We Have No Idea cover art

We Have No Idea

A Guide to the Unknown Universe

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About this listen

'This witty book reveals the humbling vastness of our ignorance about the universe, along with charming insights into what we actually do understand' Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Reality Is Not What It Seems

Many books explain what we know about the universe. This one, from the hugely popular PhD Comics (50 million readers since 2008), tackles all the weird stuff we haven't figured out yet.

In our small corner of the universe, we know how some matter behaves most of the time and what even less of it looks like, and we have some good guesses about where it all came from. But we really have no clue what's going on. In fact, we don't know what about 95% of the universe is made of.

So what happens when a cartoonist and a physicist walk into this strange, mostly unknown universe? Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson gleefully explore the biggest unknowns, why these things are still mysteries, and what a lot of smart people are doing to figure out the answers (or at least ask the right questions).

While they're at it, they helpfully demystify many complicated things we do know about, from quarks and neutrinos to gravitational waves and exploding black holes. With equal doses of humour and delight, they invite us to see the universe as a vast expanse of mostly uncharted territory that's still ours to explore.

This is a book for fans of Brian Cox and What If. This highly entertaining highly illustrated book is perfect for anyone who's curious about all the great mysteries physicists are going to solve next.

©2017 Daniel Whiteson (P)2017 Penguin Random House Audio
Social Sciences Black Hole Fiction Witty Astronomy Cosmology
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love the content, not so much the wit which they did pull of so well.

great read even with the lackluster wit.

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Brilliantly structured audio book. Well read by Daniel Whiteson - an easy book to listen to.

Excellent!

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I actually listened to this a few weeks ago now, so don't remember loads of details . A fun listen and I'm sure I learned (or was reminded of) loads of cool stuff.
The authors tried hard to give the audiobook a distinct feel, lots of sound effects etc., presumably to compensate for the lack of the cartoons to be found in the printed edition. To be honest I found these occasionally a bit jarring but I appreciated the effort.
Overall I think one can never learn too much Physics, so a recommended listen.

Fun science!

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I enjoyed the book really interesting topics. However the sound effects scattered throughout were really annoying and off putting.

Interesting Science Book

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Generally okay as far as the material and narrator goes. Unfortunately, the book conveyed the feeling that I was being spoken down to. I've read many similar titles that have successfully managed to convey complex ideas without making me feel that the author had little faith in my intelligence and needed to humour me with dumb sound effects and dodgy jokes. I may be being unfair and I may simply be at odds with the style of these particular authors but for me this book missed the mark.

Ruined by silly and pointless sound effects

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