A Fortunate Universe
Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos
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Narrated by:
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Geraint F. Lewis
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Luke A. Barnes
About this listen
Over the last 40 years, scientists have uncovered evidence that if the universe had been forged with even slightly different properties, life as we know it - and life as we can imagine it - would be impossible. Join us on a journey through how we understand the universe, from its most basic particles and forces to planets, stars, and galaxies, and back through cosmic history to the birth of the cosmos.
Conflicting notions about our place in the universe are defined, defended, and critiqued from scientific, philosophical, and religious viewpoints. The authors' engaging and witty style addresses what fine tuning might mean for the future of physics and the search for the ultimate laws of nature. Tackling difficult questions and providing thought-provoking answers, this volumes challenges us to consider our place in the cosmos, regardless of our initial convictions.
©2016 Cambridge University Press (P)2017 Geraint F. Lewis and Luke A. BarnesListeners also enjoyed...
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How much can we know about the world? In this audiobook physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing he reaches a provocative conclusion: Science, like religion, is fundamentally limited as a tool for understanding the world. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we face the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know.
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Island of knowledge
- By Joshua Kring on 07-26-15
By: Marcelo Gleiser
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The Physics of Star Trek
- By: Lawrence M. Krauss
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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What actually happens when the words, "beam me up, Scottie" are uttered? What "warps" when something travels at warp speed? Internationally renowned theoretical physicist and educator Lawrence M. Krauss provides matter-of-fact scientific explanations of the physics of Star Trek in this highly creative and informative guide for both the devoted Trekkie and the physics novice.
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Interesting Book. Quite Technical
- By Christopher B. on 12-07-04
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The Unknown Universe
- A New Exploration of Time, Space and Cosmology
- By: Stuart Clark
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On March 21, 2013, the European Space Agency released a map of the afterglow of the big bang. Taking in 440 sextillion kilometers of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: We will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis of modern cosmology; on the other, it threatens to undermine almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.
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Everything, Absolutely Everything!
- By Gillian on 03-09-17
By: Stuart Clark
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The Theory of Everything
- The Origin and Fate of the Universe
- By: Stephen Hawking
- Narrated by: Michael York
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In physicist Stephen Hawking's brilliant opus, A Brief History of Time, he presented us with a bold new look at our universe, how it began, and how our old views of physics and tired theories about the creation of the universe were no longer relevant. In other words, Hawking gave us a new look at our world, our universe, and ourselves. Now, Hawking presents an even more comprehensive look at our universe, its creation, and how we see ourselves within it.
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Shares a lot of text with a Brief History of Time.
- By Roc Myers on 01-07-15
By: Stephen Hawking
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Knocking on Heaven's Door
- How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World
- By: Lisa Randall
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the world: its makeup, its evolution, and the fundamental forces that drive its operation. Knocking on Heaven's Door is an exhilarating and accessible overview of these developments and an impassioned argument for the significance of science. There could be no better guide than Lisa Randall.
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Too Political
- By Allan on 12-14-11
By: Lisa Randall
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The Cosmic Cocktail
- Three Parts Dark Matter
- By: Katherine Freese
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The ordinary atoms that make up the known universe - from our bodies and the air we breathe to the planets and stars - constitute only 5 percent of all matter and energy in the cosmos. The rest is known as dark matter and dark energy, because their precise identities are unknown. The Cosmic Cocktail is the inside story of the epic quest to solve one of the most compelling enigmas of modern science - what is the universe made of? - told by one of today’s foremost pioneers in the study of dark matter.
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I was looking for a book about science....
- By Jeff on 03-27-15
By: Katherine Freese
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Origins
- The Scientific Story of Creation
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Neil Scott-Barbour
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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What is the nature of the material world? How does it work? What is the universe and how was it formed? What is life? Where do we come from and how did we evolve? How and why do we think? What does it mean to be human? How do we know? There are many different versions of our creation story. This book tells the version according to modern science. It is a unique account, starting at the Big Bang and travelling right up to the emergence of humans as conscious intelligent beings, 13.8 billion years later.
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Interesting book, but WOW, the narrator ...
- By UH on 01-10-17
By: Jim Baggott
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Spooky Action at a Distance
- The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time-and What It Means for Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Theories of Everything
- By: George Musser
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally stop to ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time. The phenomenon - the ability of one particle to affect another instantly across the vastness of space - appears to be almost magical.
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Rambling but Asks Good Questions
- By Michael on 12-19-15
By: George Musser
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The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics
- A Math-Free Exploration of the Science That Made Our World
- By: James Kakalios
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics, James Kakalios uses examples from comics and magazines to explain how breakthroughs in quantum mechanics led to such technologies as the World Wide Web, pocket-sized computers, mobile phones, and MRI machines.....
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The exhibits are missing from Audible
- By David on 12-13-10
By: James Kakalios
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How to Speak Science
- Gravity, Relativity, and Other Ideas That Were Crazy Until Proven Brilliant
- By: Bruce Benamran, Stephanie Delozier Strobel
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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As smartphones, supercomputers, supercolliders, and AI propel us into an ever more unfamiliar future, How to Speak Science takes us on a rollicking historical tour of the greatest discoveries and ideas that make today's cutting-edge technologies possible. Wanting everyone to be able to "speak" science, YouTube science guru Bruce Benamran explains - as accessibly and wittily as in his acclaimed videos - the fundamental ideas of the physical world: matter, life, the solar system, light, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, and much more.
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Wowzers!
- By Ralph Temblador on 02-15-21
By: Bruce Benamran, and others
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Exoplanets
- Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar Planets, and the New Search for Life Beyond Our Solar System
- By: Michael Summers
- Narrated by: Jon Bennett
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Since its 2009 launch, the Kepler satellite has discovered more than 2,000 exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. More exoplanets are being discovered all the time, remarkable in their variety. Astronomer Michael Summers and physicist James Trefil explore these remarkable recent discoveries: planets revolving around pulsars, planets made of diamond, planets that are mostly water, and numerous rogue planets wandering through the emptiness of space.
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FINALLY, an Attention-Grabbing Planet Book!
- By aaron on 05-11-17
By: Michael Summers
What listeners say about A Fortunate Universe
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- IPA India Pale Ale
- 03-24-20
make sure you pay attention
Lots to think about here. You don't have to be a scientist but it's not a casual read either. I especially like the narration by the authors as the listener has the sense of attending a well rehearsed lecture.
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- Alaskan
- 12-24-23
Quick paced
Beautiful lead up to the questions all physicists face eventually. The second LAW of thermodynamics abrogates any theories or concepts that humans originated by chance. No surprise to those who are realists, yet a very concrete analysis that clearly leads to the fact that science is simply our attempt to develop the vocabulary that describes our origins......subject to correction by our creator's design. Theories proven, become laws. Theories disproven, stay theories or they are dispelled. Honest physicists dispel. These physicists clearly know one thing; The more we learn about particle physics, the more we circle back to intelligent design.
Fantastic!
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- Eric
- 09-09-24
Fun and deep
Very much enjoyed the style. The authors were very intelligent and humble. A good combination.
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- Orc
- 05-03-18
Horrible
Great subject, horrible writing and execution. Had to turn off after enduring 5 chapters. Like author got paid by the word. Drones on and on, rarely making a point. Spent forever thanking everyone he ever met, had contact with etc for book. Terrible!
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- Michael
- 02-13-18
Dubious but Interesting
Scientific speculation without experimental falsification is impotent. The authors seem to know this and attempt to cast their theories about theories as experiments. Most of the chapters discuss what they calculate might happen if one or more physical constants were varied more than a tiny amount and determining life as we know it might not exist. They seem to hope these speculations might yield some insight into the actual nature of our physical reality. I am more than a bit dubious.
I did find the last two chapters interesting (I listened to these two chapters many times). I always appreciate a speculative book directly addressing key objections and Chapter 7 (Audible chapter 11) was a long list of objections to their ideas with their refutations. Most of these challenges are reasonable (not strawman) and well refuted. Those refutations are simply stated and make sense Objection N & O (14 & 15) were the last and strongest objections with the weakest and least understandable refutation, and are my own primary objections. These objections is how do we know the myriad (if not infinite number) of universes they consider are actually possible and if so, how can one hope to apply sensible probabilities to these universes. They contend that those universes are internally consistent since the equations & parameters are only tweaked from our real universe in ways keeping them internally consistent. Unfortunately the authors are assuming existing theories are internally consistent while we are virtually certain they are not (as general relativity is inconsistent with quantum field theory). They through it back to the objector to prove why their twiddling of knobs might not be realistic. This seems a bit like a paranormal investigator insisting that I prove the ghosts don't really exist.
Early in the book the 2nd law of thermodynamics is described as absolute and unavoidable (and sloppy entropy language is used). Much later in the book (during objections) it is more correctly described as statistical and context dependent. This is not unusual in this genre, and entropy is very often misunderstood, even by most physicists. Nevertheless entropy seems to be a key concept in understanding our universe and sloppy entropy language should be edited out.
I am generally quite dubious about author narration, particularly in science books, but in this case the narration was excellent. There were a few cases were accents clouded my understanding but jump back eventually fixed that.
Although I was not convienced by this book I am very glad I read it, particularly for the last two chapters.
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- b. mccann
- 07-30-21
A long scientific lecture
Too scientific for a non-scientist, and read like a boring lecture. If you are not a scientist but are still as interested in this subject as I am, then try “Why The Universe Is The Way It Is” by Hugh Ross. I enjoyed it so much that I read it twice!
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