"A Short History of Nearly Everything" is an amazing book. Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors, and even though the book can get a little slow at times (for me, at least) in some of the later chapters, his wit and writing style still make it entertaining.
If you haven't read A Walk in the Woods, or In a Sunburned Country by him, I highly recommend those as well.
If you haven't read A Walk in the Woods, or In a Sunburned Country by him, I highly recommend those as well.