Episodes

  • A Fortunate Universe - Geraint F. Lewis

    A Fortunate Universe - Geraint F. Lewis
    Jan 19 2018
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    Title: A Fortunate Universe
    Author: Geraint F. Lewis
    Narrator: Luke A. Barnes, Geraint F. Lewis
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 01-19-18
    Publisher: Author's Republic
    Genres: Science & Technology, Biology

    Summary:
    Over the last 40 years, scientists have uncovered evidence that if the universe had been forged with even slightly different properties, life as we know it - and life as we can imagine it - would be impossible. Join us on a journey through how we understand the universe, from its most basic particles and forces to planets, stars, and galaxies, and back through cosmic history to the birth of the cosmos. Conflicting notions about our place in the universe are defined, defended, and critiqued from scientific, philosophical, and religious viewpoints. The authors' engaging and witty style addresses what fine tuning might mean for the future of physics and the search for the ultimate laws of nature. Tackling difficult questions and providing thought-provoking answers, this volumes challenges us to consider our place in the cosmos, regardless of our initial convictions.
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    10 hrs and 13 mins
  • This Idea Is Brilliant - John Brockman

    This Idea Is Brilliant - John Brockman
    Jan 16 2018
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    Title: This Idea Is Brilliant
    Author: John Brockman
    Narrator: Cassandra Campbell, Charles Constant
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 01-16-18
    Publisher: Harper Audio
    Genres: Science & Technology, Biology

    Summary:
    The latest volume in the best-selling series from Edge.org - dubbed "the world's smartest website" by The Guardian - brings together 206 of the world's most innovative thinkers to discuss the scientific concepts that everyone should know. As science informs public policy, decision making, and so many aspects of our everyday lives, a scientifically literate society is crucial. In that spirit, Edge.org publisher and author of Know This, John Brockman, asks 206 of the world's most brilliant minds the 2017 Edge Question: What scientific term or concept ought to be more widely known? Contributors include: author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins on using animals' "Genetic Book of the Dead" to reconstruct ecological history; MacArthur Fellow Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on "scientific realism", the idea that scientific theories explain phenomena beyond what we can see and touch; author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics Carlo Rovelli on "relative information", which governs the physical world around us; theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss on the hidden blessings of "uncertainty"; cognitive scientist and author of The Language Instinct Steven Pinker on "The Second Law of Thermodynamics"; biogerontologist Aubrey De Grey on why "maladaptive traits" have been conserved evolutionarily; musician Brian Eno on "confirmation bias" in the Internet age; Man Booker-winning author of Atonement Ian Mcewan on the "Navier-Stokes Equations", which govern everything from weather prediction to aircraft design and blood flow; plus pieces from Richard Thaler, Jared Diamond, Nicholas Carr, Janna Levin, Lisa Randall, Kevin Kelly, Daniel Coleman, Frank Wilczek, Rory Sutherland, Nina Jablonski, Martin Rees, Alison Gopnik, and many, many others.
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    16 hrs and 9 mins
  • The Wizard and the Prophet - Charles C. Mann

    The Wizard and the Prophet - Charles C. Mann
    Jan 9 2018
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    Title: The Wizard and the Prophet
    Author: Charles C. Mann
    Narrator: Bronson Pinchot
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 01-09-18
    Publisher: Random House Audio
    Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

    Summary:
    From the best-selling, award-winning author of 1491 and 1493 - an incisive portrait of the two little-known 20th-century scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt, whose diametrically opposed views shaped our ideas about the environment, laying the groundwork for how people in the 21st century will choose to live in tomorrow's world. In 40 years, Earth's population will reach 10 billion. Can our world support that? What kind of world will it be? Those answering these questions generally fall into two deeply divided groups - Wizards and Prophets, as Charles Mann calls them in this balanced, authoritative, nonpolemical new book. The Prophets, he explains, follow William Vogt, a founding environmentalist who believed that in using more than our planet has to give, our prosperity will lead us to ruin. Cut back! was his mantra. Otherwise everyone will lose! The Wizards are the heirs of Norman Borlaug, whose research, in effect, wrangled the world in service to our species to produce modern high-yield crops that then saved millions from starvation. Innovate! was Borlaug's cry. Only in that way can everyone win! Mann delves into these diverging viewpoints to assess the four great challenges humanity faces - food, water, energy, climate change - grounding each in historical context and weighing the options for the future. With our civilization on the line, the author's insightful analysis is an essential addition to the urgent conversation about how our children will fare on an increasingly crowded Earth.
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    18 hrs and 56 mins