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Reality Is Not What It Seems
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The Order of Time
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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.
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Beautifully written and beautifully read.
- By Heisenberg on 27-04-18
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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
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- Narrated by: Carlo Rovelli
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
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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.
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Probably better as non audio book
- By Ms. K. D. Chadha on 14-03-17
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Quantum
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From Schrodinger's cat to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, this book untangles the weirdness of the quantum world. Quantum mechanics underpins modern science and provides us with a blueprint for reality itself. And yet it has been said that if you're not shocked by it, you don't understand it. But is quantum physics really so unknowable? Is reality really so strange? And just how can cats be half alive and half dead at the same time?
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This is a truly excellent read!
- By Ross M. on 07-10-16
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What We Cannot Know
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Britain's most famous mathematician takes us to the edge of knowledge to show us what we cannot know. Science is king. Every week headlines announce new breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe, new technologies that will transform our environment, new medical advances that will extend our lives. Science is giving us unprecedented insight into some of the big questions that have challenged humanity ever since we've been able to formulate those questions.
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Embrace the future of of uncertainty!
- By Adisha on 19-05-16
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Ripples in Spacetime
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Ripples in Spacetime is an engaging account of the international effort to complete Einstein's project, capture his elusive ripples, and launch an era of gravitational-wave astronomy that promises to explain, more vividly than ever before, our universe's structure and origin. The quest for gravitational waves involved years of risky research and many personal and professional struggles that threatened to derail one of the world's largest scientific endeavors.
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Outstanding
- By Unretired on 15-05-18
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What Is Real?
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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.
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Pretty solid and readable book
- By Erik on 12-07-18
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The Order of Time
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- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
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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.
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Beautifully written and beautifully read.
- By Heisenberg on 27-04-18
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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Carlo Rovelli
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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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.
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-
Probably better as non audio book
- By Ms. K. D. Chadha on 14-03-17
-
Quantum
- A Guide for the Perplexed
- By: Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Hugh Kermode
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Schrodinger's cat to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, this book untangles the weirdness of the quantum world. Quantum mechanics underpins modern science and provides us with a blueprint for reality itself. And yet it has been said that if you're not shocked by it, you don't understand it. But is quantum physics really so unknowable? Is reality really so strange? And just how can cats be half alive and half dead at the same time?
-
-
This is a truly excellent read!
- By Ross M. on 07-10-16
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What We Cannot Know
- By: Marcus du Sautoy
- Narrated by: Marcus du Sautoy
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Overall
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Britain's most famous mathematician takes us to the edge of knowledge to show us what we cannot know. Science is king. Every week headlines announce new breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe, new technologies that will transform our environment, new medical advances that will extend our lives. Science is giving us unprecedented insight into some of the big questions that have challenged humanity ever since we've been able to formulate those questions.
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Embrace the future of of uncertainty!
- By Adisha on 19-05-16
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Ripples in Spacetime
- Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy
- By: Govert Schilling, Martin Rees
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
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Ripples in Spacetime is an engaging account of the international effort to complete Einstein's project, capture his elusive ripples, and launch an era of gravitational-wave astronomy that promises to explain, more vividly than ever before, our universe's structure and origin. The quest for gravitational waves involved years of risky research and many personal and professional struggles that threatened to derail one of the world's largest scientific endeavors.
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Outstanding
- By Unretired on 15-05-18
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What Is Real?
- The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
- By: Adam Becker
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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.
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Pretty solid and readable book
- By Erik on 12-07-18
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The Ascent of Gravity
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Gravity is the weakest force in the everyday world, yet it is the strongest force in the universe. It was the first force to be recognised and described, yet it is the least understood. It is a 'force' that keeps your feet on the ground, yet no such force actually exists. Gravity, to steal the words of Winston Churchill, is 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. And penetrating that enigma promises to answer the biggest questions in science: what is space? What is time? What is the universe? And where did it all come from?
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A book much bigger than it's title
- By Mr G on 12-10-17
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13.8: The Quest to Find the True Age of the Universe and the Theory of Everything
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The 20th century gave us two great theories of physics. The general theory of relativity describes the behavior of very large things, and quantum theory the behavior of very small things. In this landmark audiobook, John Gribbin - one of the best-known science writers of the past 30 years - presents his own version of the Holy Grail of physics, the search that has been going on for decades to find a unified "Theory of Everything" that combines these ideas into one mathematical package.
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A fascinating listen.
- By Diwotti on 07-05-18
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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.
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Test Your Little Grey Cells
- By Simon Gibson on 30-03-14
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Your Brain Is a Time Machine
- The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
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In Your Brain Is a Time Machine, brain researcher and best-selling author Dean Buonomano draws on evolutionary biology, physics, and philosophy to present his influential theory of how we tell and perceive time. The human brain, he argues, is a complex system that not only tells time but creates it; it constructs our sense of chronological flow and enables "mental time travel" - simulations of future and past events.
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Good but too much padding in the early chapters
- By slipperychimp on 30-10-18
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The Quantum Labyrinth
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In 1939, Richard Feynman, a brilliant graduate of MIT, arrived in John Wheeler's Princeton office to report for duty as his teaching assistant. A lifelong friendship and enormously productive collaboration was born, despite sharp differences in personality. The soft-spoken Wheeler, though conservative in appearance, was a raging nonconformist full of wild ideas about the universe. The boisterous Feynman was a cautious physicist who believed only what could be tested. Yet they were complementary spirits.
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fascinating, interesting, marvellous
- By Amazon Customer on 27-01-19
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I wish Jim had narrated this book.
- By S. Churchill on 14-07-17
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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.
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Great content but not ideal for audio
- By whatisiswhat on 13-01-19
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The Fabric of Reality
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Author of the New York Times best seller The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch, explores the four most fundamental strands of human knowledge: quantum physics, and the theories of knowledge, computation, and evolution - and their unexpected connections. Taken together, these four strands reveal a deeply integrated, rational, and optimistic worldview. It describes a unified fabric of reality that is objective and comprehensible, in which human action and thought are central.
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Summary
From the best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics comes a new audiobook about the mind-bending nature of the universe.
Penguin presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of Reality Is Not What It Seems by Carlo Rovelli, read by Roy McMillan.
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. From Aristotle to Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday to the Higgs boson, he takes us on a wondrous journey to show us that beyond our ever-changing idea of reality is a whole new world that has yet to be discovered.
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- Stefan Richter
- Leicester, United Kingdom
- 28-11-16
Eye opening and mind expanding
This was the first audiobook that I listened to in one weekend and one of the very few that I will listen to again.
Put it on your list now.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful
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- Nathan Townsend
- 28-11-16
One of my favourites
This book is not only a mesmerising account of both the story and world of physics (that somehow manages to be both eloquently worded and yet still simple enough for a person of average intelligence to grasp) but is also read with all the passion and character I can imagine Rovelli penning it with.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful
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- Den
- 25-11-16
Reaching out for understanding
Where does Reality Is Not What It Seems rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
One of the very best.
What did you like best about this story?
Logical, clear and honest about this fascinating area of science.
Have you listened to any of Roy McMillan’s other performances? How does this one compare?
No.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes.
Any additional comments?
Content and performance combine to make this a memorable experience.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
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- David
- 11-11-16
Read this
A wonderful, almost poetic scientific exposition of quantum gravity and related developments which you will enjoy, I feel sure even as a non scientist.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
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- Mike
- UK
- 22-12-16
Nothing really new here.
Explained really well though and doesn't get bogged down, will listen again, to get a better grasp on the concepts covered, although author tends to ridicule anything spiritual, but at the same time explains how little we do know!
10 of 11 people found this review helpful
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- Petrit
- 13-12-16
An absolutely outstanding book.
Great book for anyone, with very good narration! You will not be able to stop listening and you'll ask for more...
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
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- Linda
- 22-07-18
Reality is not what it seems
Interesting book, its short but it took me a couple of days to get through, not for any particular reason, except that maybe most of the things in this book go right over my head. Regardless of that fact however, I still enjoyed the read. I imagine someone who has a greater knowledge of the subject matter, would enjoy it even more. Good narrator, and my most memorable part was about how time works differently in different places.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- Adz McP
- 29-01-18
Great
Excellent overview of the current understanding of physics, explained simplistically and states that a complete understanding is not necessary to see the bigger picture.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- Unretired
- 25-06-17
Outstanding
This is the book I've been waiting for. Well reasoned, great structure and narrated beautifully.
I can't claim that I understood everything but that just means I'll be going back for a 2nd and maybe even 3rd listening!
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- Meirion
- 26-10-16
Brilliant book
Roy McMillan manages to convey the enthusiasm, wonder and clarity of Carlo Rovelli's staggering masterpiece
6 of 8 people found this review helpful
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- Robert A. Shapiro
- 21-10-16
Rovelli is a master
This and Seven Brief Lessons are two of my favorite books of the year. Rovelli communicates advanced physics clearly, with imagination, and with such a great sense of humanity and the arts. I rarely listen to books twice, but these are the exceptions.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
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- Mr. Reasonably Dubious
- 05-11-16
Sparkling foundational history of physics
The history makes sense of current thought
Then listen to the last half as many times as it takes.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- Rich
- 02-11-16
great
Requires some knowledge of science, but definitely trying to also speak to the non-physicist . Great also for those needing the latest on physics. New concepts on space, time and gravity.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- Tai D.
- 25-08-18
So good l am so happy to study at Albert Einstein’s Uni@ ETH Zürich
The entire current technology is build on Faraday, the poor London experimentor and theoretical physics: build math equations on the intuition and vision of Faraday. Happy birthday Faraday 25th August 18
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- Anonymous User
- 08-07-18
WOAHHHH
Totally loved it...a masterpiece! evolved my perspective towards the world. Simple and yet so informative.
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- R W Hagen
- 03-08-17
A beautifully written and engaging text
One of the best audiobooks I have listened to and always in my library. I have listened to the book three times so far and still working on catching all the details, but have enjoyed listening immensely each time. Carlo Rovelli manages to inject poetry into quantum physics, his enthusiasm for his subject is infectious, and Roy McMillan narration is fantastic. The book gives a very good overview of quantum gravity and spin foam theory in their historical context. Wholeheartedly and unreservedly recommended.
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- Tanyush
- 18-03-17
The most brilliant book on physics
I just couldn't stop listening to this book. I am totally in love with the stories, narration, the view on history and physics evolvement.
May be it's because the author is an Italian? but his way of describing complex theories beautifully, poetically and sometimes metaphorically makes this book absolutely unique. I hope he'll continue writing.
Highly recommended!