
The Secret Life of the Universe
An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life
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Narrated by:
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Cassandra Campbell
About this listen
One of the world’s leading astrobiologists takes us on an awe-inspiring journey across the cosmos to investigate some of humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe? And, how did life on Earth begin?
We are in a golden age in astronomy, living on the cusp of breakthroughs that will revolutionize our understanding of our place in the cosmos in. Yet a profound question remains: Are we alone in the universe?
We have never been closer to answering this question. In The Secret Life of the Universe, astrobiologist and the director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute Nathalie A. Cabrol takes us to the frontiers of the search for life. The book’s odyssey begins by exploring how life began on Earth in order to understand what’s necessary for its existence elsewhere. What role did our Moon play? And could life on Mars have seeded life on Earth?
Cabrol continues this dazzling interplanetary tour, illuminating the likeliest places for life in our neighborhood: While Mars and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn are among the top contenders, recent missions are redefining the limits of habitability to include unexpected worlds. Finally, we seek life beyond our Solar System, becoming witness to a revolution in the night sky: the realization that there are as many planets as stars in our galaxy. With more than 300 million exoplanets in the habitable zone of their stars in the Milky Way alone, to think we are alone, or the only advanced intelligent civilization, may be little more than nonsense.
The Secret Life of the Universe is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the search for life. This is an exhilarating journey for anyone who has ever looked up at the stars and wondered what might be out there.
©2024 Nathalie A. Cabrol (P)2024 Simon & Schuster AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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All About What We Know About the Universe - ALL
- By J.B. on 02-17-17
By: Michael A. Strauss, and others
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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
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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.
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Not suitable as an audio book
- By SPN on 03-29-22
By: Brian Cox, and others
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Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.
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Engrossing to physicians & lay persons alike
- By C. White on 03-08-19
By: Thomas Hager
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The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality
- By: Don Lincoln, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Don Lincoln
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
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At the end of his career, Albert Einstein was pursuing a dream far more ambitious than the theory of relativity. He was trying to find an equation that explained all physical reality - a theory of everything. Experimental physicist and award-winning educator Dr. Don Lincoln takes you on this exciting journey in The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality. Suitable for the intellectually curious at all levels and assuming no background beyond basic high-school math, these 24 half-hour lectures cover recent developments at the forefront of particle physics and cosmology.
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Audible’s Best Science Offering, A Gem
- By MikeB on 12-08-18
By: Don Lincoln, and others
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Marie Arana does not Understand Economics
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We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it expanded from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now?
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I wished it was longer
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The Great Mortality
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The Apollo Program in Historical Context
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The Real Story
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With Frye as our raconteur-guide, we journey back to a time before barriers of brick and stone even existed - to an era in which nomadic tribes vied for scarce resources, and each man was bred to a life of struggle. Ultimately, those same men would create edifices of mud, brick, and stone and with them effectively divide humanity: On one side were those the walls protected; on the other, those the walls kept out. The stars of this narrative are the walls themselves - rising up in places as ancient and exotic as Mesopotamia, Babylon, Greece, China, Rome, Mongolia, Afghanistan, the lower Mississippi, and even Central America....
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Great Narration, Ok History, Unwelcome Opinions
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The astonishing but true story of one of the most notorious spy cases from the Cold War—and the international manhunt that seized global attention as it revealed the shadowy world of deep cover KGB operatives. Based on new archival material and inside sources from around the world, Dead Doubles follows the hunt for the highly damaging Portland Spy Ring. This incredible narrative, layered with false identities, deceptions, and betrayal, crisscrosses from the UK to the USSR to the US and New Zealand, and brings to life one of the most extraordinary spy stories of the Cold War.
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For Spy Junkies
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The Year 1000
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People often believe that the years immediately prior to AD 1000 were, with just a few exceptions, lacking in any major cultural developments or geopolitical encounters, that the Europeans hadn’t yet reached North America, and that the farthest feat of sea travel was the Vikings’ invasion of Britain. But how, then, to explain the presence of blond-haired people in Maya temple murals at Chichén Itzá, Mexico? Could it be possible that the Vikings had found their way to the Americas during the height of the Maya empire?
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Long on Speculation, Short on Evidence
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Quantum Physics for Beginners, Into the Light
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In this book, we will break through the confusion and reveal to you the most important ideas of quantum physics, told through the amazing true story of just four bizarre discoveries–many of which were made completely by accident!
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The audio book even has a commercial in it...
- By AjM on 11-26-23
By: John Stoddard
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All In
- How Obsessive Leaders Achieve the Extraordinary
- By: Robert Bruce Shaw
- Narrated by: Mark Smeby
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
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Groundbreaking leaders share a passionate commitment to achieving their vision that borders and sometimes crosses the line into obsession. All In shows how obsession, if properly focused and managed, is both necessary and productive. Advances in any endeavor almost always depend on a small group of individuals who are completely consumed by the goal they’re pursuing. When these leaders and their teams are successful, everyone benefits from their singular focus and relentless drive.
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This was a good lesson.
- By ken's Kindle on 08-08-20
What listeners say about The Secret Life of the Universe
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dennis T.
- 09-20-24
Incredible Book
We all think about how life might have started. Nathalie nails the explanation. An absolute must listen and read!
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- Patrick White
- 03-08-25
Sustain and Survive
I liked:
How our species' survival rests on recognizing and accepting as real & fundamental the concepts of Earth First and becoming/being human Planetary Citizens
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- Anonymous User
- 03-22-25
Perspective of life
Great perspective, we need to act or we are doomed , good reference to Carl Sagan
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- John
- 08-18-24
Omg insufferably boring cliches
I rarely write reviews but I have to say that this is an attempt to emulate Carl Sagan by someone who is no way qualified to do so. Insufferably boring, using ten words where one will do. Tell me things I don’t know. There is nothing special about this book
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1 person found this helpful