A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

A fascinating survey of science and humanity. Three very striking things:

• Two main things motivate scientific progress: curiosity and doubt. Doubt, of course, of what someone can sense but also doubt of discoveries made. The feeling of “that’s not right! I know better!”
• Collectively, human beings know very little about pretty much all aspects of life including but not limited to our own bodies, how we got here, how life began in general, how our planet works and why, how the universe works, how the universe was created and, perhaps most importantly, why. Most “facts” are educated guesses at best. And that’s the fun of it all.
• Life is strange and full of oddities. So much so that sometimes one must at least entertain the idea that this is all scripted by some mad-writer god.