Harlow Shapley - Biography of an Astronomer: The Man Who Measured the Universe
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Harlow Shapley - Biography of an Astronomer: The Man Who Measured the Universe
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Narrated by:
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Gregory Diehl
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By:
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Dr. Doug West
About this listen
Harlow Shapley was an astronomer, humanitarian, and public figure in his day. Born in the hills of the Ozarks in Missouri, he went on to become the director of the Harvard College Observatory and discovered our place in the galaxy.
Because of the painstaking work of this tireless American astronomer, we were given a clearer picture of our place in the universe. Shapley was a prodigious astronomer who completed significant work on globular clusters, Cepheid variables, as well as key aspects of cosmology and stellar astronomy, including nebular and stellar spectroscopy and photometry.
Shapley also did important work on the Magellanic Clouds, which are neighbor galaxies to our own Milky Way. He made the deduction that the Sun is located at the central plane of the galaxy on a minor arm of the Milky Way about 30,000 light years from the galactic center. This was in direct conflict with the prevailing view of the galaxy and caused quite a stir in the astronomical community.
At the peak of his career as an astronomer, he worked at the Mt. Wilson Observatory and afterward served at the helm of the Harvard College Observatory, eventually transforming it into an important training and observational facility. Shapley was to lead the development of the Harvard Astronomy program, which produced many prominent astronomers.
Shapley's work on international issues in astronomy lead him to multiple visits to Russia. This was at the early stages of the Cold War between the United States and Russia. Harlow Shapley had caught the eye of the FBI and the famed communist hunter Joseph McCarthy, and he was investigated by the Committee of Un-American activities.
Shapley was later cleared of any wrong doing, but it almost cost him the directorship of the Harvard College Observatory. Shapley became a prodigious writer for the general public so they could understand and appreciate the wonders of the universe.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Worth the Effort
- By Roy on 08-13-09
By: Marcia Bartusiak
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The Strangest Man
- The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom
- By: Graham Farmelo
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 638
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 444
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 451
Paul Dirac was among the great scientific geniuses of the modern age. One of the discoverers of quantum mechanics, the most revolutionary theory of the past century, his contributions had a unique insight, eloquence, clarity, and mathematical power. His prediction of antimatter was one of the greatest triumphs in the history of physics.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent biography of great physicist
- By Eileen on 05-09-13
By: Graham Farmelo
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Rosalind Franklin
- A Life from Beginning to End (Biographies of Women in History)
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: Matthew J. Chandler-Smith
- Length: 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5
Rosalind Franklin was what can only be called an overlooked genius. Although she was not fully credited for the feat at the time, her work led to major breakthroughs in our understanding of DNA. In fact, she took the first X-ray photo of DNA in all of its double helix glory. By the time her former colleagues were being showered with accolades for results they made at least partially based on her findings, Franklin would not be around to see it. Sadly, it’s believed that her use of X-ray equipment gave her terminal cancer, cutting her life short at age 37.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Covers the facts
- By Freda St on 08-21-24
By: Hourly History
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Robert Oppenheimer
- A Life Inside the Center
- By: Ray Monk
- Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom
- Length: 35 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 359
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 304
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 301
Robert Oppenheimer was among the most brilliant and divisive of men. As head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, he oversaw the successful effort to beat the Nazis in the race to develop the first atomic bomb – a breakthrough that was to have eternal ramifications for mankind and that made Oppenheimer the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.” But with his actions leading up to that great achievement, he also set himself on a dangerous collision course with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his witch-hunters. In Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center, Ray Monk, author of peerless biographies of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, goes deeper than any previous biographer in the quest to solve the enigma of Oppenheimer’s motivations and his complex personality.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A comprehensive biography
- By Jean on 10-17-14
By: Ray Monk
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How the Hippies Saved Physics
- Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival
- By: David Kaiser
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 165
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Story4 out of 5 stars 128
In the 1970s, amid severe cutbacks in physics funding, a small group of underemployed physicists in Berkeley decided to throw off the constraints of academia and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the “Fundamental Fysiks Group,” they pursued a freewheeling, speculative approach to physics. Some dabbled with LSD while conducting experiments. They studied quantum theory alongside Eastern mysticism and psychic mind reading, discussing the latest developments while lounging in hot tubs.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Finally, I understand entanglement
- By Gary on 05-27-12
By: David Kaiser
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Headstrong
- 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World
- By: Rachel Swaby
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: “She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise three children.” It wasn’t until the second paragraph that readers discovered why the Times had devoted several hundred words to her life: Brill was a brilliant rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to keep communications satellites in orbit, and had recently been awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Role models for young women
- By mtsuda90 on 06-25-16
By: Rachel Swaby
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Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work
- By: Kitty Ferguson
- Narrated by: Carole Boyd
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4 out of 5 stars 52
Stephen Hawking is one of the most remarkable figures of our time, a Cambridge genius who has earned international celebrity as a brilliant theoretical physicist and become an inspiration and revelation to those who have witnessed his courageous triumph over disability. This is Hawking's life story by Kitty Ferguson, who has had special help from Hawking himself and his close associates and who has a gift for translating the language of theoretical physics for non-scientists.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Not What it Appears
- By Heizenberg on 04-04-12
By: Kitty Ferguson
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How the Laser Happened
- Adventures of a Scientist
- By: Charles H. Townes
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
In How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in 20th-century physics. This lively memoir, packed with firsthand accounts and historical anecdotes, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of science and an inspiring example for students considering scientific careers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great for aspiring physicists
- By James S. on 10-06-18
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Tesla vs Edison
- A Captivating Guide to the War of the Currents and the Life of Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 28
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 28
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Story4 out of 5 stars 28
Human history has seen many surprising and profound turning points. The ways that humans learned to use raw materials to create activity and resources set the stage for the most compelling and life-altering phase of the modern era, the Industrial Revolution. Born during this time on different continents but connected by similar interests, two men indelibly marked their generation and those that followed with their genius and foresight. This audiobook covers the war of currents and the individual lives of Tesla and Edison.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Arduous
- By Hasbro on 10-22-18
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American Eclipse
- A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World
- By: David Baron
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4 out of 5 stars 72
In the scorching summer of 1878, with the Gilded Age in its infancy, three tenacious and brilliant scientists raced to Wyoming and Colorado to observe a rare total solar eclipse. One sought to discover a new planet. Another - an adventuresome female astronomer - fought to prove that science was not anathema to femininity. And a young megalomaniacal inventor, with the tabloid press fast on his heels, sought to test his scientific bona fides and light the world through his revelations.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Just OK.
- By Melanie A Hwalek on 09-18-17
By: David Baron
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Big Science
- Ernest Lawrence and the Invention That Launched the Military-Industrial Complex
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Bob Saouer
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavors has grown exponentially. The birth of Big Science can be traced to Berkeley, California, nearly nine decades ago, when a resourceful young scientist pondered his new invention and declared, "I'm going to be famous!" Ernest Orlando Lawrence's cyclotron would revolutionize nuclear physics, but that was only the beginning of its impact.This is the incredible story of how one invention changed the world and of the man principally responsible for it all. Michael Hiltzik tells the riveting full story here for the first time.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An informative and thought-provoking book
- By Jean on 08-23-15
By: Michael Hiltzik
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Great Scientists and Their Discoveries
- By: David Angus
- Narrated by: Benjamin Soames, Clare Corbett
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Nine remarkable men produced inventions that changed the world. The printing press, the telephone, powered flight, recording and others have made the modern world what it is. But who were the men who had these ideas and made reality of them? As David Angus shows, they were very different - quiet, boisterous, confident, withdrawn - but all had a moment of vision allied to single-minded determination to battle through numerous prototypes and produced something that really worked. This is a fascinating account for younger listeners.
By: David Angus
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Significant Figures
- The Lives and Work of Great Mathematicians
- By: Ian Stewart
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 211
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 211
In Significant Figures, acclaimed mathematician Ian Stewart introduces the visionaries of mathematics throughout history. Delving into the lives of twenty-five great mathematicians, Stewart examines the roles they played in creating, inventing, and discovering the mathematics we use today. Through these short biographies, we get acquainted with the history of mathematics.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Beware
- By Anton Kurtz on 12-08-18
By: Ian Stewart
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Tuxedo Park
- A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II
- By: Jennet Conant
- Narrated by: John Kroft
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 99
In the late 1930s, legendary financier, philanthropist, and society figure Alfred Lee Loomis gathered the most visionary scientific minds of the 20th century at his state-of-the-art laboratory in Tuxedo Park, New York. He established a top-secret defense laboratory at MIT and personally bankrolled pioneering research into new, high-powered radar detection systems that helped defeat the German Air Force and U-boats. With Ernest Lawrence, he pushed Franklin Delano Roosevelt to fund research in nuclear fission, which led to the development of the atomic bomb.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book, weak technical execution
- By Paul on 10-13-18
By: Jennet Conant
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Hidden Figures
- The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
- By: Margot Lee Shetterly
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,596
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,545
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,569
Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space. Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Story of a History Obscured
- By Cynthia on 09-18-16
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The Upright Thinkers
- The Human Journey From Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 202
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 179
In this fascinating and illuminating work, Leonard Mlodinow guides us through the critical eras and events in the development of science, all of which, he demonstrates, were propelled forward by humankind's collective struggle to know. From the birth of reasoning and culture to the formation of the studies of physics, chemistry, biology, and modern-day quantum physics, we come to see that much of our progress can be attributed to simple questions - why? how? - bravely asked.
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5 out of 5 stars
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10/10 Got What I Wanted.
- By Austin on 09-22-15
By: Leonard Mlodinow