
A Sense of the Mysterious
Science and the Human Spirit
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Narrated by:
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Bronson Pinchot
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By:
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Alan Lightman
About this listen
From the best-selling author of Einstein's Dreams comes this lyrical and insightful collection of science writing that delves into the mysteries of the scientific process - physics, astronomy, mathematics - and exposes its beauty and intrigue.
In these brilliant essays, Lightman explores the emotional life of science, the power of imagination, the creative moment, and the alternate ways in which scientists and humanists think about the world. Along the way, he provides in-depth portraits of some of the great geniuses of our time, including Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Edward Teller, and astronomer Vera Rubin. Thoughtful, beautifully written, and wonderfully original, A Sense of the Mysterious confirms Alan Lightman's unique position at the crossroads of science and art.
©2018 Alan Lightman (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine is the result of these seemingly contradictory impulses, written as an extended meditation on an island in Maine, where Lightman and his wife spend their summers. Framing the dialogue between religion and science as a contrast between absolutes and relatives, Lightman explores our human quest for truth and meaning and the different methods of religion and science in that quest. Along the way, he draws from sources ranging from St. Augustine's conception of absolute truth to Einstein's relativity.
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In this timely and essential audiobook that offers a fresh take on the qualms of modern day life, Professor Alan Lightman investigates the creativity born from allowing our minds to freely roam, without attempting to accomplish anything and without any assigned tasks. With In Praise of Wasting Time, Professor Alan Lightman documents the rush and heave of the modern world, suggests the technological and cultural origins of our time-driven lives, and examines the many values of "wasting time".
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Praise this book!
- By Marcus Davis Jr on 11-11-18
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With all the passion, curiosity, and precise yet lyrical prose that have marked his previous books, Alan Lightman here explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by discoveries in science, focusing most intently on the human condition and the needs of humankind. He looks at the difficult dialogue between science and religion, the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature, the possibility that our universe is simply an accident, the manner in which modern technology has separated us from direct experience of the world, and our resistance to the view that our bodies and minds can be explained by scientific logic and laws.
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- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A modern classic, Einstein's Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, and people are fated to repeat their triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children.
-
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Inspirational
- By KalebEvan on 09-22-16
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The Transcendent Brain
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- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
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Story
Gazing at the stars, falling in love, or listening to music, we sometimes feel a transcendent connection with a cosmic unity and things larger than ourselves. But these experiences are not easily understood by science, which holds that all things can be explained in terms of atoms and molecules. Is there space in our scientific worldview for these spiritual experiences?
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Powerful Reflection on the Creative Transcendent
- By Tom on 05-02-23
By: Alan Lightman
-
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine
- By: Alan Lightman
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine is the result of these seemingly contradictory impulses, written as an extended meditation on an island in Maine, where Lightman and his wife spend their summers. Framing the dialogue between religion and science as a contrast between absolutes and relatives, Lightman explores our human quest for truth and meaning and the different methods of religion and science in that quest. Along the way, he draws from sources ranging from St. Augustine's conception of absolute truth to Einstein's relativity.
-
-
I've been looking for this book all my life.
- By ashepler on 07-24-18
By: Alan Lightman
-
Probable Impossibilities
- Musings on Beginnings and Endings
- By: Alan Lightman
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can space be divided into smaller and smaller units, ad infinitum? Does space extend to larger and larger regions, on and on to infinity? Is consciousness reducible to the material brain and its neurons? What was the origin of life, and can biologists create life from scratch in the lab? Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman explores these questions and more - from the anatomy of a smile to the capriciousness of memory to the specialness of life in the universe to what came before the Big Bang.
-
-
Mumbler
- By Phil Gaskill on 08-07-22
By: Alan Lightman
-
In Praise of Wasting Time
- By: Alan Lightman
- Narrated by: Alan Lightman
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this timely and essential audiobook that offers a fresh take on the qualms of modern day life, Professor Alan Lightman investigates the creativity born from allowing our minds to freely roam, without attempting to accomplish anything and without any assigned tasks. With In Praise of Wasting Time, Professor Alan Lightman documents the rush and heave of the modern world, suggests the technological and cultural origins of our time-driven lives, and examines the many values of "wasting time".
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Praise this book!
- By Marcus Davis Jr on 11-11-18
By: Alan Lightman
What listeners say about A Sense of the Mysterious
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- Jeff
- 04-12-21
great
Insightful view on the scientists that allowed us to live in the world we live in today!
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- Tom
- 06-23-21
A Unique Take on the Scientific Project
Lightman brings a Liberal Arts perspective to the scientist’s experience. He establishes his street cred early on to explain his initial attraction to the mysteries science probes and follows up with tales of some of the most fascinating figures of the Twentieth Century. These stories bring their motivations and accomplishments to life and convince the reader that the stereotypical view of scientific pursuits as dull number-crunching fit only for nerds who can’t make the football team is nonsense.
He finishes with some insights into Technological Society’s future that we should all think about. All in all an interesting Four Star read.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Thomas James Wright
- 07-06-24
Somebody who thinks the same as I do
The stories and experiences related in this book seemed perfectly aligned with several things I've been thinking about lately. it's reflective, it's memorable, it covers historical figures in the sciences and personal experiences of the author. and they are all profound and beautiful and humbling and thought-provoking.
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- Rob Harrah 2
- 03-14-21
grrr-ate😎 just like tony tiger 🐅🐅
we are surrounded by mystery everyday. most people have no idea how much mystery is out there. sometimes books like this allow me to get a good night's sleep. Avon even when a lot of things are bugging me.
wiz
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jason
- 05-17-21
I stuck it out.
Good parts and boring stretches. It is worth it if you don't pay extra. I wouldn't waste a credit though.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Robert Peck
- 11-27-22
a glimmer of sanity and rational thougt
One would not tend to look to physicist regarding philosophy, yet this is some of the best life advice from theoretical physicists that you will likely ever hear!
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- Kyrsten
- 05-01-21
Exquisite
Alan Lightman reminds me, with each book of his that I read, he is undoubtedly my favorite author. This is a work of art, integrating (beautifully) the relationship between humanity, science, the reader, and the author.
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3 people found this helpful
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- glittergal
- 02-09-21
Enlightening and fascinating
Memoirish and thought provoking. I learned interesting points of view throughout the history of science. The narrator was great. He pronounced foreign words and names accurately according to the native language.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-08-22
Not what I was hoping for
I thought this book would live up to the title a bit more, but there didn’t feel like there was much of a story. It’s pretty much just a bunch of anecdotes slammed together onto one book. And felt very disorganized and scattered, was hard to follow
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1 person found this helpful