Get Your Free Audiobook
What Is Real?
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Order of Time
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe.
-
-
Timely
- By J. A. Varzaly on 13-11-2018
-
Reality Is Not What It Seems
- The Journey to Quantum Gravity
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics comes a new audiobook about the mind-bending nature of the universe. What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what exactly is reality? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. Here he explains how our image of the world has changed throughout centuries.
-
-
outstanding beautifully written and the cutting
- By Justin on 01-10-2018
-
Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition
- By: Richard Wolfson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Richard Wolfson
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It doesn't take an Einstein to understand modern physics," says Professor Wolfson at the outset of these 24 lectures on what may be the most important subjects in the universe: relativity and quantum physics. Both have reputations for complexity. But the basic ideas behind them are, in fact, simple and comprehensible by anyone. These dynamic and illuminating lectures begin with a brief overview of theories of physical reality starting with Aristotle and culminating in Newtonian or "classical" physics.
-
-
engrossing!
- By Mars on 10-10-2015
-
The Beginning of Infinity
- Explanations That Transform the World
- By: David Deutsch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Dirk Bertels on 21-03-2017
-
The Science Delusion
- By: Rupert Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Rupert Sheldrake, David Timson, Jane Collingwood
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. In this book, Dr Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world's most innovative scientists, shows that science is being constructed by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. The sciences would be better off without them: freer, more interesting, and more fun.
-
-
A breath of fresh air!
- By Dhruva on 05-12-2017
-
Periodic Tales
- The Curious Lives of the Elements
- By: Hugh Aldersey-Williams
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everything in the universe is made of them, including you. Like you, the elements have personalities, attitudes, talents, shortcomings, stories rich with meaning. Here you'll meet iron that rains from the heavens and noble gases that light the way to vice. You'll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. You'll discover what connects the bones in your body with the Whitehouse in Washington, the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on your dinner table.
-
The Order of Time
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe.
-
-
Timely
- By J. A. Varzaly on 13-11-2018
-
Reality Is Not What It Seems
- The Journey to Quantum Gravity
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics comes a new audiobook about the mind-bending nature of the universe. What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what exactly is reality? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. Here he explains how our image of the world has changed throughout centuries.
-
-
outstanding beautifully written and the cutting
- By Justin on 01-10-2018
-
Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition
- By: Richard Wolfson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Richard Wolfson
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It doesn't take an Einstein to understand modern physics," says Professor Wolfson at the outset of these 24 lectures on what may be the most important subjects in the universe: relativity and quantum physics. Both have reputations for complexity. But the basic ideas behind them are, in fact, simple and comprehensible by anyone. These dynamic and illuminating lectures begin with a brief overview of theories of physical reality starting with Aristotle and culminating in Newtonian or "classical" physics.
-
-
engrossing!
- By Mars on 10-10-2015
-
The Beginning of Infinity
- Explanations That Transform the World
- By: David Deutsch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Dirk Bertels on 21-03-2017
-
The Science Delusion
- By: Rupert Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Rupert Sheldrake, David Timson, Jane Collingwood
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. In this book, Dr Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world's most innovative scientists, shows that science is being constructed by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. The sciences would be better off without them: freer, more interesting, and more fun.
-
-
A breath of fresh air!
- By Dhruva on 05-12-2017
-
Periodic Tales
- The Curious Lives of the Elements
- By: Hugh Aldersey-Williams
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everything in the universe is made of them, including you. Like you, the elements have personalities, attitudes, talents, shortcomings, stories rich with meaning. Here you'll meet iron that rains from the heavens and noble gases that light the way to vice. You'll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. You'll discover what connects the bones in your body with the Whitehouse in Washington, the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on your dinner table.
-
She Has Her Mother's Laugh
- By: Carl Zimmer
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 20 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She Has Her Mother’s Laugh presents a profoundly original perspective on what we pass along from generation to generation. Charles Darwin played a crucial part in turning heredity into a scientific question, and yet he failed spectacularly to answer it. The birth of genetics in the early 1900s seemed to do precisely that. Gradually, people translated their old notions about heredity into a language of genes. As the technology for studying genes became cheaper, millions of people ordered genetic tests to link themselves to missing parents, to distant ancestors, to ethnic identities....
-
-
One of the most comprehensive books on genetics
- By Heinrich Ferreira on 30-07-2018
-
Exactly
- How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Simon Winchester writes a magnificent history of the pioneering engineers who developed precision machinery to allow us to see as far as the moon and as close as the Higgs boson. Precision is the key to everything. It is an integral, unchallenged and essential component of our modern social, mercantile, scientific, mechanical and intellectual landscapes. The items we value in our daily lives - a camera, a phone, a computer, a bicycle, a car, a dishwasher perhaps - all sport components that fit together with precision and operate with near perfection....
-
-
A revelation and a delight
- By The Quiet Reader on 11-05-2018
-
Conjuring the Universe
- The Origins of the Laws of Nature
- By: Peter Atkins
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The marvelous complexity of the universe emerges from several deep laws and a handful of fundamental constants that fix its shape, scale, and destiny. Where did these laws and these constants come from? And why are the laws so fruitful when written in the language of mathematics? Author Peter Atkins considers the minimum effort needed to equip the universe with its laws and its constants. He explores the origin of the conservation of energy, of electromagnetism, of classical and quantum mechanics, and of thermodynamics, showing how all these laws spring from deep symmetries.
-
Parallel Worlds
- A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos
- By: Michio Kaku
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Parallel Worlds, world-renowned physicist and best-selling author Michio Kaku - an author who "has a knack for bringing the most ethereal ideas down to earth" (Wall Street Journal) - takes listeners on a fascinating tour of cosmology, M-theory, and its implications for the fate of the universe.
-
-
Brilliant understandable summary of universes
- By David on 17-03-2018
-
Accessory to War
- The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Avis Lang
- Narrated by: Courtney B. Vance, Neil deGrasse Tyson - introduction
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fascinating foray into the centuries-old relationship between science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and writer-researcher Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war. "The overlap is strong, and the knowledge flows in both directions", say the authors, because astrophysicists and military planners care about many of the same things: multi-spectral detection, ranging, tracking, imaging, high ground, nuclear fusion, and access to space. Tyson and Lang call it a "curiously complicit" alliance.
-
-
Good but the last one was better
- By Dan on 12-01-2019
-
Our Mathematical Universe
- My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy, and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist.
-
-
Stunning analysis from the biggest perspective
- By Gordon on 02-08-2016
-
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Carlo Rovelli
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics written and read by Carlo Rovelli. These seven short lessons guide us, with admirable clarity, through the scientific revolution that shook physics in the 20th century and still continues to shake us today.
-
-
Can't wait for more.
- By Tess on 29-08-2017
-
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
- How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake
- By: Steven Novella
- Narrated by: Steven Novella
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is your guide through this maze of modern life. It covers essential critical thinking skills as well as giving insight into how your brain works and how to avoid common pitfalls in thinking. They discuss the difference between science and pseudoscience, how to recognise common science news tropes, how to discuss conspiracy theories with that crazy colleague of yours and how to apply all of this to everyday life. As fascinating as it is entertaining, this enthralling audiobook is your essential guide to seeing through the fake news and media manipulation in our increasingly confusing world.
-
-
Thoughtful
- By John Trimble on 28-01-2019
-
Origin Story
- A Big History of Everything
- By: David Christian
- Narrated by: Jamie Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History", the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
-
-
Awesome
- By Christian Maccarone on 03-11-2018
-
The Tangled Tree
- A Radical New History of Life
- By: David Quammen
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. For instance, we now know that roughly eight percent of the human genome arrived not through traditional inheritance from directly ancestral forms, but sideways by viral infection - a type of HGT. In The Tangled Tree David Quammen chronicles these discoveries through the lives of the researchers who made them.
-
Storm in a Teacup
- The Physics of Everyday Life
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is it that helps both scorpions and cyclists to survive? What do raw eggs and gyroscopes have in common? And why does it matter? In an age of string theory, fluid dynamics and biophysics, it can seem as if the science of our world is for only specialists and academics. Not so, insists Helen Czerski - and in this sparkling new audiobook she explores the patterns and connections that illustrate the grandest theories in the smallest everyday objects and experiences.
-
-
interesting, but painful story telling at times
- By Bruce on 20-03-2018
-
Life 3.0
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penguin Audio presents Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark, read by Rob Shapiro. We stand at the beginning of a new era. What was once science fiction is fast becoming reality, as AI transforms war, crime, justice, jobs and society - and even our very sense of what it means to be human. More than any other technology, AI has the potential to revolutionise our collective future - and there's nobody better situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor and cofounder of the Future of Life Institute, whose work has helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.
-
-
Insightful
- By Anonymous User on 08-02-2019
Publisher's Summary
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who challenged the establishment to rethink quantum physics and the nature of reality.
Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favoured practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics.
What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our Desktop Site.
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
-
5 Stars9
-
4 Stars2
-
3 Stars1
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Performance
-
-
5 Stars10
-
4 Stars1
-
3 Stars0
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Story
-
-
5 Stars7
-
4 Stars3
-
3 Stars1
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ZAP22
- India
- 30-01-2019
Brilliant!
As good as a wholesome crime thriller! You can read it again and again and it will show you the universe in a handful of sand.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-07-2018
jarring and entertaining
well worth the time and energy (pun intended) to follow along the various thought experiments that the author takes you to.
great read
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Erik
- 12-07-2018
Pretty solid and readable book
Essentially, quantum mechanics can't be boring. The double slit experiment and delayed choise experiment keep on dazzling the mind. However, this dazzling is why you read a QM book. The title of this book gave me hope that in the last 20 years there might have been found a more suitable answer for the interpretation of QM. Unfortunately, this book does not provide an answer, it just sums up the different historical viewpoints/interpretations from many different theoretical physicists. Essentially, if you read some QM books before there is not much new in here, although the historical in depth story is quite appreciable. For my taste, it would be nice if there were more practical examples as a change. The last chapters tease a bit with modern day applications and explanations of phenomena, but it sticks with mentioning, while explaining would have been nice. In the end, a pretty solid and readable book.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-07-2018
More history than physics
The book is about physics history, so if you expect a book on Quantum Physics, you will most likely be disappointed.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
- Ronan
- 14-06-2018
A lighthearted look at the quantum politics
Really Easy to listen to and enjoyable. I liked the almost biographical element to the book. Took a quite dry subject added some big characters, their backgrounds and breakthroughs and threw it all together. Very enjoyable and did explain the basics of quantum mechanics and the arguments that still rage to this day. Some of the quips made me laugh out loud and the ashes thing still makes me smile. One thing for the narrator... My family are from Ireland and your Belfast accent sounded like a mild Liverpool one to me. I understand a Belfast accent maybe hard for American listeners to understand bit other than that the delivery was excellent.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simon
- 13-08-2018
Best Quantum Physics Audio book out of 20 i have
This book is both comprehensive and well written. The fact that it is chronological provides real insight into the melase of regurgitation that other books offer. if you want an introduction to Quantum Physics... this is the book for you. Apart from Bells inequality, its easy to digest and covers the philosophical weaknessess in the Copenhagen interpretation the best i have seen. The measurement problem and issues around locality are well focused and detailed. Other books may cover relativity, many worlds, string theory and spacial dimentions better. But this one book could have replaced 10 others i have bought. Top marks
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- interseller_uk
- 10-06-2018
Essential reading for anyone interested in physic.
Essential reading for anyone interested in physic. Well though out and interestring book on quantum theory