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Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them
- A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity
- Narrated by: Antonio Padilla
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
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Publisher's summary
This program is read by the author.
A fun, dazzling exploration of the strange numbers that illuminate the ultimate nature of reality.
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, or Albert Einstein, the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality. But what are these truths? What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe?
In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them, the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics, offering a startling picture of how the universe works. These strange numbers include Graham’s number, which is so large that if you thought about it in the wrong way, your head would collapse into a singularity; TREE(3), whose finite nature can never be definitively proved, because to do so would take so much time that the universe would experience a Poincaré Recurrence—resetting to precisely the state it currently holds, down to the arrangement of individual atoms; and 10^{-120}, measuring the desperately unlikely balance of energy needed to allow the universe to exist for more than just a moment, to extend beyond the size of a single atom—in other words, the mystery of our unexpected universe.
Leading us down the rabbit hole to a deeper understanding of reality, Padilla explains how these unusual numbers are the key to understanding such mind-boggling phenomena as black holes, relativity, and the problem of the cosmological constant—that the two best and most rigorously tested ways of understanding the universe contradict one another. Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them is a combination of popular and cutting-edge science—and a lively, entertaining, and even funny exploration of the most fundamental truths about the universe.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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How much can we know about the world? In this audiobook physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing he reaches a provocative conclusion: Science, like religion, is fundamentally limited as a tool for understanding the world. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we face the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know.
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Island of knowledge
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The Universe in Your Hand
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Christophe Galfard's mission in life is to spread modern scientific ideas to the general public in entertaining ways. Using his considerable skills as a brilliant theoretical physicist and successful young-adult author, The Universe in Your Hand employs the immediacy of simple, direct language to show us, not explain to us, the theories that underpin everything we know about our universe.
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Awesome
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How to Speak Science
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- Narrated by: Braden Wright
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As smartphones, supercomputers, supercolliders, and AI propel us into an ever more unfamiliar future, How to Speak Science takes us on a rollicking historical tour of the greatest discoveries and ideas that make today's cutting-edge technologies possible. Wanting everyone to be able to "speak" science, YouTube science guru Bruce Benamran explains - as accessibly and wittily as in his acclaimed videos - the fundamental ideas of the physical world: matter, life, the solar system, light, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, and much more.
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Wowzers!
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Calculating the Cosmos
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- By: Ian Stewart
- Narrated by: Dana Hickox
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
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Story
In Calculating the Cosmos, Ian Stewart presents an exhilarating guide to the cosmos, from our solar system to the entire universe. He describes the architecture of space and time, dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies form, why stars implode, how everything began, and how it's all going to end. He considers parallel universes, the fine-tuning of the cosmos for life, what forms extraterrestrial life might take, and the likelihood of life on Earth being snuffed out by an asteroid.
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Crank alert: rejects modern cosmology
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What actually happens when the words, "beam me up, Scottie" are uttered? What "warps" when something travels at warp speed? Internationally renowned theoretical physicist and educator Lawrence M. Krauss provides matter-of-fact scientific explanations of the physics of Star Trek in this highly creative and informative guide for both the devoted Trekkie and the physics novice.
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Interesting Book. Quite Technical
- By Christopher B. on 12-07-04
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Warped Passages
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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
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Not just another science audiobook and not just another Discworld novella, The Science of Discworld is a creative, mind-bending mash-up of fiction and fact, that offers a wizard’s-eye view of our world that will forever change how you look at the universe.
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Not the best Pratchett, but gets there in the end
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The World According to Physics
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Shining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili invites us all to understand what this crucially important science tells us about the universe and the nature of reality itself. Al-Khalili begins by introducing the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics - quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics - showing how all three must come together if we are ever to have a full understanding of reality.
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excellent book
- By Anonymous User on 05-10-21
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Forces of Nature
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Professor Brian Cox uncovers some of the most extraordinary natural events on Earth and in the universe and beyond. From the immensity of the universe and the roundness of Earth to the form of every single snowflake, the forces of nature shape everything we see. Pushed to extremes, the results are astonishing. In seeking to understand the everyday world, the colours, structure, behaviour and history of our home, we develop the knowledge and techniques necessary to step beyond the everyday.
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Complicated in its simplicity
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Coming of Age in the Milky Way
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Humans have long sought to comprehend the enormities of cosmic space and time. Here, best selling science writer Timothy Ferris tells the story of that quest. He interweaves the majestic themes of astronomy, physics, religion, and philosophy with fresh and lasting portraits of the men and women who created what has been called our society's most precious treasure - its conception of the universe at large.
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Brief survey of discovery from Columbus to now
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Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work
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Stephen Hawking is one of the most remarkable figures of our time, a Cambridge genius who has earned international celebrity as a brilliant theoretical physicist and become an inspiration and revelation to those who have witnessed his courageous triumph over disability. This is Hawking's life story by Kitty Ferguson, who has had special help from Hawking himself and his close associates and who has a gift for translating the language of theoretical physics for non-scientists.
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Not What it Appears
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About Time
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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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An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and the public for half a century. Originally published in 1944 - when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program - The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production.
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What listeners say about Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Richard Redano
- 11-04-23
A+ in Math & Physics; D in 20th Century History
This book's insightful explanation of the symbiotic relationship between math & physics rates A+. The book's survey of the history of zero and its impact on commerce rates an A in Ancient History. The book erroneously states that planes from the "U S Air Force" dropped atom bombs on Japan in WWII. The U S Air Force did not exist during WWII. Thus, this book gets a D in 20th Century History.
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- Scott L. Barnes
- 08-17-22
Wonderful Narration but Difficult to Grasp
I have a background in science, but most of these concepts are far beyond my capability to understand. Antonia's narration is absolutely great (as if Roy Kent is speaking, but not so gruff). I really liked his analogies as he attempts to explain such difficult topics. Maybe when I croak, I will be allowed to understand everything (only briefly though, just before I enter the void).
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- Fred Schaumberg
- 02-16-23
Awesome
Awesome, great explanation of difficult concepts and a deep dive in to history and development of these.
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- Carlos
- 10-12-23
Excellent
Fantastically written and read by the author. I learned a great deal from this book.
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- Greg
- 10-13-22
4 number geeks
Number geeks will love it. You don't even need to be a math whiz to understand the hard to understand world of numbers.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michael
- 05-23-23
Exciting, Strange, Difficult = Meh
I really love numbers. I remember first learning about a googol from an Isaac Azimov book around 1970 (I got to tell all my geek friends). This book mostly annoyed me. The first number was a bit of nonsense about the amount sprinter Usain Bolt was time dilated. A number is given having little to do with reality. He talks about googol and googolplex in term of cosmological doppelgängers – another bit of unrealistic philosophy. Then Graham’s number, which is so big it will make your head explode. I doesn’t. He discusses infinity in terms of quantum and string theory. The author tried to excite the reader about numbers with strangeness and difficult to understand science, but (for me) totally misses the beauty of the simplicity of numbers. Azimov excited me about numbers this book did not.
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- Karl F.
- 12-23-22
Amazing book
Real talk thank you for this! W w w w w w w we w w w w w w
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- nadia chettaoui
- 09-28-23
lots more physics that I anticipated
was hoping for more number theory content but still interesting and fun. There is a lot of emphasis on the physics side of numbers which makes them more tangible.
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Overall
- Eric
- 08-05-22
Tony Padilla gets a COisG
At Come On It's Still Good we rate movies, books, and showd as COisG (Come On It's Still Good) or COisB (Bad). Fantastic Numbers gets a COisG and should be on every numberphile fan's reading list. The audio book is also great, as it is read by Tony himself! Enlightening, entertaining, funny, and quotable. COisG!
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- GeeBee
- 10-04-24
Absolutely Fantastic!
As if the subject is not a bewildering and totally brilliant collection of erudite essays, the author - who is also the narrator here - is clearly having so much fun that it is literally impossible to not smile nonstop while listening to these stories from the deepest and farthest reaches of reality, and even beyond. Totally lives up to all expectations, and happily surpasses many as well. Can’t disappoint.
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