
How the Earth Works
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Narrated by:
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Michael E. Wysession
About this listen
How the Earth Works takes you on an astonishing journey through time and space. In 48 lectures, you will look at what went into making our planet - from the big bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth.
You will travel to the center of our planet and out again, charting the geologic forces that churn beneath our feet to push the continents and seafloor around like froth on the surface of soup. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis are byproducts of our planet’s ceaseless activity, and you will focus on specific examples of each to learn why and when they occur. Volcanic activity has produced the atmosphere as a side effect, and you will learn how this sea of air functions at the global scale. Earth’s surface is mostly water, and you will explore the cycling of this vital substance throughout the planet, along with its role in climate, erosion, plate tectonics, and biology.
Not only are humans at the mercy of our planet’s natural forces, but we ourselves have also become agents of change. We are altering the Earth’s land, water, and air faster than any other geologic process. This will be another theme of your journey: how humans have transformed watersheds, leveled mountains, changed the balance of gases in the atmosphere, and caused the extinction of enough species to hasten the end of the 65-million-year-old Cenozoic era. It is vitally important that we understand the nature of our geologic powers if we are to have any hope of controlling them.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Story
In The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives. Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller, of Union College in Schenectady, New York, makes this ancient world come alive in 24 lectures with captivating stories of intrigue, artifacts, illustrations, and detailed descriptions from primary sources of intriguing personalities.
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The Pagan World
- By arnold e andersen md Dr Andersen on 03-28-20
By: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, and others
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The Evidence for Modern Physics
- How We Know What We Know
- By: Professor Don Lincoln, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Professor Don Lincoln
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Original Recording
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In this 24-lesson course aimed at non-scientists, noted particle physicist Dr. Don Lincoln of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory covers more than a century of progress in physics, describing exactly how scientists reach the conclusions they do. He starts with the atom, which was long hypothesized but wasn’t definitively proven until a paper by Albert Einstein in 1905. That was just the beginning, as researchers probed ever deeper into the atom’s complex structure, leading to the weird findings of quantum mechanics.
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Strongly Recommend for Everyone
- By Liam A on 05-23-21
By: Professor Don Lincoln, and others
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Underwater Archaeology
- Mysteries of the Deep
- By: Ashley Lemke, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ashley Lemke
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The work of archaeology uncovers fascinating vestiges of humanity’s past, greatly enriching our knowledge of our ancestors and ourselves. Over the last century, archaeologists have increasingly ventured underwater, making spellbinding finds and opening an incredible new frontier for archaeological discovery. In the 12 delightful and eye-opening lectures of Underwater Archaeology: Mysteries of the Deep, Professor Lemke, an expert underwater archaeologist working in the field, invites you to discover astonishing treasures of history that lie beneath the waves.
By: Ashley Lemke, and others
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Unsolved Medical Mysteries: Explaining the Unexplainable
- By: Brandy Schillace, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Brandy Schillace
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Unsolved Medical Mysteries: Explaining the Unexplainable is your chance to explore the strangest and most confounding cases in medical history. In 12 gripping lectures, acclaimed author, historian, and medical humanities expert Dr. Brandy Schillace guides you on a fascinating journey into the unknown, from historical enigmas to modern medical conundrums. With her unique blend of storytelling and scientific insight, Dr. Schillace digs into a range of medical mysteries
By: Brandy Schillace, and others
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Food: A Cultural Culinary History
- By: Ken Albala, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ken Albala
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
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Eating is an indispensable human activity. As a result, whether we realize it or not, the drive to obtain food has been a major catalyst across all of history, from prehistoric times to the present. Epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said it best: "Gastronomy governs the whole life of man."
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One of my top 3 favorite courses!
- By Jessica on 12-28-13
By: Ken Albala, and others
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The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition
- By: Daniel N. Robinson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Daniel N. Robinson
- Length: 30 hrs and 11 mins
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Grasp the important ideas that have served as the backbone of philosophy across the ages with this extraordinary 60-lecture series. This is your opportunity to explore the enormous range of philosophical perspectives and ponder the most important and enduring of human questions-without spending your life poring over dense philosophical texts.
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A Hard Review to Write
- By Ark1836 on 11-20-15
By: Daniel N. Robinson, and others
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The Science of Energy
- Resources and Power Explained
- By: Michael E. Wysession, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael E. Wysession
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
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To better put into perspective the various issues surrounding energy in the 21st century, you need to understand the essential science behind how energy works. And you need a reliable source whose focus is on giving you the facts you need to form your own educated opinions.
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Great Overview
- By Amanda Gannon on 04-07-16
By: Michael E. Wysession, and others
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Plant Science: An Introduction to Botany
- By: Catherine Kleier, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Catherine Kleier
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
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Dr. Catherine Kleier invites us to open our eyes to the phenomenal world of plant life and to the process she calls “Natura Revelata”, the joy of celebrating and learning from the secrets of nature. As Dr. Kleier shares her knowledge with contagious excitement for her subject, she emphasizes the middle ground: Instead of focusing on cell microbiology or the study of ecosystems and habitats, she stresses the basic biology, function, and the amazing adaptations of the plants we see all around us.
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Needs accompanying documentation and visual aides
- By Ryan on 04-04-19
By: Catherine Kleier, and others
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The Story of Human Language
- By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins
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Language defines us as a species, placing humans head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators. But it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries, allowing us to ponder why different languages emerged, why there isn't simply a single language, how languages change over time and whether that's good or bad, and how languages die out and become extinct.
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You'll Never Look at Languages the Same Way Again
- By SAMA on 03-11-14
By: John McWhorter, and others
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The Rise of Rome
- By: The Great Courses, Gregory S. Aldrete
- Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
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The Roman Republic is one of the most breathtaking civilizations in world history. Between roughly 500 BCE to the turn of the millennium, a modest city-state developed an innovative system of government and expanded into far-flung territories across Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. This powerful civilization inspired America's founding fathers, gifted us a blueprint for amazing engineering innovations, left a vital trove of myths, and has inspired the human imagination for 2,000 years.
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Very good, but doesn't stand out
- By Christopher on 02-08-18
By: The Great Courses, and others
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The Science of Extreme Weather
- By: Eric R. Snodgrass, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Eric R. Snodgrass
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
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Thanks to an ongoing revolution in the science of meteorology, we can now understand how extreme weather conditions arise, produce far more accurate forecasts, and know how to protect ourselves when dangerous conditions develop. The Science of Extreme Weather is your field guide to the worst that Earth’s atmosphere can inflict. In 24 exciting, informative, and potentially life-saving half-hour lectures aimed at weather novices and amateur forecasters alike, you gain a surprisingly powerful tool in the face of such overwhelming forces: knowledge.
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Interesting, but an absolute mess of a recording
- By Keith on 01-10-19
By: Eric R. Snodgrass, and others
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The Philosopher's Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room
- By: Patrick Grim, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Patrick Grim
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
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Taught by award-winning Professor Patrick Grim of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, The Philosopher’s Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room arms you against the perils of bad thinking and supplies you with an arsenal of strategies to help you be more creative, logical, inventive, realistic, and rational in all aspects of your daily life.
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This should NOT be an audio book
- By Brooks Emerson on 03-21-20
By: Patrick Grim, and others
Released in 2008, "How the Earth Works" might be a little outdated in its climate change projections, but most of the discussions focus on fundamental geological phenomena such as volcanism and plate tectonics, so there is so much that is still relevant here. I saw a review of this that said something like, "this course covers more than you can ever remember, but it's all fascinating", which articulates the experience of listening to this really well. Sometimes geology can be perceived as dry because often it is difficult or boring to identify individual rock samples, but Wysession does a great job of placing basic scientific knowledge into a context of how larger systems influence one another. For example, he explains how local volcanic activity can influence seasons, such as that which caused the harsh winter leading up to the "let them eat cake" episode and subsequent French Revolution.
This course journeys back in time to describe how our planet was formed and climate created. Then it explains how current ocean, land, and atmospheric movements function. And lastly, one of the final lectures discusses what scientists know about exoplanets and signs of life on other planets, both in our solar system and beyond.
As much as I enjoyed this review of important and interesting earth science information, I give this only 4.5 stars for a few minor reasons. The first is that I do not think those who have not taken a formal academic geology or other earth sciences course will understand everything being discussed. This is not a substitute for an introductory undergraduate course on the same topic. I just do not think that topics like plate tectonics and earthquakes can be adequately taught without the aid of quality infographics, videos, and other visual tools. Secondly, while Wysession was good about describing what he is doing while giving demonstrations, those sections still distract from the main discussion when the audience cannot see what is going on.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed listening to this over the course of a week or so, and I'm glad I did. I appreciated Wysession's ability to recognize and address the complexity of Earth's many systems constantly working together. I recommend this to any student of geology, earth science, planetary science, climate science, seismology, volcanism, plate tectonics, atmospheric chemistry, and/or science communication.
Good Review of Complex Planetary Science
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Fascinating and informative on a number of topics.
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Physically can't do better
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A bonus (why the book is more than just geology) is the author's broad and detailed knowledge of related branches of science (I'd call him a 'polymath'), from biology to astrophysics, where he eventually describes how geology plays (and has played) its role in each of them.
On a curious note, here is yet another professor who sounds like he's 20, but is actually three times that age (which may indicate that to do good science, you should not lose touch with your inner child) (or your inner young man)...
Way More Than Just Geology
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Easily the best audiobook I’ve ever listened to
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Great read !
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Content is comprehensive and foundational to understanding earth’s composition and dynamics.
Highly recommended.
Informative, engaging story of earth
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Earth in its entirety
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Wonderful and enriching
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Mandatory course for everybody
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