I just read and do recommend
A Short History of Nearly Everything

http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/0767908171/sr=8-4/qid=1170191949/ref=pd_bbs_4/104-4173077-6156736?ie=UTF8&s=books
This book takes the entire history of the natural world, from the Big Bang, to explanations of Physics, the Cosmos, the formation of the Earth, geology, extinction, the discovery of the atom, Einstein, chemistry, the evolution of species, discovery of mathematics, and much more, and puts it into a novel of about 500 or so pages.
If you like the history channel you will like this book. If you don't like the history channel you probably won’t.