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A Short History of Nearly EverythingBill Bryson is one of the world's most beloved and bestselling writers. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, he takes his ultimate journey into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It's a dazzling quest, the intellectual odyssey of a lifetime, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, ..".
Bill Bryson is one of the world's most beloved and bestselling writers. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, he takes his ultimate journey-into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It's a dazzling quest, the intellectual odyssey of a lifetime, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, ..".how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." This is, in short, a tall order. To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world's most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemisty, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people, like himself, made bored (or scared) stiff of science by school. His interest is not simply to discover what we know but to find out how we know it. How do we know what is in the center of the earth, thousands of miles beneath the surface? How can we know the extent and the composition of the universe, or what a black hole is? How can we know where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out? On his travels through space and time, Bill Bryson encounters a splendid gallery of the most fascinating, eccentric, competitive, and foolish personalities ever to ask a hard question. In their company, he undertakes a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only this superb writer can render it. Science has never been more involving, and the world we inhabit has never been fuller of wonder and delight.Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Broadway Books
Published: 05/06/2003
ISBN: 9780767908177
Pages: 560
Weight: 1.80lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.50w x 1.90d
Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 01/01/2003 pg. 72
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2003 pg. 517
Publishers Weekly 04/07/2003 pg. 59
BookPage 05/01/2003 pg. 5
Entertainment Weekly 05/09/2003 pg. 82
Booklist 04/15/2003 pg. 1426
New York Times 05/18/2003 pg. 42
USA Today 05/22/2003 pg. 1
Library Journal 05/15/2003 pg. 120
New York Times 06/01/2003 pg. 25
Discover 09/01/2003 pg. 78
Men's Journal 12/01/2003 pg. 54
Discover 01/01/2004 pg. 79
Library Journal 03/01/2004 pg. 40
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4.4 ★★★★★
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 4
Powerful and Hard-Hitting
Format: Paperback
This book explores how racism and disability justice issues intersect and intertwine, particularly within the American church. Lamar Hardwick writes from his perspective as an autistic Black pastor, and his recent battles with cancer also inform his writing. He takes an incisive look at the ways that people sideline and make judgments about "abnormal" bodies, and he explores how different racist and ableist ideas developed in early American history, primarily related to enslaved Africans. Because I share Hardwick's interest in American history, I was already familiar with most of this information, but it will be new and eye-opening for many readers.
Hardwick clearly explains the historical connection between ableism and racism, showing how people justified slavery by arguing that Black people were intellectually inferior, were childlike, and should not have agency over their own lives. Hardwick explores both glaring and subtle implications of this ideology, and he makes a number of very excellent points. He is bold and doesn't mince words, and he explains complicated, abstract ideas in accessible terms. He also touches on a variety of side issues to his main thesis, such as desirability politics, body shame, and issues with grind culture.
Hardwick gives examples of how early American Christians contributed to pervasive cultural problems, and he also shares contemporary stories to show how problematic ideas cause harm in real life. His personal stories add a lot to the book, and I appreciate his honesty and vulnerability. I also appreciate how Hardwick uses Scripture throughout the book, especially when he is writing about disability theology. Some similar books focus primarily on personal experiences and secular social justice theories, with only loose Scriptural connections, but Hardwick bases his arguments in specific Bible passages and the big story of Scripture. I disagree with some of his interpretations, but found his arguments significantly more persuasive than ones I've seen before.
One confusing, weaker element of this book is that Hardwick begins using "ableism" as a catch-all term for any kind of hierarchy of human value. Even though different forms of discrimination can overlap in complex ways, Hardwick often uses the word "ableism" in cases where there isn't a direct reference to physical or mental abilities. Because he stretches this word's definition, readers who are new to this conversation may struggle to follow his arguments at times.
My other critique is that even though Hardwick is accurate and persuasive in his coverage of historical wrongs in the American church, he sometimes makes it sound like all of these issues started with American Christianity. Even though we can trace back particular expressions of racism and ableism to influential people like Cotton Mather, the root issues are part of the human condition. Many Christians throughout time have absorbed harmful ideas from their societies and expressed these assumptions in Christian language, but they weren't inventing these forms of oppression.
Also, even though people created specific racist beliefs to justify the institution of slavery, ableism has been an issue in all cultures since the beginning of time. Christianity began in a cultural context where it was normal and acceptable for parents to discard female and disabled infants to die in the elements, and early Christian advocacy is part of why that is so gut-wrenching and unthinkable to us now. Even though Hardwick's analysis is helpful, it's only part of the story. I think that he could have balanced it out better with more context, while still holding the same American historical figures accountable for their sins and failings.
"How Ableism Fuels Racism" covers a variety of issues in a thought-provoking, engaging way. I appreciate the author's historical analysis, thoughtful reflections, and personal stories, and I would recommend this book to people who are invested the topic. Also, even though some aspects of this book might be confusing for people who haven't read anything like this before, the author's accessible writing style, clear explanations, and personal stories can help engage readers who are new to the topic. Overall, I was impressed with this book and am interested in reading more from this author.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2024
★★★★★ 5
Amazing Book Every Church Leader Should Read
Format: Paperback
Great Book and worth reading
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Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
★★★★★ 5
Provocative Read!
Format: Audiobook
I found this book to be profound, provocative, and very different than any other books I have read on racism and ableism. I never understood how ableism is the catalyst for racism, and how disability compounds racism. Highly recommend especially for those who are well versed in social justice.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2025
★★★★★ 5
Destined to Be One of My Favorite Books of the Year
Format: Paperback
I will openly acknowledge that Lamar Hardwick, the lead pastor of Atlanta's Tri-Cities Church and a pastor with autism, wasn't on my disability theology radar and I wasn't sure what to expect from his upcoming release "How Ableism Fuels Racism: Dismantling the Hierarchy of Bodies in the Church."
I was blown away.
With "How Ableism Fuels Racism," Hardwick proposes that ableism and the resulting disability discrimination are the root causes of racial bias and injustice in American culture and in the church. Weaving together a tapestry of historical records, biblical interpretation, and disability studies, Hardwick examines how ableism in America led to the creation of images, idols, and institutions that would ultimately fuel both disability and racial discrimination.
After engaging in this discussion, Hardwick calls the church into action to address the deeper issues of ableism and offers practical steps to help readers dismantle ableism and racism in both attitude and practice.
As an ordained minister and seminary graduate who is also a paraplegic and double amputee, I've long immersed myself in the world of disability theology and long believed that the church embraces the hierarchy of bodies about which Hardwick writes. "How Ableism Fuels Racism" served up a myriad of Aha! moments for me and times when long-held beliefs were finally communicated with clarity. Interestingly, Hardwick even clarified for me what had troubled me with another book I recently read around the issue of "deconstruction." I may have actually shouted out "Yes, that's it!"
I've long believed that being accommodated by a church is the ground floor step toward full inclusion. It's far from enough, yet for an institution that fought against the ADA it's often seen as the ultimate gift for those with disabilities. Instead, Hardwick argues that the church should be passionately pursuing those with disabilities and others outside the "typical" hierarchy of bodies."
I'm telling you. Brilliant stuff here. I can't stop thinking about it. Precise in its criticism yet also constructive and forward thinking, "How Ableism Fuels Racism" confronts the shameful and shame-filled underbelly of American Christianity and offers a broader and more inclusive vision of God, faith, and church life.
How much did I love this book? I'm already reading it again.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
★★★★★ 5
great read for those in the church who want to learn more about equality
Format: Kindle
While this book focuses on ableism and racism, I learned a significant amount about how the church has perpetuated ableism over the years and how the founding fathers of our country used religion and ableism as the initial forms of a caste system. Black bodies were seen as inferior and therefore were able in their minds able to be enslaved. This book is a great read for those in the church who want to learn more about equality and how we as a community and church can do better about falling into the trap that we may be "better than." Lamar Hardwick quoted many different authors and theologians, including one who wrote a book about how Jesus was disabled as a result of the crucifixion. This book is great food for thought and I recommend for those who want to learn more about how they and the church view those seen as different.
"Racial slavery in the West began by using disability to make chattel slavery a matter of charity rather than a matter of equality. Defining Africans as mentally inferior and effectively disabled allowed for proslavery advocates to appeal to the Christian ethos of benevolence."
"The challenge is that beauty is an abstract concept. Our inability to define beauty without using a deficit model stands in contrast to our fundamental beliefs about how God created us. Our origin begins outside of us. An infinitely holy and wise God who creates with intention and intimacy placed us in the world. Acknowledging God's creative genius challenges us to believe that God does not create anything that is not beautiful in its own way."
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Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024
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