
Brilliant Blunders
From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe
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Narrated by:
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Jeff Cummings
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By:
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Mario Livio
We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. Not even some of the greatest geniuses in history, as Mario Livio tells us in this marvelous story of scientific error and breakthrough.
Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein were all brilliant scientists. Each made groundbreaking contributions to his field - but each also stumbled badly. Darwin’s theory of natural selection shouldn’t have worked, according to the prevailing beliefs of his time. Not until Gregor Mendel’s work was known would there be a mechanism to explain natural selection. How could Darwin be both wrong and right? Lord Kelvin, Britain’s leading scientific intellect at the time, gravely miscalculated the age of the Earth. Linus Pauling, the world’s premier chemist (who would win the Nobel Prize in chemistry) constructed an erroneous model for DNA in his haste to beat the competition to publication. Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle dismissed the idea of a "Big Bang" origin to the universe (ironically, the caustic name he gave to this event endured long after his erroneous objections were disproven). And Albert Einstein, whose name is synonymous with genius, speculated incorrectly about the forces that hold the universe in equilibrium - and that speculation opened the door to brilliant conceptual leaps.
These five scientists expanded our knowledge of life on Earth, the evolution of the Earth itself, and the evolution of the universe, despite and because of their errors. As Mario Livio luminously explains, the scientific process advances through error. Mistakes are essential to progress.
Brilliant Blunders is a singular tour through the world of science and scientific achievement - and a wonderfully insightful examination of the psychology of five fascinating scientists.
©2013 Marie Livio (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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Very complete and different perspective on genius
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Is there anything you would change about this book?
I'd start with Einstein and cosmology and finish with Darwin.What do you think your next listen will be?
The Mezzanine by Nicholson BakerWhat about Jeff Cummings’s performance did you like?
I didn't find anything to dislike.Did Brilliant Blunders inspire you to do anything?
It inspired me to make a salami and cheese sandwich while listening. Does that count?Any additional comments?
It's a good book and fascinating subject, but brother does it need gravy.Fascinatingly dry as an overcooked Turkey.
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This is not at all a bad book. I just really like the histories of science and this one seemed less penetrating and less compelling than the best.
Blunder Bust
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Loved this book!
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Blunder no more
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What does Jeff Cummings bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Jeff Cummings often blunders in his pronunciations of both scientific words such as helical, and of the names of many well known scientists.Audible Blunders
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A wonderful trip through modern science
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Science by Humans
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Biggest blunder is the tone
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The narrator made the book better than the written book. I found some of his voices a real hoot, particularly Darwin and Einstein. I would definitely recommend the audible version versus the written form of this book.
For me, this book was a template for having worked in the real world surrounded around very smart people who would fall into the blunders that are illustrated by these five stories. I don't think the author realized how relevant the stories could be for most working stiffs and the kind of people we often have to work with.
Instead of picking Einstein's blunder as the cosmological constant, he should have picked Einstein's failure to accept quantum mechanics after having co-discovered it and wasting his time on the GUT (grand unified theorem) outside of the context of quantum physics. I know why he picked the cosmological constant. It's a funner story to relate and is more relevant today because of the mystery of Dark Energy, and the word blunder is not usually associated with that for Einstein and the cosmological constant is.
Overall, the stories are well presented, and it was narrated much better than it was written, but the author missed a great opportunity to make a better book about the foibles of life in general.
Easy to remember all the stories in the book
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