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The Black Cloud
Fred Hoyle
- Unabridged
Narrator: Jack Klaff, Richard Dawkins
Length: 8 hours and 28 min.
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Richard Dawkins Recommends this science-fiction classic, in which an immense cloud of gas enters the solar system, blocks the sun, and threatens to wipe out most of life on Earth. In Britain, a team of scientists gathers at a secret location to deal with the crisis. But as the months pass, what they learn will challenge everything they believe about the nature of life and the universe.
BONUS AUDIO: In an exclusive introduction, evolutionary biologist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins explains why he considers The Black Cloud, written by the late astrophysicist Fred Hoyle, to be "one of the greatest works of science fiction ever written".
©1982 Fred Hoyle; (P)2009 Audible, Inc.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Review
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An academic fantasy about running the world
19/03/2010
Preposterous end-of-Empire, 1960s English scientist as saviour of the world. The exposure of scientific methods is rewarding but the aspergic, misogynist twit at the center does not make for good literature. Nor does the archaic , class-ridden language. An academic fantasy about how wonderful a Cambridge academic can be - no value placed on people, lives or character. A good demonstration of why scientists should be nowhere near the levers of power. Dawkin's introduction does not make the prose any better but does appreciate the expose of scientific method on the book.
Most Recent Reviews
The best and worst of scientists
28/01/2010
The introduction from Dawkins waxes lyrical about the scientific accuracy of the book and gives a potted history of the author. My complaint is, is it gives away some spoilers. Although Dawkins seems to be holding back in order to avoid giving away more information than he actually does. I'd preferred Dawkins reflect at the end, & reflect in detail. I felt the need to listen back to the introduction again after I had listened to the book.
From a scientific point of view, this book really seems to have got things right. By coincidence after listening to the book I listened to an interview with Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) which describes methods the institute use to make contact with ET.There were allot of similarities with Hoyles book, including the details of radiowave frequencies. I was suprised at these similarities as the book was written in 1957. I didn’t feel the book was too dated although it was amusing to hear of the single “Electronic Computer”. I was generally able to follow all the science stuff, although there were a few pieces which went above my head. In fact the science bit that I couldn’t understand is the only part of the book where I felt it dragged.
My only criticism of the book is the lack of , for want of a better word, humanity. When human lives are lost, they are described in terms of number of deaths, rather than any sense of personal loss. There is a token paragraph in which a couple of minor characters die but this feels tagged on and is never mentioned again. Also characters seemed happy to be trapped in a certain place because they were relatively safe & no mention of loved ones who apparently left behind.
The main character is the worst stenotype of arrogant scientist. In the book the arrogance is payed off because he often turns out to be right. Others have said that the author based this character on himself this doesn’t say much about him.
