Rutherford and Fry’s Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything cover art

Rutherford and Fry’s Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything

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Rutherford and Fry’s Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything

By: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Narrated by: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

In the Rutherford and Fry's comprehensive guidebook, they tell the complete story of the universe and absolutely everything in it - skipping over some of the boring parts.

This is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans and the very fact that amid all the mess, we can somehow make sense of life.

Our brains have evolved to tell us all sorts of things that feel intuitively right but just aren't true: the world looks flat; the stars seem fixed in the heavenly firmament; a day is 24 hours....

This book is crammed full of tales of how stuff really works. With the power of science, we have bypassed our monkey-brains and we're going on a journey from the origin of time and space, via planets, galaxies, evolution, the dinosaurs, all the way into our minds, with truly head-scratching questions, that only science can answer:

What is time, and where does it come from?

Why are animals the size and shape they are?

What is a thought?

How horoscopes work (Spoiler: they don't, but you think they do)

Does my dog love me?

Why nothing is truly round

Do you need your eyes to see?

©2021 Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford (P)2021 Penguin Audio Astronomy & Space Science Biological Sciences Cosmology Evolution Evolution & Genetics History History & Philosophy Science Thought-Provoking Natural History Astronomy

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Critic reviews

"If only Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry were on tap to all of us, all the time.... The pair have such a gift for making life, numbers and the forces at work in the universe all the richer, stranger, funnier and more marvellous." (Stephen Fry)

"A wonderfully engaging blend of wit, enthusiasm, clarity and knowledge." (Bill Bryson)

"Like the universe itself, this book is multi-faceted, surprising and full of wonders. It's also funny, wise and exceedingly brainy. You really owe it to yourself to read it." (Tim Harford, author of How To Make The World Add Up)
All stars
Most relevant
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it’s great having Adam and Hannah narrate it, really brings it to life. It also doesn’t look at the same things as other “explanation of everything” books which was great, and all the anecdotes and stories make it very listenable. Entirely recommend it, especially if you’re a curio!

Informing, amusing, delightful

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By far the most digestible compilation of fascinating, scientific topics I've come across to date. Rutherford and Fry both posses the rare ability to convey complex subject matter in an effortlessly entertaining way, whilst maintaining just the right level of depth to keep the listener engaged and informed at all times. Hitting the skip back 30 seconds button, for a second (or possibly third) attempt at understanding a concept being delivered is something I find myself doing all to often when listening to titles of similar content. Not here! I felt I got even the more complex concepts first time round with minimal cognitive strain in the process. It was like being in a perfect state of passive flow from start to finish.

Be warned, expect to experience significant time dilation whilst listening to this audio book! The seven and a bit hours felt closer to two. I found myself listening to the entire book in one sitting with no urge to take a break at any point (except for sustenance and toilet breaks). Find a comfortable spot and strap in.

More please!

Flawless

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Loved it all, loads of great content and delivered in an excellently entertaining way. Enjoy

This book is so interesting

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I own the physical hard back for this and it was a great read. But after a few years I saw this pop up as an audiobook so I knew I was going to enjoy it.

The audiobook is better and comes across very much like their podcasts, even with a few soundbites stuck in there. If you enjoy a bit of humour with your science and you're already fans of Rutherford and Fry then don't hesitate getting this.

Perfect listening material

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Nicely delivered and explained but only 4 stars for the confusing chapter on Earth's rotation. The quoted figure of 365.242 is the time between cutting of the plane at spring equinox, this is what our calendar is based on, not the time to orbit the sun, precession was not mentioned.

Good range of topics covered

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