A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson - an excellent layman's read on how it all fits together. <img src=http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0767908171.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg> <A HREF="http://plus.maths.org/issue26/reviews/book3/" target="_blank">http://plus.maths.org/issue26/reviews/book3/</A> <A HREF="http://www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/flat/home.php" target="_blank">http://www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/flat/home.php</A> <A HREF="http://geography.about.com/cs/geologictime/gr/aa072803.htm" target="_blank">http://geography.about.com/cs/geologictime/gr/aa072803.htm</A> <A HREF="http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/076790818X.asp" target="_blank">http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/076790818X.asp</A> <A HREF="http://froogle.google.com/froogle?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Short%20History%20of%20Nearly%20E.." target="_blank">http://froogle.google.com/froogle?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Short%20History%20of%20Nearly%20E...</A>.