Bill bryson

For a long time, I'd been vaguely fascinated by the idea that Charles Lindbergh flew the Atlantic and Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in the same summer.

There is the odd exception, like Albert Einstein, but as a breed, scientists tend not be very good at presenting themselves.

The whole of the global economy is based on supplying the cravings of two per cent of the world's population.

The real problem you get with humour is that you only have so many kinds of jokes within you, and you mine that vein a lot. This isn't just common to me; it's anybody who's funny.

I grew up, really, in the days before air conditioning. So I can remember what it was like to be really hot, for instance, and I can remember what it was like when your barber shop and your local...

I once joked in a book that there are three things you can't do in life. You can't beat the phone company, you can't make a waiter see you until he is ready to see you, and you can't go home again....

You don't need a science degree to understand about science. You just need to think about it.

The first book I did - the first successful book - was a kind of a travel book, and publishers in Britain encouraged me to do more.

America is a very seductive place in terms of lifestyle and comfort, but it wasn't for me.

I hadn't realized quite how extraordinary Charles Lindbergh's achievement was in flying the Atlantic alone. He had never flown over open water before, but he flew straight to Dingle Bay in Ireland and...