
A Traveler's Guide to the Stars
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Narrated by:
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Michael Page
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By:
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Les Johnson
About this listen
With known exoplanets now numbering in the thousands and initiatives like 100 Year Starship and Breakthrough Starshot advancing the idea of interstellar travel, the age-old dream of venturing forth into the cosmos and perhaps even colonizing distant worlds may one day become a reality. A Traveler's Guide to the Stars reveals how.
Les Johnson takes you on a thrilling tour of the physics and technologies that may enable us to reach the stars. He discusses the latest exoplanet discoveries, promising interstellar missions on the not-so-distant horizon, and exciting new developments in space propulsion, power, robotics, communications, and more. But interstellar travel will not be easy, and it is not for the faint of heart. Johnson describes the harsh and forbidding expanse of space that awaits us, and he addresses the daunting challenges—both human and technological—that we will need to overcome in order to realize tomorrow's possibilities.
A Traveler's Guide to the Stars is your passport to the next great frontier of human discovery, providing a rare inside look at the remarkable breakthroughs in science and technology that will help tomorrow's space travelers chart a course for the stars.
©2022 Les Johnson (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Long before space travel was possible, the idea of life beyond Earth transfixed humans. In this fascinating book, astronomer Jon Willis explores the science of astrobiology and the possibility of locating other life in our own galaxy. Describing the most recent discoveries by space exploration missions, including the Kepler space telescope, the Mars Curiosity rover, and the New Horizons probe, Willis asks listeners to imagine - and choose among-five scenarios for finding life.
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Kicks Butt
- By Jean-Baptiste Gueracague on 05-22-25
By: Jon Willis
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Weird Earth
- Debunking Strange Ideas about Our Planet
- By: Donald R. Prothero
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In Weird Earth: Debunking Strange Ideas About Our Planet, Donald R. Prothero demystifies these conspiracies and offers answers to some of humanity's most outlandish questions. Applying his extensive scientific knowledge, Prothero corrects misinformation that con artists and quacks use to hoodwink others about geology - hollow earth, expanding earth, and bizarre earthquakes-and mystical and paranormal happenings - healing crystals, alien landings, and the gates of hell.
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A Lack of Seriousness
- By David A on 10-04-20
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Origin Story
- A Big History of Everything
- By: David Christian
- Narrated by: Jamie Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History", the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
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A brilliant achievement, must read/listen
- By 11104 on 09-05-18
By: David Christian
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Relativity
- The Special and the General Theory
- By: Albert Einstein
- Narrated by: Julian Lopez-Morillas
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
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Albert Einstein described Relativity as a "popular explosion" of his famous theory. Written in 1916, it introduced the lay audience to the remarkable perspective which had overturned theoretical physics. Einstein's genius was to express this perspective in understandable terms.
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Can't stand listening to the reader.
- By Xcoder on 04-20-11
By: Albert Einstein
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Black Holes
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Katherine Blundell
- Narrated by: Leila Birch
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Black holes are a constant source of fascination to many due to their mysterious nature. This Very Short Introduction audiobook addresses a variety of questions, including what a black hole actually is, how they are characterized and discovered, and what would happen if you came too close to one.
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It’s ‘causal’ not ‘casual’ ffs!
- By Maureen E. on 01-22-25
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The Story of Earth
- The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet
- By: Robert M. Hazen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Earth evolves. From first atom to molecule, mineral to magma, granite crust to single cell to verdant living landscape, ours is a planet constantly in flux. In this radical new approach to Earth’s biography, senior Carnegie Institution researcher and national best-selling author Robert M. Hazen reveals how the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere - of rocks and living matter - has shaped our planet into the only one of its kind in the Solar System, if not the entire cosmos.
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Makes minerals interesting
- By Gary on 07-31-12
By: Robert M. Hazen
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The Planets
- By: Professor Brian Cox, Andrew Cohen
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Mercury, a lifeless victim of the Sun’s expanding power. Venus, once thought to be lush and fertile, now known to be trapped within a toxic and boiling atmosphere. Mars, the red planet, doomed by the loss of its atmosphere. Jupiter, twice the size of all the other planets combined, but insubstantial. Saturn, a stunning celestial beauty, the jewel of our Solar System. Uranus, the sideways planet and the first ice giant. Neptune, dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds. Pluto, the dwarf planet, a frozen rock.
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baroque and flowery verbiage
- By Chris on 01-14-20
By: Professor Brian Cox, and others
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Warped Passages
- Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
- By: Lisa Randall
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Warped Passages is an altogether exhilarating journey that tracks the arc of discovery from early 20th-century physics to the razor's edge of modern scientific theory. One of the world's leading theoretical physicists, Lisa Randall provides astonishing scientific possibilities that, until recently, were restricted to the realm of science fiction. Unraveling the twisted threads of the most current debates on relativity, quantum mechanics, and gravity, she explores some of the most fundamental questions posed by Nature.
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Physics textbook without the math
- By Victor on 05-13-18
By: Lisa Randall
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When Life Nearly Died
- The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time
- By: Michael J. Benton
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Today it is common knowledge that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite impact 65 million years ago that killed half of all species then living. It is far less widely understood that a much greater catastrophe took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago: at least 90 percent of life on earth was destroyed. When Life Nearly Died documents not only what happened during this gigantic mass extinction, but also the recent renewal of the idea of catastrophism.
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Obscurity to Enlightenment - A Mystery Revealed
- By Dipam on 03-18-21
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Why Does E=MC2 and Why Should We Care
- By: Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw
- Narrated by: Jeff Forshaw
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In one of the most exciting and accessible explanations of The Theory of Relativity in recent years, Professors Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw go on a journey to the frontier of 21st century science to consider the real meaning behind the iconic sequence of symbols that make up Einstein's most famous equation, exploring the principles of physics through everyday life.
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Needs a few Diagrams
- By Roy on 06-13-11
By: Brian Cox, and others
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Six Impossible Things
- The Mystery of the Quantum World
- By: John Gribbin
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Rules of the quantum world seem to say that a cat can be both alive and dead at the same time and a particle can be in two places at once. And that particle is also a wave; everything in the quantum world can described in terms of waves - or entirely in terms of particles. These interpretations were all established by the end of the 1920s, by Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, and others. But no one has yet come up with a common sense explanation of what is going on.
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I didn't know all these different theories of quantum physics existed!
- By David J. on 05-08-25
By: John Gribbin
Furthermore, the performance is a true benefit to the work, as the narrator consistently delivers the story in clear, eloquent tone and voice, and elevates even the more mundane statistical data points to thoroughly enjoyable prose.
All in all, I very much recommend this book to anyone even tangentially interested in the concept of interstellar travel, in the technical abilities required to make it happen, or who has otherwise been fascinated by fictional accounts of star travel after the fashion of "Star Trek" and the other stories which Johnson references herein. This book truly does them all justice!
An excellent look at the realities of star travel!
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The book analyzes if it is possible to travel to another star. Johnson says that it is, but it will be extremely difficult. Then he assesses the different types of ships and propulsion systems. He finishes the book with a neat chapter that discusses how realistic (or not) are the various hyper-drives, warp-speeds, and whatever-type of technologies that science fiction characters use to traverse mind-boggling distances.
Johnson admonishes us to think (very, very) big and dream.
Please note, I will stipulate that I am biased to like this book. I adore the narrator, Michael Page. I would love to have him narrate my quotidian routine. "Here, Jamie enters Shop Rite and surveys the cereal . . . ." Ah, heaven. What a voice!
Warmest regards,
Jamie Pfeffer
Westfield, NJ
Think Very Big!
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This is science fiction not science.
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