formed. When Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity, he was working in a patent office because he couldn't get a job as a teacher. It took people a while to understand the significance of his work.. and by work, I mean his thoughts. He seemed to have worked out the theory of relativity in his head.

Sadly, I have a hard time with natural history. I was interested when the book focused on cell development and genetics. I liked the part about the formation of Yellowstone. Otherwise, I struggled with this book.