Listen free for 30 days
-
What Is Real?
- The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Science & Engineering, Science
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £24.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Something Deeply Hidden
- Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th-century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything. Most physicists haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: Physics has been in crisis since 1927.
-
-
Super position of all relevant texts.
- By Anonymous User on 15-10-19
-
Fundamental
- How Quantum and Particle Physics Explain Absolutely Everything (Except Gravity)
- By: Tim James
- Narrated by: Tim James
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fundamental is a comprehensive beginner's guide to quantum mechanics, explaining not only the weirdness of the subject but the experiments that proved it to be true. Using a humorous and light-hearted approach, Fundamental tells the story of how the most brilliant minds in science grappled with seemingly impossible ideas and gave us everything from microchips to particle accelerators.
-
-
Succinct, full of physics, utterly brilliant
- By D B. on 22-08-20
-
Astronomical
- From Quarks to Quasars, the Science of Space at Its Strangest
- By: Tim James
- Narrated by: Tim James
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Space is the biggest, oldest, hottest, coldest, strangest thing a human can study. It's no surprise then, that the weirdest facts in science (not to mention the weirdest scientists themselves) are found in astrophysics and cosmology. If you're looking for instructions on how to set up your grandad's telescope this book probably isn't for you. In Astronomical, Tim James takes us on a tour of the known (and unknown) Universe, focusing on the most-mind boggling stuff we've come across, as well as unpacking the latest theories about what's really going on out there.
-
-
Remarkable book written by a remarkable teacher!
- By Tom on 09-05-21
-
Quantum Space
- Loop Quantum Gravity and the Search for the Structure of Space, Time, and the Universe
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today we are blessed with two extraordinarily successful theories of physics. The first is Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which describes the large-scale behavior of matter in a curved spacetime. The second is quantum mechanics. This theory describes the properties and behavior of matter and radiation at their smallest scales.
-
-
Thought provoking
- By karl on 12-12-20
-
Ripples in Spacetime
- Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy
- By: Govert Schilling, Martin Rees
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
New information instead of another history lesson
- By Kindle Customertg on 09-05-18
-
The Invisible Universe
- By: Matthew Bothwell
- Narrated by: Matthew Bothwell
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the discovery of entirely new kinds of galaxies to a window into cosmic ‘prehistory’, Bothwell shows us the universe as we’ve never seen it before - literally. Since the dawn of our species, people all over the world have gazed in awe at the night sky. But for all the beauty and wonder of the stars, when we look with just our eyes we are seeing and appreciating only a tiny fraction of the universe. What does the cosmos have in store for us beyond the phenomena we can see, from black holes to supernovas?
-
-
superb for the layman and moderately informed too
- By Anonymous User on 04-01-22
-
Something Deeply Hidden
- Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th-century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything. Most physicists haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: Physics has been in crisis since 1927.
-
-
Super position of all relevant texts.
- By Anonymous User on 15-10-19
-
Fundamental
- How Quantum and Particle Physics Explain Absolutely Everything (Except Gravity)
- By: Tim James
- Narrated by: Tim James
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fundamental is a comprehensive beginner's guide to quantum mechanics, explaining not only the weirdness of the subject but the experiments that proved it to be true. Using a humorous and light-hearted approach, Fundamental tells the story of how the most brilliant minds in science grappled with seemingly impossible ideas and gave us everything from microchips to particle accelerators.
-
-
Succinct, full of physics, utterly brilliant
- By D B. on 22-08-20
-
Astronomical
- From Quarks to Quasars, the Science of Space at Its Strangest
- By: Tim James
- Narrated by: Tim James
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Space is the biggest, oldest, hottest, coldest, strangest thing a human can study. It's no surprise then, that the weirdest facts in science (not to mention the weirdest scientists themselves) are found in astrophysics and cosmology. If you're looking for instructions on how to set up your grandad's telescope this book probably isn't for you. In Astronomical, Tim James takes us on a tour of the known (and unknown) Universe, focusing on the most-mind boggling stuff we've come across, as well as unpacking the latest theories about what's really going on out there.
-
-
Remarkable book written by a remarkable teacher!
- By Tom on 09-05-21
-
Quantum Space
- Loop Quantum Gravity and the Search for the Structure of Space, Time, and the Universe
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today we are blessed with two extraordinarily successful theories of physics. The first is Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which describes the large-scale behavior of matter in a curved spacetime. The second is quantum mechanics. This theory describes the properties and behavior of matter and radiation at their smallest scales.
-
-
Thought provoking
- By karl on 12-12-20
-
Ripples in Spacetime
- Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy
- By: Govert Schilling, Martin Rees
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
New information instead of another history lesson
- By Kindle Customertg on 09-05-18
-
The Invisible Universe
- By: Matthew Bothwell
- Narrated by: Matthew Bothwell
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the discovery of entirely new kinds of galaxies to a window into cosmic ‘prehistory’, Bothwell shows us the universe as we’ve never seen it before - literally. Since the dawn of our species, people all over the world have gazed in awe at the night sky. But for all the beauty and wonder of the stars, when we look with just our eyes we are seeing and appreciating only a tiny fraction of the universe. What does the cosmos have in store for us beyond the phenomena we can see, from black holes to supernovas?
-
-
superb for the layman and moderately informed too
- By Anonymous User on 04-01-22
-
The Big Picture
- On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
-
-
More about Philosophy and its history than science
- By Amazon Customer on 06-04-20
-
The Hidden Reality
- Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
- By: Brian Greene
- Narrated by: Brian Greene
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There was a time when “universe” meant all there is. Everything. Yet, in recent years discoveries in physics and cosmology have led a number of scientists to conclude that our universe may be one among many. With crystal-clear prose and inspired use of analogy, Brian Greene shows how a range of different “multiverse” proposals emerges from theories developed to explain the most refined observations of both subatomic particles and the dark depths of space.
-
-
A great book.
- By Diana Varela on 05-05-20
-
Our Mathematical Universe
- My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Test Your Little Grey Cells
- By Simon Gibson on 30-03-14
-
Dark Matter and Dark Energy
- The Hidden 95% of the Universe
- By: Brian Clegg
- Narrated by: Mark Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial five per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced. Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. That ’something' is dark matter - invisible material in five times the quantity of the familiar stuff of stars and planets.
-
-
kort men informativt
- By Barbara Eberhart on 19-09-21
-
Third Thoughts
- By: Steven Weinberg
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of the classic The First Three Minutes, Weinberg shares his views on some of the most fundamental and fascinating aspects of physics and the universe. But he does not seclude science behind disciplinary walls or shy away from politics, taking on what he sees as the folly of manned spaceflight, the harms of inequality, and the importance of public goods. His point of view is rationalist, realist, reductionist, and devoutly secularist.
-
-
A glimpse into a brilliant mind
- By Joye C. on 11-10-21
-
Reality Is Not What It Seems
- The Journey to Quantum Gravity
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics comes a new audiobook about the mind-bending nature of the universe. 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.
-
-
Eye opening and mind expanding
- By Stefan Richter on 28-11-16
-
Simply Dirac
- By: Helge Kragh
- Narrated by: Jack Wynters
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paul Dirac (1902 - 1984) was a brilliant mathematician and a 1933 Nobel laureate whose work ranks alongside that of Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. Although not as well-known as his famous contemporaries Werner Heisenberg and Richard Feynman, his influence on the course of physics was immense. His landmark book, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics, introduced that new science to the world and his "Dirac equation" was the first theory to reconcile special relativity and quantum mechanics.
-
-
I enjoyed this book.
- By JPD Clewett on 05-05-20
-
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?
-
-
A little less perplexed.
- By Mr. J. A. Ball on 05-11-16
-
Parallel Worlds
- A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos
- By: Michio Kaku
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Insight into Nature of that thing we live in
- By Ergonet on 08-09-16
-
The Elegant Universe
- Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
- By: Brian Greene
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a rare blend of scientific insight and writing as elegant as the theories it explains, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of 11 dimensions where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter-from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas-is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Jj on 17-05-21
-
Lost in Math
- How Beauty Leads Physics Astray
- By: Sabine Hossenfelder
- Narrated by: Laura Jennings
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether pondering black holes or predicting discoveries at CERN, physicists believe the best theories are beautiful, natural, and elegant, and this standard separates popular theories from disposable ones. This is why, Sabine Hossenfelder argues, we have not seen a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics for more than four decades. The belief in beauty has become so dogmatic that it now conflicts with scientific objectivity: Observation has been unable to confirm mindboggling theories, like supersymmetry or grand unification, invented by physicists based on aesthetic criteria.
-
-
Interesting, informative & thought provoking read
- By JHFD on 29-12-20
-
The Fabric of the Cosmos
- Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
- By: Brian Greene
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 22 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past?
-
-
Terrible Narrator
- By Paul Stansfield on 23-01-21
Summary
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. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favoured practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics.
What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our Desktop Site.
More from the same
What listeners say about What Is Real?
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simon
- 13-08-18
Best Quantum Physics Audio book out of 20 i have
This book is both comprehensive and well written. The fact that it is chronological provides real insight into the melase of regurgitation that other books offer. if you want an introduction to Quantum Physics... this is the book for you. Apart from Bells inequality, its easy to digest and covers the philosophical weaknessess in the Copenhagen interpretation the best i have seen. The measurement problem and issues around locality are well focused and detailed. Other books may cover relativity, many worlds, string theory and spacial dimentions better. But this one book could have replaced 10 others i have bought. Top marks
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hanna
- 24-04-19
excellent history of quantum
It was a pleasure to endulge in the drama of last century's phisicians and to see how that affected their theories. excellent book for anyone who has interest in quantum, but is not necessary science minded. the physics concepts are easily explained here, but like the other reviews say, it's mostly focused on historic aspect.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-07-18
More history than physics
The book is about physics history, so if you expect a book on Quantum Physics, you will most likely be disappointed.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
- Ronan
- 14-06-18
A lighthearted look at the quantum politics
Really Easy to listen to and enjoyable. I liked the almost biographical element to the book. Took a quite dry subject added some big characters, their backgrounds and breakthroughs and threw it all together. Very enjoyable and did explain the basics of quantum mechanics and the arguments that still rage to this day. Some of the quips made me laugh out loud and the ashes thing still makes me smile. One thing for the narrator... My family are from Ireland and your Belfast accent sounded like a mild Liverpool one to me. I understand a Belfast accent maybe hard for American listeners to understand bit other than that the delivery was excellent.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Erik
- 12-07-18
Pretty solid and readable book
Essentially, quantum mechanics can't be boring. The double slit experiment and delayed choise experiment keep on dazzling the mind. However, this dazzling is why you read a QM book. The title of this book gave me hope that in the last 20 years there might have been found a more suitable answer for the interpretation of QM. Unfortunately, this book does not provide an answer, it just sums up the different historical viewpoints/interpretations from many different theoretical physicists. Essentially, if you read some QM books before there is not much new in here, although the historical in depth story is quite appreciable. For my taste, it would be nice if there were more practical examples as a change. The last chapters tease a bit with modern day applications and explanations of phenomena, but it sticks with mentioning, while explaining would have been nice. In the end, a pretty solid and readable book.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- interseller_uk
- 10-06-18
Essential reading for anyone interested in physic.
Essential reading for anyone interested in physic. Well though out and interestring book on quantum theory
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gavin
- 27-02-22
meaurement problem lived
a tour through the deep insight of every person of relevence, really felt like I understood each person in historys view point and why they held it. facinating from start to finish. read tons of similar books, but such a refreshing view point and so much more personal persepctive. highly recommend
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tony Holdroyd
- 18-01-22
A marvelloius story, well-told.
I was aware of the physics involved before listening to this splendid audio book, having something of a background in it, but what I wasn't aware of was the history of the personalities of all the scientists involved and how their individual contributions sometimes complemented (pun intended) and sometimes interfered with (another pun intended) one another.
A thoroughly engrossing, detailed and enjoyable telling of a most important story.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LJLC
- 02-08-21
Quite hard going, (for me).
Not easy digested, but never expected to comprehend it, really. A good history of QP in most respects.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- alexander hill
- 21-07-21
Pronunciation is Wrong
The narrator really should know how to pronounce "Sagan" as in Carl Sagan and "Principia" for isaac newton's "principia mathematica". i'm enjoying the book though!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Max Inglis
- 01-06-21
great insight into the mind of quantum physicists
quantum phychiss is full offundamentally pious idiots looking to make a name for them selves - pagans got it correct
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- G B.
- 14-09-19
philosophy and politics versus science
The book is an interesting account of the various people that played a role in the development of quantum physics, the famous like Schroedinger, Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Bell and Feinman, but also the lesser known to the public like Everet, Wheeler, Bohm and Podolsky.
More precisely it tells about the divide in the scientific community on the interpretation of quantum physics and what it means; what we understand/believe to be how reality is structured. It is a story about the culture of science; how scientists got inspired to come up with new theories and how the political and philosophical climate supported some and not others in the academic world.
The author makes a case for the relevance of the interpretation, stating there is still a large portion of the community that disregards the meaning and holds a utilitarian view: "as long as the math works and it helps us to predict the outcomes of experiments, what does it matter?" In the book, he refutes this with a thought experiment about a remote control and hypothetical dead batteries.
Another is the lagging influence of the logical positivist philosophy that holds that only observable phenomena have any meaning and the unobservable, like the atom that was hypothesized before it was seen, have no meaning.
Having read news articles about the loophole-free Bell test which proves quantum entanglement, the measurement of gravity waves, the discovery of the Higgs boson and the development of quantum computers that use q-bits in a probabilistic way, I was interested to listen to the different emerging theories and find out how they were first conceived or proven.
Even though the subject matter is sometimes quite thick or confusing the narrator does a really good job of keeping my attention.
In the end, the point has been driven home that theories that inform our fundamental understanding of the world are needed and are what drives science forward in a certain direction, and this decides for a large part what experiments are done.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- stefano
- 21-08-19
Lucid and courageous. Einstein avenger
Loved this book. It starts as a narrative from the very early days of quantum theory till today. It ends with a lucid analysis about science and philosophy. the (brave) author doesn’t spare Neils Bohr and his followers accusations of intellectual dishonesty. Einstein and others victims of the Copenaghen imposition are avenged.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 09-07-18
jarring and entertaining
well worth the time and energy (pun intended) to follow along the various thought experiments that the author takes you to.
great read