Origin Story
The Trials of Charles Darwin
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Origin Story
Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mike Cooper
-
By:
-
Howard Markel
About this listen
By early morning of June 30, 1860, a large crowd began to congregate in front of Oxford University's brand-new Museum of Natural History. The occasion was the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and the subject of discussion was Charles Darwin's new treatise: fact or fiction?
Darwin claimed to have solved "that mystery of mysteries," introducing a logical explanation of the origin of species-how they adapted, even transmogrified, through natural selection. At stake, on that summer's day of spirited debate, was the very foundation of modern biology, not to mention the future of the church. Without fear of exaggeration, Darwin's thesis would forever change our understanding of the life sciences and the natural world. And yet the author himself was nowhere to be found in the debate hall-instead, he was miles away, seeking respite from a spate of illnesses that had plagued him for much of his adult life.
In Origin Story, medical historian Howard Markel recounts the two-year period (1858 to 1860) of Darwin's writing of On the Origin of Species through its spectacular success and controversy. Simultaneously, Markel delves into the mysterious health symptoms Darwin developed, combing the literature to emerge with a cogent diagnosis of a case that has long fascinated medical historians.
©2024 Howard Markel (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Invention of Good and Evil
- A World History of Morality
- By: Hanno Sauer
- Narrated by: Callum Coates
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? And has it always been that way? Hanno Sauer's sweeping new history of humanity, covering five million years of our universal moral values, comes at a crucial moment of crisis for those values, and helps to explain how they arose—and why we need them. Modern societies are in crisis: a shared universal morality seems to be a thing of the past. Hanno Sauer explains why this appearance is deceptive: in fact, there are universal values that all people share.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Was good until author got political
- By c0stab on 03-01-25
By: Hanno Sauer
-
The Blue Machine
- How the Ocean Works
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Helen Czerski
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
All of Earth’s oceans, from the equator to the poles, are a single engine powered by sunlight, driving huge flows of energy, water, life, and raw materials. In The Blue Machine, physicist and oceanographer Helen Czerski illustrates the mechanisms behind this defining feature of our planet, voyaging from the depths of the ocean floor to tropical coral reefs, estuaries that feed into shallow coastal seas, and Arctic ice floes. Timely, elegant, and passionately argued, The Blue Machine presents a fresh perspective on what it means to be a citizen of an ocean planet.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Pay to be lectured at
- By J. Luvmour on 10-12-23
By: Helen Czerski
-
Reentry
- SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets That Launched a Second Space Age
- By: Eric Berger
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 289
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 289
From launchpad explosions to a pernicious cricket infestation to the demanding management style of Musk himself, the rise of SpaceX was beset with challenges and far from inevitable. Find out how the startup beat the odds and flew high enough to outpace their rivals... and where they're going next.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
One story after another
- By Darek on 12-30-24
By: Eric Berger
-
Our Moon
- How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are
- By: Rebecca Boyle
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
Many of us know that the Moon pulls on our oceans, driving the tides, but did you know that it smells like gunpowder? Or that it was essential to the development of science and religion? Acclaimed journalist Rebecca Boyle takes listeners on a dazzling tour to reveal the intimate role that our 4.51-billion-year-old companion has played in our biological and cultural evolution.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting but with annoyances
- By J. Pegg on 04-13-24
By: Rebecca Boyle
-
Space Oddities
- The Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe
- By: Harry Cliff
- Narrated by: Harry Cliff
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
Something strange is going on in the cosmos. Scientists are uncovering a catalogue of weird phenomena that simply can’t be explained by our long-established theories of the universe. After decades of fruitless searching, could we finally be catching glimpses of a profound new view of our physical world? Or are we being fooled by cruel tricks of the data? In Space Oddities, Harry Cliff, a physicist who does cutting-edge work on the Large Hadron Collider, provides a riveting look at the universe’s most confounding puzzles.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
as compelling as a mystery novel and very informative
- By jimpgh@aol.com on 04-22-24
By: Harry Cliff
-
Why War?
- By: Richard Overy
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Why has war been such a consistent presence throughout the human past? A leading historian explains, drawing on rich examples and keen insight. Richard Overy is not the first scholar to take up the title question. In 1931, at the request of the League of Nations, Albert Einstein asked Sigmund Freud to collaborate on a short work examining whether there was "a way of delivering mankind from the menace of war." Published the next year as a pamphlet entitled Why War?, it conveyed Freud's conclusion that the "death drive" made any deliverance impossible.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
War is Peace
- By Anonymous User on 01-23-25
By: Richard Overy
-
The Invention of Good and Evil
- A World History of Morality
- By: Hanno Sauer
- Narrated by: Callum Coates
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? And has it always been that way? Hanno Sauer's sweeping new history of humanity, covering five million years of our universal moral values, comes at a crucial moment of crisis for those values, and helps to explain how they arose—and why we need them. Modern societies are in crisis: a shared universal morality seems to be a thing of the past. Hanno Sauer explains why this appearance is deceptive: in fact, there are universal values that all people share.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Was good until author got political
- By c0stab on 03-01-25
By: Hanno Sauer
-
The Blue Machine
- How the Ocean Works
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Helen Czerski
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
All of Earth’s oceans, from the equator to the poles, are a single engine powered by sunlight, driving huge flows of energy, water, life, and raw materials. In The Blue Machine, physicist and oceanographer Helen Czerski illustrates the mechanisms behind this defining feature of our planet, voyaging from the depths of the ocean floor to tropical coral reefs, estuaries that feed into shallow coastal seas, and Arctic ice floes. Timely, elegant, and passionately argued, The Blue Machine presents a fresh perspective on what it means to be a citizen of an ocean planet.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Pay to be lectured at
- By J. Luvmour on 10-12-23
By: Helen Czerski
-
Reentry
- SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets That Launched a Second Space Age
- By: Eric Berger
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 289
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 289
From launchpad explosions to a pernicious cricket infestation to the demanding management style of Musk himself, the rise of SpaceX was beset with challenges and far from inevitable. Find out how the startup beat the odds and flew high enough to outpace their rivals... and where they're going next.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
One story after another
- By Darek on 12-30-24
By: Eric Berger
-
Our Moon
- How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are
- By: Rebecca Boyle
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
Many of us know that the Moon pulls on our oceans, driving the tides, but did you know that it smells like gunpowder? Or that it was essential to the development of science and religion? Acclaimed journalist Rebecca Boyle takes listeners on a dazzling tour to reveal the intimate role that our 4.51-billion-year-old companion has played in our biological and cultural evolution.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting but with annoyances
- By J. Pegg on 04-13-24
By: Rebecca Boyle
-
Space Oddities
- The Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe
- By: Harry Cliff
- Narrated by: Harry Cliff
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
Something strange is going on in the cosmos. Scientists are uncovering a catalogue of weird phenomena that simply can’t be explained by our long-established theories of the universe. After decades of fruitless searching, could we finally be catching glimpses of a profound new view of our physical world? Or are we being fooled by cruel tricks of the data? In Space Oddities, Harry Cliff, a physicist who does cutting-edge work on the Large Hadron Collider, provides a riveting look at the universe’s most confounding puzzles.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
as compelling as a mystery novel and very informative
- By jimpgh@aol.com on 04-22-24
By: Harry Cliff
-
Why War?
- By: Richard Overy
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Why has war been such a consistent presence throughout the human past? A leading historian explains, drawing on rich examples and keen insight. Richard Overy is not the first scholar to take up the title question. In 1931, at the request of the League of Nations, Albert Einstein asked Sigmund Freud to collaborate on a short work examining whether there was "a way of delivering mankind from the menace of war." Published the next year as a pamphlet entitled Why War?, it conveyed Freud's conclusion that the "death drive" made any deliverance impossible.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
War is Peace
- By Anonymous User on 01-23-25
By: Richard Overy
-
Natural Magic
- Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science
- By: Renée Bergland
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time when the science of studying the natural world was known as natural philosophy, a pastime for poets, priests, and schoolgirls. The world began to change in the 1830s, while Darwin was exploring the Pacific aboard the Beagle and Dickinson was a student in Amherst, Massachusetts. Poetry and science started to grow apart, and modern thinkers challenged the old orthodoxies, offering thrilling new perspectives that suddenly felt radical—and too dangerous for women.
By: Renée Bergland
-
On the Edge
- The Art of Risking Everything
- By: Nate Silver
- Narrated by: Nate Silver
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 398
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 372
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 372
In the bestselling The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver showed how forecasting would define the age of Big Data. Now, in this timely and riveting new book, Silver investigates "The River," or those whose mastery of risk allows them to shape—and dominate—so much of modern life. These professional risk takers—poker players and hedge fund managers, crypto true-believers and blue-chip art collectors—can teach us much about navigating the uncertainty of the 21st century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating report from a distant land
- By David Benjamin on 09-14-24
By: Nate Silver
-
It's Elemental
- The Hidden Chemistry in Everything
- By: Kate Biberdorf
- Narrated by: Kate Biberdorf
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Have you ever wondered what makes dough rise? Or how your morning coffee gives you that energy boost? Or why your shampoo is making your hair look greasy? The answer is chemistry. From the moment we wake up until the time we go to sleep (and even while we sleep), chemistry is at work - and it doesn't take a PhD in science to understand it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Listen
- By Great and powerful IDE on 12-20-21
By: Kate Biberdorf
-
Everything Is Predictable
- How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World
- By: Tom Chivers
- Narrated by: Tom Chivers
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
At its simplest, Bayes’s theorem describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event. But in Everything Is Predictable, Tom Chivers lays out how it affects every aspect of our lives. He explains why highly accurate screening tests can lead to false positives and how a failure to account for it in court has put innocent people in jail. A cornerstone of rational thought, many argue that Bayes’s theorem is a description of almost everything. But who was the man who lent his name to this theorem?
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment.
- By Alessandro Fadini on 06-28-24
By: Tom Chivers
-
Alien Earths
- The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos
- By: Dr. Lisa Kaltenegger
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Dr. Lisa Kaltenegger
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 22
Riveting and timely, a look at the research that is transforming our understanding of the cosmos in the quest to discover whether we are alone.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I really enjoyed her perspective on the subject
- By Vladimir Randy Jeune on 11-02-24
-
What an Owl Knows
- The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 128
For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The dedication and fierce commitment of the author
- By Michael G. T. Thompson on 12-17-24
-
Gray Matters
- A Biography of Brain Surgery
- By: Theodore H. Schwartz
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
We’ve all heard the phrase “it’s not brain surgery.” But what exactly is brain surgery? It’s a profession that is barely a hundred years old and profoundly connects two human beings, but few know how it works, or its history. In this warm, rigorous, and deeply insightful book, Dr. Theodore H. Schwartz explores what it’s like to hold the scalpel, wield the drill, extract a tumor, fix a bullet hole, and remove a blood clot—when every second can mean life or death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gripping storytelling
- By Kathy M. on 12-14-24
-
The Catalyst
- RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets
- By: Thomas R. Cech
- Narrated by: Joshua Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 12
A gripping journey of discovery, The Catalyst moves from the early experiments that first hinted at RNA's spectacular powers, to Cech's own paradigm-shifting finding that it can catalyze cellular reactions, to the cutting-edge biotechnologies poised to reshape our health.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Captivating
- By Auinash Kalsotra on 09-16-24
By: Thomas R. Cech
-
The Wide Wide Sea
- Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,268
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,197
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,197
On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment? Hampton Sides’ bravura account of Cook’s last journey both wrestles with Cook’s legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Detailed story of third voyage
- By Sammi on 04-18-24
By: Hampton Sides
-
Why We Remember
- Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters
- By: Charan Ranganath PhD
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins, Charan Ranganath PhD
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
A new understanding of memory is emerging from the latest scientific research. In Why We Remember, pioneering neuroscientist and psychologist Charan Ranganath radically reframes the way we think about the everyday act of remembering. Combining accessible language with cutting-edge research, he reveals the surprising ways our brains record the past and how we use that information to understand who we are in the present, and to imagine and plan for the future.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Explains why we “remember” the way we do
- By Blank on 01-12-25
-
The Great River
- The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi
- By: Boyce Upholt
- Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
Over thousands of years, the Mississippi watershed was home to millions of Indigenous people who regarded "the great river" with awe and respect, adorning its banks with astonishing spiritual earthworks. But European settlers and American pioneers had a different vision: the river was a foe to conquer. In this landmark work of natural history, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story of human attempts to own and contain the Mississippi River, from Thomas Jefferson's expansionist land hunger through today's era of environmental concern
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
a great summation of the Great River
- By Michael H. Link on 07-27-24
By: Boyce Upholt
-
A Land So Strange
- The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
- By: Andres Resendez
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,509
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,148
In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the 300 men who had embarked on the journey, only four survived - three Spaniards and an African slave.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A worthwhile listen
- By Blake on 07-10-13
By: Andres Resendez
Related to this topic
-
Brain Energy
- A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
- By: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Narrated by: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,209
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,060
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,056
We are in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and mental illnesses are on the rise. But what causes mental illness? And why are mental health problems so hard to treat? Drawing on decades of research, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer outlines a revolutionary new understanding that for the first time unites our existing knowledge about mental illness within a single framework: mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain. Brain Energy will transform the field of mental health, and the lives of countless people around the world.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Arguing brain health theory to medical profession
- By Maya H Saric on 03-10-23
-
My Big TOE: Awakening
- Book One of a Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics
- By: Thomas Campbell
- Narrated by: Thomas Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 542
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 466
My Big TOE: Awakening, written by a nuclear physicist in the language of contemporary culture, unifies science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal. The entirety of human experience (mind, body, and spirit) including both our objective and subjective worlds is brought together under one seamless scientific understanding.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
What a Trip (but to where?)
- By Michael on 11-26-13
By: Thomas Campbell
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,939
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,551
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,473
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Better than print!
- By J. D. May on 07-31-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Napoleon's Hemorrhoids…And Other Small Events That Changed History
- By: Phil Mason
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,252
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,114
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,110
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
They just throw the facts too fast
- By Concerned_llama on 12-11-20
By: Phil Mason
-
How the Earth Works
- By: Michael E. Wysession, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael E. Wysession
- Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,738
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,496
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent course
- By Doug B. on 05-23-19
By: Michael E. Wysession, and others
-
Chemistry and Our Universe
- How It All Works
- By: Ron B. Davis, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ron B. Davis
- Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 416
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 412
Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all. Covering a year’s worth of introductory general chemistry at the college level, plus intriguing topics that are rarely discussed in the classroom, this amazingly comprehensive course requires nothing more advanced than high-school math. Your guide is Professor Ron B. Davis, Jr., a research chemist and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Professor, Hard to Follow.
- By Jen on 05-14-19
By: Ron B. Davis, and others
-
Brain Energy
- A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
- By: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Narrated by: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,209
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,060
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,056
We are in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and mental illnesses are on the rise. But what causes mental illness? And why are mental health problems so hard to treat? Drawing on decades of research, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer outlines a revolutionary new understanding that for the first time unites our existing knowledge about mental illness within a single framework: mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain. Brain Energy will transform the field of mental health, and the lives of countless people around the world.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Arguing brain health theory to medical profession
- By Maya H Saric on 03-10-23
-
My Big TOE: Awakening
- Book One of a Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics
- By: Thomas Campbell
- Narrated by: Thomas Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 542
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 466
My Big TOE: Awakening, written by a nuclear physicist in the language of contemporary culture, unifies science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal. The entirety of human experience (mind, body, and spirit) including both our objective and subjective worlds is brought together under one seamless scientific understanding.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
What a Trip (but to where?)
- By Michael on 11-26-13
By: Thomas Campbell
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,939
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,551
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,473
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Better than print!
- By J. D. May on 07-31-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Napoleon's Hemorrhoids…And Other Small Events That Changed History
- By: Phil Mason
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,252
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,114
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,110
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
They just throw the facts too fast
- By Concerned_llama on 12-11-20
By: Phil Mason
-
How the Earth Works
- By: Michael E. Wysession, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael E. Wysession
- Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,738
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,496
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent course
- By Doug B. on 05-23-19
By: Michael E. Wysession, and others
-
Chemistry and Our Universe
- How It All Works
- By: Ron B. Davis, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ron B. Davis
- Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 416
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 412
Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all. Covering a year’s worth of introductory general chemistry at the college level, plus intriguing topics that are rarely discussed in the classroom, this amazingly comprehensive course requires nothing more advanced than high-school math. Your guide is Professor Ron B. Davis, Jr., a research chemist and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Professor, Hard to Follow.
- By Jen on 05-14-19
By: Ron B. Davis, and others
-
Letters from an Astrophysicist
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Vikas Adam, Piper Goodeve, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,159
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,864
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,846
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world’s largest online followings with his fascinating, widely accessible insights into science and our universe. Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by unveiling his candid correspondence with people across the globe who have sought him out in search of answers. In this hand-picked collection of 100 letters, Tyson draws upon cosmic perspectives to address a vast array of questions about science, faith, philosophy, life, and of course, Pluto.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Dear Neil...
- By Tina G. on 10-14-19
-
Inspired
- How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, Second Edition
- By: Marty Cagan
- Narrated by: Marty Cagan
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,703
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,203
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,177
How do today's most successful tech companies - Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla - design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently from the vast majority of tech companies. In Inspired, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides listeners with a master class in how to structure and staff a vibrant and successful product organization and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, terrible audio wanted to ask a refund
- By Srikanth Ramanujam on 11-15-18
By: Marty Cagan
-
Ranger Confidential
- Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Julia Motyka
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,308
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,170
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,167
The real stories behind the scenery of America’s national parks. For 12 years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Depressing from Cover to Cover
- By Drew (@drewsant) on 04-13-15
By: Andrea Lankford
-
The Quantum Universe
- (And Why Anything That Can Happen, Does)
- By: Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 105
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 93
In The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw approach the world of quantum mechanics in the same way they did in Why Does E=mc2? and make fundamental scientific principles accessible - and fascinating - to everyone.The subatomic realm has a reputation for weirdness, spawning any number of profound misunderstandings, journeys into Eastern mysticism, and woolly pronouncements on the interconnectedness of all things. Cox and Forshaw's contention? There is no need for quantum mechanics to be viewed this way.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Not suitable as an audio book
- By SPN on 03-29-22
By: Brian Cox, and others
-
Welcome to the Universe
- An Astrophysical Tour
- By: Michael A. Strauss, J. Richard Gott, Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,386
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,220
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,215
Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all - from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
All About What We Know About the Universe - ALL
- By J.B. on 02-17-17
By: Michael A. Strauss, and others
-
There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather
- A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)
- By: Linda Åkeson McGurk
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 908
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 784
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 777
Bringing Up Bébé meets Last Child in the Woods in this lively, insightful memoir about a mother who sets out to discover if the nature-centric parenting philosophy of her native Scandinavia holds the key to healthier, happier lives for her American children.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great concept, interesting writing.
- By Kate on 11-03-17
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
How the World Made the West
- A 4,000 Year History
- By: Josephine Quinn
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 31
In How the World Made the West, Josephine Quinn poses perhaps the most significant challenge ever to the “civilizational thinking” regarding the origins of Western culture—that is, the idea that civilizations arose separately and distinctly from one another. Rather, she locates the roots of the modern West in everything from the law codes of Babylon, Assyrian irrigation, and the Phoenician art of sail to Indian literature, Arabic scholarship, and the metalworking riders of the Steppe, to name just a few examples.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Middling
- By Amazon Customer on 11-14-24
By: Josephine Quinn
-
Impossible Monsters
- Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion
- By: Michael Taylor
- Narrated by: Michael Langan
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 12
Impossible Monsters reveals the central role of dinosaurs and their discovery in toppling traditional religious authority, and in changing perceptions about the Bible, history, and mankind's place in the world.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Repetitive and not that interesting
- By Michael on 09-09-24
By: Michael Taylor
-
The Invention of Good and Evil
- A World History of Morality
- By: Hanno Sauer
- Narrated by: Callum Coates
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? And has it always been that way? Hanno Sauer's sweeping new history of humanity, covering five million years of our universal moral values, comes at a crucial moment of crisis for those values, and helps to explain how they arose—and why we need them. Modern societies are in crisis: a shared universal morality seems to be a thing of the past. Hanno Sauer explains why this appearance is deceptive: in fact, there are universal values that all people share.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Was good until author got political
- By c0stab on 03-01-25
By: Hanno Sauer
-
Infantilised
- How Our Culture Killed Adulthood
- By: Keith J. Hayward
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
Noticing society's creeping descent into infantilisation is one thing, however understanding the roots and causes of the phenomenon is not quite so easy. But in this topical and vitally important new work, cultural theorist and academic, Dr Keith Hayward, exposes the deep social, psychological and political dangers of a world characterised by denuded adult autonomy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A well reasoned and soundly documented thesis
- By Lee O. Stokowski on 09-21-24
By: Keith J. Hayward
-
Smoke and Ashes
- Opium's Hidden Histories
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Ranjit Madgavkar
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
When Amitav Ghosh began the research for his monumental cycle of novels the Ibis trilogy ten years ago, he was startled to learn how the lives of the nineteenth-century sailors and soldiers he wrote about were dictated not only by the currents of the Indian Ocean but also by the precious commodity carried in enormous quantities on those currents: opium. Most surprising of all, however, was the discovery that his own identity and family history were swept up in the story. Smoke and Ashes is at once a travelogue, a memoir, and an essay in history, drawing on decades of archival research.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I adored the narrator
- By J. Dusheck on 06-20-24
By: Amitav Ghosh
-
Every Living Thing
- The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
- By: Jason Roberts
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
In the eighteenth century, two men—exact contemporaries and polar opposites—dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster’s flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France’s royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Each began his task believing it to be difficult but not impossible: How could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species—or as many could fit on Noah’s Ark?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating history of scientific thought
- By Candy Dan on 06-10-24
By: Jason Roberts
-
How the World Made the West
- A 4,000 Year History
- By: Josephine Quinn
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 31
In How the World Made the West, Josephine Quinn poses perhaps the most significant challenge ever to the “civilizational thinking” regarding the origins of Western culture—that is, the idea that civilizations arose separately and distinctly from one another. Rather, she locates the roots of the modern West in everything from the law codes of Babylon, Assyrian irrigation, and the Phoenician art of sail to Indian literature, Arabic scholarship, and the metalworking riders of the Steppe, to name just a few examples.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Middling
- By Amazon Customer on 11-14-24
By: Josephine Quinn
-
Impossible Monsters
- Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion
- By: Michael Taylor
- Narrated by: Michael Langan
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 12
Impossible Monsters reveals the central role of dinosaurs and their discovery in toppling traditional religious authority, and in changing perceptions about the Bible, history, and mankind's place in the world.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Repetitive and not that interesting
- By Michael on 09-09-24
By: Michael Taylor
-
The Invention of Good and Evil
- A World History of Morality
- By: Hanno Sauer
- Narrated by: Callum Coates
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? And has it always been that way? Hanno Sauer's sweeping new history of humanity, covering five million years of our universal moral values, comes at a crucial moment of crisis for those values, and helps to explain how they arose—and why we need them. Modern societies are in crisis: a shared universal morality seems to be a thing of the past. Hanno Sauer explains why this appearance is deceptive: in fact, there are universal values that all people share.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Was good until author got political
- By c0stab on 03-01-25
By: Hanno Sauer
-
Infantilised
- How Our Culture Killed Adulthood
- By: Keith J. Hayward
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
Noticing society's creeping descent into infantilisation is one thing, however understanding the roots and causes of the phenomenon is not quite so easy. But in this topical and vitally important new work, cultural theorist and academic, Dr Keith Hayward, exposes the deep social, psychological and political dangers of a world characterised by denuded adult autonomy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A well reasoned and soundly documented thesis
- By Lee O. Stokowski on 09-21-24
By: Keith J. Hayward
-
Smoke and Ashes
- Opium's Hidden Histories
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Ranjit Madgavkar
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
When Amitav Ghosh began the research for his monumental cycle of novels the Ibis trilogy ten years ago, he was startled to learn how the lives of the nineteenth-century sailors and soldiers he wrote about were dictated not only by the currents of the Indian Ocean but also by the precious commodity carried in enormous quantities on those currents: opium. Most surprising of all, however, was the discovery that his own identity and family history were swept up in the story. Smoke and Ashes is at once a travelogue, a memoir, and an essay in history, drawing on decades of archival research.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I adored the narrator
- By J. Dusheck on 06-20-24
By: Amitav Ghosh
-
Every Living Thing
- The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
- By: Jason Roberts
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
In the eighteenth century, two men—exact contemporaries and polar opposites—dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster’s flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France’s royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Each began his task believing it to be difficult but not impossible: How could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species—or as many could fit on Noah’s Ark?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating history of scientific thought
- By Candy Dan on 06-10-24
By: Jason Roberts
-
Why War?
- By: Richard Overy
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Why has war been such a consistent presence throughout the human past? A leading historian explains, drawing on rich examples and keen insight. Richard Overy is not the first scholar to take up the title question. In 1931, at the request of the League of Nations, Albert Einstein asked Sigmund Freud to collaborate on a short work examining whether there was "a way of delivering mankind from the menace of war." Published the next year as a pamphlet entitled Why War?, it conveyed Freud's conclusion that the "death drive" made any deliverance impossible.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
War is Peace
- By Anonymous User on 01-23-25
By: Richard Overy
-
The Eastern Front
- A History of the Great War 1914-1918
- By: Nick Lloyd
- Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick
- Length: 22 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
Drawing on the latest scholarship as well as eyewitness reports, diary entries, and memoirs, Lloyd moves from the great battles of 1914 to the final collapse of the Central Powers in 1918, showing how a local struggle between Austria-Hungary and Serbia spiraled into a massive conflagration that pulled in Germany, Russia, Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is an eloquent account of a conflagration whose consequences we are still grappling with
- By Richard M. Bendix, Jr. on 04-01-25
By: Nick Lloyd
-
The Catalyst
- RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets
- By: Thomas R. Cech
- Narrated by: Joshua Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 12
A gripping journey of discovery, The Catalyst moves from the early experiments that first hinted at RNA's spectacular powers, to Cech's own paradigm-shifting finding that it can catalyze cellular reactions, to the cutting-edge biotechnologies poised to reshape our health.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Captivating
- By Auinash Kalsotra on 09-16-24
By: Thomas R. Cech
-
Gray Matters
- A Biography of Brain Surgery
- By: Theodore H. Schwartz
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
We’ve all heard the phrase “it’s not brain surgery.” But what exactly is brain surgery? It’s a profession that is barely a hundred years old and profoundly connects two human beings, but few know how it works, or its history. In this warm, rigorous, and deeply insightful book, Dr. Theodore H. Schwartz explores what it’s like to hold the scalpel, wield the drill, extract a tumor, fix a bullet hole, and remove a blood clot—when every second can mean life or death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gripping storytelling
- By Kathy M. on 12-14-24
-
The Book-Makers
- A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives
- By: Adam Smyth
- Narrated by: Adam Smyth
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 6
Books tell all kinds of stories—romances, tragedies, comedies—but if we learn to read the signs correctly, they can tell us the story of their own making too. The Book-Makers offers a new way into the story of Western culture’s most important object, the book, through dynamic portraits of eighteen individuals who helped to define it.
By: Adam Smyth
-
Revolusi
- Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: David Van Reybrouck
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
In August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after WWII.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Solid Historical Survey
- By DavidPrestonokwu on 06-05-24
-
Written in Water
- The Ephemeral Life of the Classic in Art
- By: Rochelle Gurstein
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2
Is there such a thing as a timeless classic? More than a decade ago, Rochelle Gurstein set out to explore and establish a solid foundation for the classic in the history of taste. To her surprise, that history instead revealed repeated episodes of soaring and falling reputations, rediscoveries of long-forgotten artists, and radical shifts in the canon, all of which went so completely against common knowledge that it was hard to believe it was true.
-
Twelve Trees
- The Deep Roots of Our Future
- By: Daniel Lewis
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
The world today is undergoing the most rapid environmental transformation in human history—from climate change to deforestation. Scientists, ethnobotanists, indigenous peoples, and collectives of all kinds are closely studying trees and their biology to understand how and why trees function individually and collectively in the ways they do. In Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis, curator and historian at one of the world’s most renowned research libraries, travels the world to learn about these trees in their habitats.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
lots of detail
- By David M Hazelton on 03-06-25
By: Daniel Lewis
-
Venice
- The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City
- By: Dennis Romano
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 30 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
No city stirs the imagination more than Venice. From the richly ornamented palaces emerging from the waters of the Grand Canal to the dazzling sites of Piazza San Marco, visitors and residents alike sense they are entering, as fourteenth-century poet Petrarch remarked, “another world.” During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Venice was celebrated as a model republic in an age of monarchs. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it became famous for its freewheeling lifestyle characterized by courtesans, casinos, and Carnival.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
As a resident great general summary of the history of the city
- By marco on 01-13-25
By: Dennis Romano
-
Medieval Horizons
- Why the Middle Ages Matter
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Ian Mortimer
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a dark, backward, and unchanging time characterized by violence, ignorance, and superstition. By contrast, we believe progress arose from science and technological innovation, and that inventions of recent centuries created the modern world. We couldn't be more wrong.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Altered my perception of History
- By IowaGreyhound on 06-25-24
By: Ian Mortimer
-
Reentry
- SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets That Launched a Second Space Age
- By: Eric Berger
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 289
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 289
From launchpad explosions to a pernicious cricket infestation to the demanding management style of Musk himself, the rise of SpaceX was beset with challenges and far from inevitable. Find out how the startup beat the odds and flew high enough to outpace their rivals... and where they're going next.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
One story after another
- By Darek on 12-30-24
By: Eric Berger
-
The Year of Living Constitutionally
- One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning
- By: A.J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: A.J. Jacobs
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
Is the Constitution a living document that needs to evolve with the times? Or should we try to divine the original meaning that our Founding Fathers intended, and hew to that as strictly as possible, as present-day originalists suggest? In The Year of Living Constitutionally, A.J. Jacobs tries to get inside the minds of the Founding Fathers by living as closely as possible to the original meaning of the Constitution.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delightful!
- By BranWick on 07-14-24
By: A.J. Jacobs