Beyond the Known
How Exploration Created the Modern World and Will Take Us to the Stars
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Narrated by:
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Andrew Rader
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By:
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Andrew Rader
About this listen
From brilliant young polymath Andrew Rader - an MIT-credentialed scientist, popular podcast host, and SpaceX mission manager - an engaging” (Tim Marshall, New York Times best-selling author) chronicle showcasing our human desire to continually explore new and uncharted territory, from civilization’s earliest days to interstellar travel.
For the first time in history, the human species has the technology to destroy itself. But having developed that power, humans are also able to leave Earth and voyage into the vastness of space. After millions of years of evolution, we’ve arrived at the point where we can settle other worlds and begin the process of becoming multi-planetary. How did we get here? What does the future hold for us?
Divided into four accessible sections, Beyond the Known examines major periods of discovery and rediscovery, from Classical Times, when Phoenicians, Persians, and Greeks ventured forth; to The Age of European Exploration, which saw colonies sprout on nearly every continent; to The Era of Scientific Inquiry, when researchers developed new tools for mapping and traveling farther; to Our Spacefaring Future, which unveils plans currently underway for settling other planets and, eventually, traveling to the stars.
A mission manager at SpaceX with a lively voice, Andrew Rader is at the forefront of space exploration. As a gifted historian, Rader, who has won global acclaim for his stunning breadth of knowledge, is singularly positioned to reveal the story of human exploration that is also the story of scientific achievement. Told with an infectious zeal for traveling seeking new horizons, Beyond the Known is “an astute - and highly flattering - view of human aspirations” (Kirkus Reviews).
©2019 Andrew Rader (P)2019 Simon & Schuster AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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By: Michael Rank
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A Most Improbable Journey
- A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves
- By: Walter Alvarez
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Big History, the field that studies the entire known past of our universe to give context to human existence, has so far been the domain of historians. Geologist Walter Alvarez - best known for his Impact Theory explaining dinosaur extinction - makes a compelling case for a new, science-first approach to Big History.
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Learned so much
- By Niki on 12-09-18
By: Walter Alvarez
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Sea Power
- The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans
- By: Admiral James Stavridis USN - Ret.
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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From the time of the Greeks and the Persians clashing in the Mediterranean, sea power has determined world power. To an extent that is often underappreciated, it still does. No one understands this better than Admiral Jim Stavridis. In Sea Power, Admiral Stavridis takes us with him on a tour of the world's oceans from the admiral's chair, showing us how the geography of the oceans has shaped the destinies of nations and how naval power has in a real sense made the world we live in today and will shape the world we live in tomorrow.
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Highly Recommend. Brilliant, engaging & thoughtful
- By Francis Claro on 06-22-17
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Conquering the Pacific
- An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery
- By: Andrés Reséndez
- Narrated by: Phil Morris
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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It began with a secret mission, no expenses spared. Spain, plotting to break Portugal’s monopoly trade with the fabled Orient, set sail from a hidden Mexican port to cross the Pacific - and then, critically, to attempt the never-before-accomplished return, the vuelta. Four ships set out from Navidad, each one carrying a dream team of navigators. The smallest ship, guided by seaman Lope Martín, a mulatto who had risen through the ranks to become one of the most qualified pilots of the era, soon pulled far ahead and became mysteriously lost from the fleet.
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Must Read, Excellent
- By Amazon Customer on 10-07-22
By: Andrés Reséndez
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Sea People
- The Puzzle of Polynesia
- By: Christina Thompson
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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A thrilling, intellectual detective story that looks deep into the past to uncover who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific, where they came from, how they got there, and how we know.
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Long Lost History
- By Than on 04-19-19
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The Ice at the End of the World
- An Epic Journey into Greenland's Buried Past and Our Perilous Future
- By: Jon Gertner
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Jon Gertner
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Ice at the End of the World, Jon Gertner explains how Greenland has evolved from one of earth’s last frontiers to its largest scientific laboratory. The history of Greenland’s ice begins with the explorers who arrived here at the turn of the 20th century. Their original goal was to conquer Greenland’s seemingly infinite interior. Yet their efforts eventually gave way to scientists who built lonely encampments out on the ice and began drilling - one mile, two miles down.Their aim was to pull up ice cores that could reveal the deepest mysteries of earth’s past.
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Adventure, Science, Advocacy
- By EM Goodkind on 09-08-19
By: Jon Gertner
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The Story of the Earth in 25 Rocks
- Tales of Important Geological Puzzles and the People Who Solved Them
- By: Donald R. Prothero
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The Story of the Earth in 25 Rocks tells the fascinating stories behind the discoveries that shook the foundations of geology. In 25 chapters, Donald R. Prothero recounts the scientific detective work that shaped our understanding of geology, from the unearthing of exemplary specimens to tectonic shifts in how we view the inner workings of our planet.
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More about scientists than science
- By Aunt Vee on 06-14-20
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Origins
- How Earth's History Shaped Human History
- By: Lewis Dartnell
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the progression of global exploration, colonization, and trade. Even today, voting behavior in the southeast United States ultimately follows the underlying pattern of 75 million-year-old sediments from an ancient sea.
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GREAT Book with a Narrator Who's Falling Asleep
- By aaron on 08-02-20
By: Lewis Dartnell
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Pacific
- Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this imposing force of nature. Winchester's personal experience is vast and his storytelling second to none. And his historical understanding of the region is formidable, making Pacific a paean to this magnificent sea of beauty, myth, and imagination that is transforming our lives.
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Political Asides Have Become Bombastic Didactic
- By Mark Patterson on 12-25-15
By: Simon Winchester
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Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
- By: Tom Phillips
- Narrated by: Nish Kumar
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Modern humans have come a long way in the 70,000 years they’ve walked the earth. Art, science, culture, trade - on the evolutionary food chain, we’re true winners. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, and sometimes - just occasionally - we’ve managed to truly f--k things up.
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Doesn’t live up to promise
- By Shirley Y. Thomas on 11-09-19
By: Tom Phillips
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The Case for Mars
- The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must
- By: Robert Zubrin, Richard Wagner, Arthur C. Clarke - Foreword
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream - the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with engaging anecdotes. The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions.
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Compelling
- By Michael D. Busch on 04-16-18
By: Robert Zubrin, and others
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The Sea and Civilization
- A Maritime History of the World
- By: Lincoln Paine
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 29 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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A monumental retelling of world history through the lens of maritime enterprise, revealing in breathtaking depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, lake and stream, and how goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread across and along the world's waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human.
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Comprehensive
- By Than on 12-29-19
By: Lincoln Paine
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The Great Warming
- Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations
- By: Brian Fagan
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The history of the Great Warming of a half millennium ago suggests that we may yet be underestimating the power of climate change to disrupt our lives todayand our vulnerability to drought, writes Fagan, is the silent elephant in the room.
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Good book but unpracticed, disjointed narration.
- By Paul on 09-12-10
By: Brian Fagan
What listeners say about Beyond the Known
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Monika Venckauskaite
- 12-29-19
Extensive Story About Ourt Thirst for Exploration
This is an extensive story about human curiosity and drive for exploration. It starts with the first civilizations - as soon as we could document it. I loved the approach to tell the entire story about the humanity's thirst for adventure and knowledge in a single book. However, expect the story to be very dense and full of facts - which is not an easy, although very enriching read. My favourite chapters were the last ones - where we enter the space age. The background of the author really flourishes here.
Recommended to listen or read with a fresh and eager mind - to get the most of it.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-03-21
Fact filled, accessible and flat out enjoyable
Andrew Rader successfully outlines a brief history of the world; using exploration as the lens. Its an incredibly easy listen that is fact filled and enjoyable throughout
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- Ann Wellington
- 11-14-19
Loved it!
An exciting whirlwind tour through the history of the world from our beginning to the modern world and into space, this book has it all. I learned a ton of new things, but this book is completely accessible to a non-history buff like myself. It’s told in a narrative style that’s like having a conversation with the author, which makes it very approachable. It’s noteworthy that the author talked about not only Western explorers, but explorers from around the world. I was especially interested in Andrew’s take on the future of exploration into space and to far away stars. The book left me excited to be alive and with a strong desire to encourage and support humanity’s next phase of exploration and discovery.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Happy customer
- 02-03-22
Great walk through history and into the future!
Very easy listen and very well put together. The talk of the near future in space with author's obvious deep understanding was fantastic.
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