Iowa's Own Bill Bryson to Speak at State Historical Building
For Immediate Release May 12, 2003
DES MOINES, Iowa—Author and humorist Bill Bryson comes home to Iowa
on the heels of a national tour promoting his new book, *A Short History of
Nearly Everything. He will be reading from his book and signing copies on
Sunday, May 18 at the State Historical Building in Des Moines.
Bill Bryson is one of the world’s favorite authors and has a knack for taking readers along on incredible journeys of the mind and heart. Whether he’s hiking the Appalachians in A Walk in the Woods, or down under in Australia for In a Sunburned Country, Bryson never fails to captivate readers with his distinctive blend of wit, wisdom and sharp-eyed observation.
"Having been born and raised in Des Moines, Bill Bryson has a strong core of devoted fans here and across Iowa," said Megan Carson, owner of the State Historical Building Museum Store. "His books have been very popular around the globe and we are honored to have him as our guest."
*A Short History of Nearly Everything tackles everything from "How do we know the earth has a core?" to "How did we figure out there were black holes in space?" and "How can we possibly know how old the universe is?" 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."
In researching his book, Bryson sought out "saintly, patient experts prepared to answer a lot of outstandingly dumb questions." His goal: to see if it was possible to understand and appreciate—marvel at, enjoy even—the wonder and accomplishments of science at a level that isn’t too technical.
Bryson will speak and read from his new book in the atrium of the State Historical Building at 2:30 p.m., and will be signing copies following the reading at approximately 3:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Copies of *A Short History of Nearly Everything are available for purchase in the Museum Store.
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