The Wonder of Natural Life in Kentucky
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
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Wonder of Natural Life in Kentucky
Buy for $3.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tracy Bond Bird
About this listen
Drawing upon his vast knowledge of the environment, biology, botany, and history, Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr. has written a love letter to Kentucky. The lay person as well as the expert will understand as he describes the state’s evolution - its history, original land surface, the river-cut gorges, the mountains, and the lakes. He tells of eons of growth of flora, fauna, rock, and rill. Along with thorough documentation, the writer gives us a poetic description of this “...verdant state, lush in its heat, humidity, and rainfall. The diversity and abundance of life was immediately evident to all who came here”.
With stories of Lady Slippers, buffalo trails, and flying snakes, Van Stockum takes us into a Magic Kingdom. This teacher gives us an impromptu course about the state called “Paradise”, as we delight in nature: wandering in the forest, crawling in a cave, walking creek banks, and floating down rivers in a canoe. With engaging material that grasps the listener, this gifted story-teller paints a picture of Kentucky that creates a yearning to join present-day efforts of naturalists to preserve it.
©2016 Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr. (P)2020 Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,423
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,476
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,447
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,996
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,976
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,748
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,525
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,517
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Soul Stirring
- By KatieBourgeois on 02-23-19
-
The Sixth Extinction
- An Unnatural History
- By: Elizabeth Kolbert
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,830
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,797
A major audiobook about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lifts you out of the ordinary
- By Regina on 04-28-14
-
The Ends of the World
- Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions
- By: Peter Brannen
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,964
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,758
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,749
Our world has ended five times: It has been broiled, frozen, poison gassed, smothered, and pelted by asteroids. In The Ends of the World, Peter Brannen dives into deep time, exploring Earth's past dead ends, and in the process offers us a glimpse of our possible future. Many scientists now believe that the climate shifts of the 21st century have analogs in these five extinctions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Kid's Science Book FOR ADULTS!!
- By aaron on 06-15-17
By: Peter Brannen
-
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter
- By: Ben Goldfarb
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 964
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 837
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 835
In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of "Beaver Believers" recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A fine natural history and great listen
- By Theo Smith on 12-30-18
By: Ben Goldfarb
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,423
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,476
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,447
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,996
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,976
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,748
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,525
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,517
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Soul Stirring
- By KatieBourgeois on 02-23-19
-
The Sixth Extinction
- An Unnatural History
- By: Elizabeth Kolbert
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,830
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,797
A major audiobook about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lifts you out of the ordinary
- By Regina on 04-28-14
-
The Ends of the World
- Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions
- By: Peter Brannen
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,964
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,758
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,749
Our world has ended five times: It has been broiled, frozen, poison gassed, smothered, and pelted by asteroids. In The Ends of the World, Peter Brannen dives into deep time, exploring Earth's past dead ends, and in the process offers us a glimpse of our possible future. Many scientists now believe that the climate shifts of the 21st century have analogs in these five extinctions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Kid's Science Book FOR ADULTS!!
- By aaron on 06-15-17
By: Peter Brannen
-
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter
- By: Ben Goldfarb
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 964
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 837
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 835
In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of "Beaver Believers" recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A fine natural history and great listen
- By Theo Smith on 12-30-18
By: Ben Goldfarb
-
The Voyage of the Beagle
- By: Charles Darwin
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 320
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 279
I hate every wave of the ocean', the seasick Charles Darwin wrote to his family during his five-year voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle. It was this world-wide journey, however, that launched the scientists career.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
High Adventure - Well Written
- By wbiro on 09-16-17
By: Charles Darwin
-
Origins
- How Earth's History Shaped Human History
- By: Lewis Dartnell
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 604
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 534
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 530
When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the progression of global exploration, colonization, and trade. Even today, voting behavior in the southeast United States ultimately follows the underlying pattern of 75 million-year-old sediments from an ancient sea.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT Book with a Narrator Who's Falling Asleep
- By aaron on 08-02-20
By: Lewis Dartnell
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 378
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
The End of Ice
- Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption
- By: Dahr Jamail
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 408
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 362
After nearly a decade overseas as a war reporter, the acclaimed journalist Dahr Jamail returned to America to renew his passion for mountaineering, only to find that the slopes he had once climbed have been irrevocably changed by climate disruption. In response, Jamail embarks on a journey to the geographical front lines of this crisis - from Alaska to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, via the Amazon rainforest - in order to discover the consequences to nature and to humans of the loss of ice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dealing with the Ultimate Climate Change Question
- By red_dog on 02-03-19
By: Dahr Jamail
-
Arctic Dreams
- By: Barry Lopez
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 267
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 268
This best-selling, groundbreaking exploration of the Far North is a classic of natural history, anthropology, and travel writing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Integration of arctic experience and wisdom
- By andrea Groves on 01-07-20
By: Barry Lopez
-
Origins
- The Search for Our Prehistoric Past
- By: Frank H. T. Rhodes
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 385
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 384
In Origins, Frank H. T. Rhodes explores the origin and evolution of living things, the changing environments in which they have developed, and the challenges we now face on an increasingly crowded and polluted planet. Rhodes argues that the future well-being of our burgeoning population depends in no small part on our understanding of life's past, its long and slow development, and its intricate interdependencies.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
poorly written overview of evolutionary biology
- By Corvin Rok on 09-06-20
-
The Edge of the Sea
- By: Rachel Carson
- Narrated by: Kaiulani Lee
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
A book to be listened to for pleasure as well as a practical identification guide, The Edge of the Sea introduces a world of teeming life where the sea meets the land. A new generation of listeners is discovering why Rachel Carson's books have become cornerstones of the environmental and conservation movements.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful book, beautiful narration
- By Sea Queen on 01-03-19
By: Rachel Carson
-
Landmarks
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 187
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Landmarks, a fascinating exploration of the relationship between language and landscapes by Robert Macfarlane, read by Roy McMillan. Words are grained into our landscapes, and landscapes are grained into our words. Landmarks is about the power of language to shape our sense of place.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Buy the book
- By Kindle Customer on 08-08-17
-
The Wild Places
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 79
Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? Or have we tarmacked, farmed and built ourselves out of wildness? In his vital, bewitching, inspiring classic, Robert Macfarlane sets out in search of the wildness that remains.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Magical
- By Jennifer on 01-27-22
-
The End of Nature
- By: Bill McKibben
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
Reissued on the 10th anniversary of its publication, this classic work on our environmental crisis features a new introduction by the author, reviewing both the progress and ground lost in the fight to save the Earth. This impassioned plea for radical and life-renewing change is today still considered a groundbreaking work in environmental studies. McKibben's argument that the survival of the globe is dependent on a fundamental, philosophical shift in the way we relate to nature is more relevant than ever.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent.
- By Thomas on 01-29-23
By: Bill McKibben
-
A Natural History of North American Trees
- By: Donald Culross Peattie
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
A Natural History of North American Trees gives us a picture of life in America from its earliest days to the middle of the last century. The information is always interesting, though often heartbreaking. While Peattie looks for the better side of man's nature, he reports sorrowfully on the greed and waste that have doomed so much of America's virgin forest.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A good review of NA silva
- By Euler2.71828 on 08-29-15
-
First Peoples in a New World
- Colonizing Ice Age America
- By: David J. Meltzer
- Narrated by: Christopher Prince
- Length: 11 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 152
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 151
More than 12,000 years ago, in one of the greatest triumphs of prehistory, humans colonized North America, a continent that was then truly a new world. Just when and how they did so has been one of the most perplexing and controversial questions in archaeology.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Last Gasp of American Anthropological Orthodoxy
- By Thomas66 on 01-05-17
By: David J. Meltzer
Related to this topic
-
The Galápagos
- A Natural History
- By: Henry Nicholls
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
The Galapagos were once known to the sailors and pirates who encountered them as Las Encantadas: the enchanted islands, home to exotic creatures and dramatic volcanic scenery. In The Galapagos, science writer Henry Nicholls offers a lively natural and human history of the archipelago, charting its evolution from deserted wilderness to scientific resource (made famous by Charles Darwin) and global ecotourism hot spot.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thought-Provoking
- By Jean on 10-23-18
By: Henry Nicholls
-
Earth
- An Intimate History
- By: Richard Fortey
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Beginning with Mt. Vesuvius, whose eruption in Roman times helped spark the science of geology, and ending in a lab in the West of England where mathematical models and lab experiments replace direct observation, Richard Fortey tells us what the present says about ancient geologic processes. He shows how plate tectonics came to rule the geophysical landscape and how the evidence is written in the hills and in the stones. And in the process, he takes us on a wonderful journey around the globe to visit some of the most fascinating and intriguing spots on the planet.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Random Geology Verbose History Jumbled Tours
- By Herbert S. on 12-10-21
By: Richard Fortey
-
The Nature of Nature
- Why We Need the Wild
- By: Enric Sala
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 61
In this inspiring manifesto, an internationally renowned ecologist makes a clear case for why protecting nature is our best health insurance, and why it makes economic sense.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing
- By Lars Pardo on 11-21-24
By: Enric Sala
-
The Cabaret of Plants
- Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination
- By: Richard Mabey
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
A rich, sweeping, and compelling work of botanical history, The Cabaret of Plants explores dozens of plant species that for millennia have challenged our imaginations, awoken our wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty, and belief. Going back to the beginnings of human history, Richard Mabey shows how flowers, trees, and plants have been central to human experience not just as sources of food and medicine but as objects of worship, actors in creation myths, and symbols of war and peace, life and death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Can't wait to listen to again!
- By hyacinthgirl on 12-27-16
By: Richard Mabey
-
Origins
- How Earth's History Shaped Human History
- By: Lewis Dartnell
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 604
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 534
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 530
When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the progression of global exploration, colonization, and trade. Even today, voting behavior in the southeast United States ultimately follows the underlying pattern of 75 million-year-old sediments from an ancient sea.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT Book with a Narrator Who's Falling Asleep
- By aaron on 08-02-20
By: Lewis Dartnell
-
The End of Ice
- Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption
- By: Dahr Jamail
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 408
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 362
After nearly a decade overseas as a war reporter, the acclaimed journalist Dahr Jamail returned to America to renew his passion for mountaineering, only to find that the slopes he had once climbed have been irrevocably changed by climate disruption. In response, Jamail embarks on a journey to the geographical front lines of this crisis - from Alaska to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, via the Amazon rainforest - in order to discover the consequences to nature and to humans of the loss of ice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dealing with the Ultimate Climate Change Question
- By red_dog on 02-03-19
By: Dahr Jamail
-
The Galápagos
- A Natural History
- By: Henry Nicholls
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
The Galapagos were once known to the sailors and pirates who encountered them as Las Encantadas: the enchanted islands, home to exotic creatures and dramatic volcanic scenery. In The Galapagos, science writer Henry Nicholls offers a lively natural and human history of the archipelago, charting its evolution from deserted wilderness to scientific resource (made famous by Charles Darwin) and global ecotourism hot spot.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thought-Provoking
- By Jean on 10-23-18
By: Henry Nicholls
-
Earth
- An Intimate History
- By: Richard Fortey
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Beginning with Mt. Vesuvius, whose eruption in Roman times helped spark the science of geology, and ending in a lab in the West of England where mathematical models and lab experiments replace direct observation, Richard Fortey tells us what the present says about ancient geologic processes. He shows how plate tectonics came to rule the geophysical landscape and how the evidence is written in the hills and in the stones. And in the process, he takes us on a wonderful journey around the globe to visit some of the most fascinating and intriguing spots on the planet.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Random Geology Verbose History Jumbled Tours
- By Herbert S. on 12-10-21
By: Richard Fortey
-
The Nature of Nature
- Why We Need the Wild
- By: Enric Sala
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 61
In this inspiring manifesto, an internationally renowned ecologist makes a clear case for why protecting nature is our best health insurance, and why it makes economic sense.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing
- By Lars Pardo on 11-21-24
By: Enric Sala
-
The Cabaret of Plants
- Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination
- By: Richard Mabey
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
A rich, sweeping, and compelling work of botanical history, The Cabaret of Plants explores dozens of plant species that for millennia have challenged our imaginations, awoken our wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty, and belief. Going back to the beginnings of human history, Richard Mabey shows how flowers, trees, and plants have been central to human experience not just as sources of food and medicine but as objects of worship, actors in creation myths, and symbols of war and peace, life and death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Can't wait to listen to again!
- By hyacinthgirl on 12-27-16
By: Richard Mabey
-
Origins
- How Earth's History Shaped Human History
- By: Lewis Dartnell
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 604
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 534
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 530
When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the progression of global exploration, colonization, and trade. Even today, voting behavior in the southeast United States ultimately follows the underlying pattern of 75 million-year-old sediments from an ancient sea.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT Book with a Narrator Who's Falling Asleep
- By aaron on 08-02-20
By: Lewis Dartnell
-
The End of Ice
- Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption
- By: Dahr Jamail
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 408
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 362
After nearly a decade overseas as a war reporter, the acclaimed journalist Dahr Jamail returned to America to renew his passion for mountaineering, only to find that the slopes he had once climbed have been irrevocably changed by climate disruption. In response, Jamail embarks on a journey to the geographical front lines of this crisis - from Alaska to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, via the Amazon rainforest - in order to discover the consequences to nature and to humans of the loss of ice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dealing with the Ultimate Climate Change Question
- By red_dog on 02-03-19
By: Dahr Jamail
-
The Wild Places
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 79
Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? Or have we tarmacked, farmed and built ourselves out of wildness? In his vital, bewitching, inspiring classic, Robert Macfarlane sets out in search of the wildness that remains.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Magical
- By Jennifer on 01-27-22
-
Cro-Magnon
- How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans
- By: Brian Fagan
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 571
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 291
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 295
Best-selling author Brian Fagan brings early humans out of the deep freeze with his trademark mix of erudition, cutting-edge science, and vivid storytelling. Cro-Magnon reveals human society in its infancy, facing enormous environmental challenges - including a rival species of humans, the Neanderthals. For ten millennia, Cro-Magnons lived side by side with Neanderthals, an encounter that Fagan fills with drama.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Fact and fiction
- By Paul on 08-12-10
By: Brian Fagan
-
The Great Warming
- Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations
- By: Brian Fagan
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
The history of the Great Warming of a half millennium ago suggests that we may yet be underestimating the power of climate change to disrupt our lives todayand our vulnerability to drought, writes Fagan, is the silent elephant in the room.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good book but unpracticed, disjointed narration.
- By Paul on 09-12-10
By: Brian Fagan
-
A Most Improbable Journey
- A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves
- By: Walter Alvarez
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Big History, the field that studies the entire known past of our universe to give context to human existence, has so far been the domain of historians. Geologist Walter Alvarez - best known for his Impact Theory explaining dinosaur extinction - makes a compelling case for a new, science-first approach to Big History.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Learned so much
- By Niki on 12-09-18
By: Walter Alvarez
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,423
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,476
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
The Ocean of Life
- The Fate of Man and the Sea
- By: Callum Roberts
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
Who can forget the sense of wonder with which they discovered the creatures of the deep? In this vibrant hymn to the sea, Callum Roberts - one of the world’s foremost conservation biologists - leads listeners on a fascinating tour of mankind’s relationship to the sea, from the earliest traces of water on Earth to the oceans as we know them today. In the process, Roberts looks at how the taming of the oceans has shaped human civilization and affected marine life. Like Four Fish and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Ocean of Life takes a long view to tell a story in which each one of us has a role to play.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Immediate fan of Mr Roberts
- By Anna on 06-25-24
By: Callum Roberts
-
Dark Emu
- Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident?
- By: Bruce Pascoe
- Narrated by: Bruce Pascoe
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that suggests that systems of food production and land management have been understated in modern retellings of Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best books ever!!!!
- By Matt Powers on 05-07-18
By: Bruce Pascoe
-
First Peoples in a New World
- Colonizing Ice Age America
- By: David J. Meltzer
- Narrated by: Christopher Prince
- Length: 11 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 152
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 151
More than 12,000 years ago, in one of the greatest triumphs of prehistory, humans colonized North America, a continent that was then truly a new world. Just when and how they did so has been one of the most perplexing and controversial questions in archaeology.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Last Gasp of American Anthropological Orthodoxy
- By Thomas66 on 01-05-17
By: David J. Meltzer
-
The Voyage of the Beagle
- By: Charles Darwin
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 320
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 279
I hate every wave of the ocean', the seasick Charles Darwin wrote to his family during his five-year voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle. It was this world-wide journey, however, that launched the scientists career.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
High Adventure - Well Written
- By wbiro on 09-16-17
By: Charles Darwin
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 378
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,447
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,996
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,976
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
The Tree
- A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter
- By: Colin Tudge
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 80
There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field. From the tallest to the smallest, trees inspire wonder in all of us, and in The Tree, Colin Tudge travels around the world - throughout the United States, the Costa Rican rain forest, Panama and Brazil, India, New Zealand, China, and most of Europe - bringing to life stories and facts about the trees around us.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not the book described in the Audible summary
- By E. Miller on 04-28-17
By: Colin Tudge