Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Short History of Nearly Everything, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science, Discovery, and Mystery
Writing, Wonder, and Inspiration
Progress, Sexism, and Dogma
Existence, Awe, and Survival
Summary
Analysis
Charles Darwin was advised that a book on pigeons would be more appealing to the public than his book On the Origin of Species, but he publishes it anyway. The book laid out the theory of evolution, and in 1859, and the first edition sells out within a day. As a child, Darwin struggles academically and tries unsuccessfully to study medicine and law before graduating with a degree in divinity. Darwin even winds up on his infamous five-year voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle by chance. The captain, Robert FitzRoy, chooses Darwin as a replacement dinner companion (after Fitzroy’s first choice drops out) partly because FitzRoy enjoys conversations about Christianity, although Darwin’s progressive attitude leads to many quarrels over the course of the voyage.
Bryson introduces the topic of evolution with intriguing personal anecdotes about Darwin’s life, including the comical circumstances surrounding his presence on the HMS Beagle. Once again, Bryson illustrates through this description that the scientific enterprise isn’t dry, abstract, and boring. Rather, it’s full of human stories that can be used to draw readers in and render scientific theories (this time, evolution) more palatable, memorable, and interesting to amateurs.
Themes
Funnily enough, Darwin doesn’t use the term “evolution” until the sixth edition of his book is published, preferring “modification by descent.” Darwin also doesn’t invent the idea of evolution itself, as the concept is already circling in scientific circles before he publishes his book, but rather provides a plausible explanation for how evolution happens. He realizes that life is a constant struggle for resources and that organisms with some built-in advantage will typically win the competition, survive to reproduce, and thus pass the advantage on. This means that species continually improve by growing more adaptable to their environment. The idea is captured in the phrase “survival of the fittest”—which, contrary to popular belief, isn’t Darwin’s phrase, but Herbert Spencer’s.
Bryson stresses the power of a good description by highlighting the most famous catchphrase associated with evolution: “survival of the fittest.” Even though the phrase isn’t Darwin’s own, it still becomes associated with his theory because it’s so compelling. The fact that other scientists are circling around the idea of evolution at this time in history also means that Darwin’s theory doesn’t come out of left field—in fact, it makes good scientific sense. Bryson stresses this to show how damaging religious biases can be to scientific progress—even with the idea circulating in the air, it still takes a long time to be accepted.
Themes
When Darwin returns from his voyage, it takes him six years to sort through the specimens he has collected, and a further two years to sketch out his theory. He finishes it in 1844, but then—bizarrely—locks his manuscript away for years. Bryson says that Darwin “kept his theory to himself” for so long because “he knew well the storm it would cause” to postulate that humans arise without the help of a “divine creator.” In fact, the only reason Darwin does publish his manuscript is because an acquaintance, Alfred Russel Wallace, independently comes up with a near-identical theory, and the two mutually agree to share their ideas in unison at a conference on July 1, 1858.
Bryson shows that although Darwin formulates his theory of evolution in 1844, he doesn’t publish it until 1858 because he’s afraid of religious persecution. In fact, without Wallace’s intervention, Darwin might never have published his theory at all. Darwin’s fear of causing religious controversy is thus directly responsible for holding back scientific research on evolution for over a decade, which shows that religious prejudices can significantly slow down scientific progress.
Themes
Wallace’s reputation stumbles after he becomes interested in the occult, and Darwin becomes the father of evolution by default—though he’s is “tormented” with religious guilt for years. Darwin refers to himself as “the Devil’s Chaplain,” and says that making the theory public feels like “confessing a murder” (presumably, God’s murder). Critics are slow to adopt Darwin’s view, citing an absence of adequate fossil evidence as their reason. Others, like T. H. Huxley believe that complicated organs like eyes can’t slowly evolve, but must be conceived as a whole. The idea resembles theologian William Paley’s 1802 “argument from design,” which claims that the natural world is so complex that it must have been intentionally designed by God.
Bryson explains that Darwin’s religious guilt prevents him from pursuing the topic of evolution further, underscoring that religious bias can often hinder scientific advancement. Religious prejudice further holds up progress because many of Darwin’s contemporaries resist the idea of evolution for years because of their belief in life’s emergence by divine creation.
Themes
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A monk named Gregor Mendel, who crossbreeds pea specimens to compare inherited traits, makes the next scientific leap. Though Mendel doesn’t use the word “gene,” he argues that every seed contains “dominant” and “recessive” characteristics that predict which traits will be inherited by the next generation. Mendel presents his findings at a conference in 1865, but his “too scientific” approach (with countless technical details) fails to excite much attention. Between them, Darwin and Mendel lay the foundations of 20th-century life sciences: Darwin explains that innate advantages or characteristics facilitate evolution, and Mendel shows how such characteristics are passed on.
Once again, Bryson shows that a good scientific discovery is easily overlooked if it’s poorly described. Mendel’s “too scientific” and highly technical writing obscures the value of his important findings, and he fails to stimulate audiences to think about his ideas. Bryson uses this example to highlight how closely scientific progress and good expression are tied together, since writing that fails to engage scientists tends to be overlooked, even if it contains very good ideas.
Themes
Though Darwin doesn’t explicitly say that humans are descended from primates, many assume that this is what he means. A conference is held, with thousands in attendance, to discuss the implications of Darwin’s view for “the intellectual development of Europe.” The discussion is so heated that the former HMS Beagle captain Robert FitzRoy holds a Bible aloft and yells, “the Book, the Book,” in dismay, and one woman reportedly faints. Darwin, meanwhile, spends his “twilight years” studying the behavior of worms.
Bryson appeals to comedy—in describing people fainting or holding Bible’s aloft—to stress that religious opposition to Darwin’s theory is absurd and has no legitimate place in a scientific conference like the one Darwin speaks at. Darwin’s hesitance to pursue the controversial topic further shows that religious biases interfere with scientific progress.
Themes
Darwin is never honored for his theory of evolution during his lifetime—it only gains widespread scientific acceptance in the 1930s and 1940s, when scientists combine Mendel and Darwin’s views to generate a refined theory of evolution called the “Modern Synthesis.” Bryson thinks it’s funny that at the beginning of the 20th century, many scientists are “men” who think that science is “nearly at an end,” when really, they haven’t yet laid the foundations of modern biology.
In drawing his story about evolution to a close, Bryson quantifies how long it takes for scientists to finally accept evolution as a serious research area in order to stress that religious prejudice holds up scientific progress on evolution by almost a century. Bryson also pokes fun at patriarchy by emphasizing how many “men” have an over-inflated sense of confidence about their scientific achievements despite the fact that biology proper hadn’t even begun at this point.
Themes
