A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson.

I loved Bryson's travel books when I was a teenager, so when this history of science popped up I devoured it just based on author recognition alone.

Amazing book. No regrets. He's just as hilarious as always.

I'd read it on my lunch break at my call centre job, and I remember reading about all these amazing scientific breakthroughs that happened mostly by accident, just because someone basically took an interest in the world around them. And what was I doing? Working in a call centre hassling people to do surveys?

Long story short the book helped steer me down a different path, one where I've learned interesting things and met fantastic people and, yes, generally taken an interest in the world around me.

It just made me realise what humanity can be, as cheesy as that sounds.

Of course, being a science book from 2003 I'm sure it's now incredibly out of date. But I'd recommend it anyway, the author's awe for the subject is timeless.