Bill Bryson: A Short History of Nearly Everything

In 2005, The Guardian wrote:

Bryson has been chosen as one of the winners of the prestigious EU Descartes prize for science communication for his rough guide to science, A Short History of Nearly Everything. The Descartes is a 'prize of prizes' and Bryson was nominated by the Royal Society after winning the Aventis prize for science writing for the book in 2004. Accepting his award, Bill Bryson said: "Never has someone been more generously awarded for his ignorance. I'm very grateful to all the scientists who, without exception, helped me to discover the wonder of their science. "I'm especially grateful to the Royal Society for nominating me for this award and in recognition of that, plan to return a small portion of the prize to the Society, in the hope they'll be able to buy the staff a seasonal drink."

Find that Guardian story here. In 2003, NPR featured the book and author on All Things Considered. You can find that webpage here.