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A Sense of the Mysterious
- Science and the Human Spirit
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
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.
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- Unabridged
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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 favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments.
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Good, "light" "read"... potential caveat below...
- By James S. on 03-31-18
By: Adam Becker
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Einstein and the Quantum
- The Quest of the Valiant Swabian
- By: A. Douglas Stone
- Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Einstein and the Quantum reveals for the first time the full significance of Albert Einstein's contributions to quantum theory. Einstein famously rejected quantum mechanics, observing that God does not play dice. But, in fact, he thought more about the nature of atoms, molecules, and the emission and absorption of light - the core of what we now know as quantum theory - than he did about relativity.
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educational and fun
- By Amjad on 12-04-13
By: A. Douglas Stone
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The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved
- How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry
- By: Mario Livio
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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For thousands of years mathematicians solved progressively more difficult algebraic equations, until they encountered the quintic equation, which resisted solution for three centuries. Working independently, two prodigies ultimately proved that the quintic cannot be solved by a simple formula. The first popular account of the mathematics of symmetry and order, The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved is told not through abstract formulas but in a beautifully written and dramatic account of the lives and work of some of the greatest and most intriguing mathematicians in history.
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Historical Perspective Appreciated
- By Michael Hanrahan on 01-22-20
By: Mario Livio
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The Strangest Man
- The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom
- By: Graham Farmelo
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
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Paul Dirac was among the great scientific geniuses of the modern age. One of the discoverers of quantum mechanics, the most revolutionary theory of the past century, his contributions had a unique insight, eloquence, clarity, and mathematical power. His prediction of antimatter was one of the greatest triumphs in the history of physics.
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Excellent biography of great physicist
- By Eileen on 05-09-13
By: Graham Farmelo
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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 Infinity Puzzle
- Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe
- By: Frank Close
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The second half of the 20th century witnessed a scientific gold rush as physicists raced to chart the inner workings of the atom. The stakes were high, the questions were big, and there were Nobel Prizes and everlasting glory to be won. Many mysteries of the atom came unraveled, but one remained intractable-what Frank Close calls the "Infinity Puzzle."
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Succinct exposition
- By Gary on 06-26-12
By: Frank Close
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About Time
- Cosmology, Time and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang
- By: Adam Frank
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
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The Big Bang is all but dead, and we do not yet know what will replace it. Our universe's "beginning" is at an end. What does this have to do with us here on Earth? Our lives are about to be dramatically shaken again - as altered as they were with the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet.
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More fluff than science
- By Ivan the Reviewer on 04-15-13
By: Adam Frank
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A Mind at Play
- How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the Digital Revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.
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I wanted more information about Information Theory
- By Bonny on 05-08-18
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field
- How Two Men Revolutionized Physics
- By: Nancy Forbes, Basil Mahon
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
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Two of the boldest and most creative scientists of all time were Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879). This is the story of how these two men - separated in age by 40 years - discovered the existence of the electromagnetic field and devised a radically new theory which overturned the strictly mechanical view of the world that had prevailed since Newton's time.
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Amazing narration of an incredibly well told story
- By Paul de Jong on 03-01-21
By: Nancy Forbes, and others
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The Day We Found the Universe
- By: Marcia Bartusiak
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
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From one of our most acclaimed science writers: a dramatic narrative of the discovery of the true nature and startling size of the universe, delving back past the moment of revelation to trace the decades of work--by a select group of scientists--that made it possible.
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Worth the Effort
- By Roy on 08-13-09
By: Marcia Bartusiak
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In the early 1800s, a century before there was any concept of the gene, physicians in insane asylums began to record causes of madness in their admission books. Almost from the beginning, they pointed to heredity as the most important of these causes. As doctors and state officials steadily lost faith in the capacity of asylum care to stem the terrible increase of insanity, they began emphasizing the need to curb the reproduction of the insane. They became obsessed with identifying weak or tainted families and anticipating the outcomes of their marriages.
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Over the last 50 years, humanity has developed an extraordinary shared utility: the global positioning system. Omnipresent, free, and available to all, GPS powers everything from your phone to the Internet to the Mars Rover. Greg Milner tells the sweeping story of GPS, from its conceptual origins as a bomb guidance system to its present ubiquity.
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What listeners say about A Sense of the Mysterious
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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