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Fear of Physics
- Narrated by: David Smalley, Lawrence M. Krauss
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
Fear of Physics is a lively, irreverent, and informative look at everything from the physics of boiling water to cutting-edge research at the observable limits of the universe. Rich with anecdotes and accessible examples, it nimbly ranges over the tools and thought behind the world of modern physics, taking the mystery out of what is essentially a very human intellectual endeavor.
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No 20th-century American scientist is better known to a wider spectrum of people than Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988), physicist, teacher, author, and cultural icon. His autobiographies and biographies have been read and enjoyed by millions of readers around the world, while his wit and eccentricities have made him the subject of TV specials and even a theatrical film.
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Very Interesting, but ...
- By Doug on 01-01-06
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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 Universe in the Rearview Mirror
- How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality
- By: Dave Goldberg
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A physicist speeds across space, time, and everything in between showing that our elegant universe from the Higgs boson to antimatter to the most massive group of galaxies is shaped by hidden symmetries that have driven all our recent discoveries about the universe and all the ones to come. Why is the sky dark at night? Is it possible to build a shrink-ray gun? If there is antimatter, can there be antipeople? Why are past, present, and future our only options? Are time and space like a butterfly's wings? No one but Dave Goldberg, the coolest nerd physicist on the planet, could give a hyper-drive tour of the universe like this one.
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Good, but for whom?
- By Michael on 08-31-13
By: Dave Goldberg
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The Cosmic Cocktail
- Three Parts Dark Matter
- By: Katherine Freese
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The ordinary atoms that make up the known universe - from our bodies and the air we breathe to the planets and stars - constitute only 5 percent of all matter and energy in the cosmos. The rest is known as dark matter and dark energy, because their precise identities are unknown. The Cosmic Cocktail is the inside story of the epic quest to solve one of the most compelling enigmas of modern science - what is the universe made of? - told by one of today’s foremost pioneers in the study of dark matter.
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I was looking for a book about science....
- By Jeff on 03-27-15
By: Katherine Freese
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The Unknown Universe
- A New Exploration of Time, Space and Cosmology
- By: Stuart Clark
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On March 21, 2013, the European Space Agency released a map of the afterglow of the big bang. Taking in 440 sextillion kilometers of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: We will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis of modern cosmology; on the other, it threatens to undermine almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.
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Everything, Absolutely Everything!
- By Gillian on 03-09-17
By: Stuart Clark
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To Explain the World
- The Discovery of Modern Science
- By: Steven Weinberg
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In this rich, irreverent, and compelling history, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg takes us across centuries, from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad and Oxford, from Plato's Academy and the Museum of Alexandria to the cathedral school of Chartres and the Royal Society of London. He shows that the scientists of ancient and medieval times not only did not understand what we understand about the world--they did not understand what there is to understand or how to understand it.
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How the world created a Newton
- By Gary on 03-02-15
By: Steven Weinberg
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Quantum Enigma
- Physics Encounters Consciousness
- By: Bruce Rosenblum, Fred Kuttner
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In trying to understand the atom, physicists built quantum mechanics, the most successful theory in science and the basis of one-third of our economy. They found, to their embarrassment, that with their theory, physics encounters consciousness. Authors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner explain all this in nontechnical terms with help from some fanciful stories and anecdotes about the theory's developers. They present the quantum mystery honestly, emphasizing what is and what is not speculation.
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Wow. Very Informative and mind boggling.
- By Kevin Harper, Realtor on 08-11-17
By: Bruce Rosenblum, and others
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Forces of Nature
- By: Professor Brian Cox, Andrew Cohen
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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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
- By Philomath on 06-13-17
By: Professor Brian Cox, and others
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The Logical Leap
- Induction in Physics
- By: David Harriman
- Narrated by: Erik Singer
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with a detailed discussion of the role of mathematics and experimentation in validating generalizations in physics-looking closely at the reasoning of scientists such as Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Lavoisier, and Maxwell-Harriman skillfully argues that the inductive method used in philosophy is in principle indistinguishable from the method used in physics.
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Quite refreshing
- By Eric on 10-12-10
By: David Harriman
What listeners say about Fear of Physics
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Adam Shields
- 08-26-16
Even introductions can be difficult
I am fascinated by physics. I don’t understand physics, but I am fascinated by it. So I tend to pick up at least one introduction to physics book a year and I tend to ultimately realize that I am not designed for high level physics.
Fear of Physics is a well reviewed introduction used in a number of college settings. I listened to the audiobook that I picked up on sale. I am not sure that audiobook was the best format for this book. There was nothing wrong with the narrator, but the content occasionally would have been better in print instead of audio.
The two chapters I enjoyed most (and I think I understood most) were about how physicists understand math differently than mathematicians and how physicists ‘creatively plagiarize’ previous work until it becomes something new. The math chapters basically help describe how physics has understood very large and very small numbers and used approximation as a tentative placeholder until better measurement technology becomes available. Some of the insights into math surprised me as basic math place value discussions that are now taught in early common core math. (This book was originally written in 1993 and updated in 2007).
The chapter on ‘creative plagiarization’ discusses the scientific method and how part of that method is to take what you know and apply it to other things to see if that thing you know about A also applies to B. Or that things you theorize about A but haven’t figured out how to measure yet, might give insight into how the measurement of B might happen either now or later based on the technology available.
There were times when I would have stopped if I were reading a print book and the audiobook just kept pulling me a long. There were also times when I had a hard time visualizing what the audiobook was saying and wished I had the print book. This is a book that would have benefited from being able to flip back and forth between the audio and the print. But this is an example where I wish the discounts would go both ways (instead of only getting a discount, if one is available, when you purchase the Kindle edition first, and then the audiobook as an add on.)
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4 people found this helpful
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- Ralph
- 04-10-16
Ready is terrible. Slurs his words. So boring!!!
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
No. The reader is boring. As I listen I often find that my mind has wandered...his tone is so monotonous! He also slurs his words. I really wanted to hear and understand. I have gone through many books on Physics and such and I am making it through this one only because of my personal desire to finish what I started. It is too hard for what is gained.
What could Lawrence M. Krauss have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Have a professional reader. Did he read it himself to save money? Poor choice, if that is the case. If it is David smalley reading, I have no idea what to say.
Would you be willing to try another one of David Smalley and Lawrence M. Krauss ’s performances?
No.
Did Fear of Physics inspire you to do anything?
I can't mention it on this public forum!
Any additional comments?
No.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Darwin8u
- 08-16-16
A nobility and a beauty to the search
"To be scientifically illiterate is to remain essentially uncultured. And the chief virtue of a cultural activity--be it art, music, literature, or science--is the way it enriches our lives."
― Lawrence M. Krauss, Fear of Physics: A Guide for the Perplexed
One of my great loves is reading about physics and science. Richard Feynman, Niels Bohr, Newton, Einstein, etc., are my lower-case "g" gods. While my math and science background is just enough to get me in trouble, it is also enough to keep me coming back.
A couple years ago I decided that I would drop my subscription to 'The Economist' for a year and instead subscribe to 'Science'. Every week I would read. It was like launching myself into an intellectual sphere that got more and more dense toward the center. I would jam easily with THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE and even IN BRIEF, but once I hit RESEARCH ARTICLES and the REPORTS I was usually forced to just dance around the abstract. But I loved it. It was like New York Times crossword puzzles. I found the more often I could finish a Wednesday the more answers I could find without help to the Thursday puzzles.
That, I believe is the essence of what Krauss is trying to communicate in this book. Life is a joy. The search for answers is a thrill. Knowing how science works and where science IS deepens our understanding of our brief moment on this round rock in space. I love literature, but often GOOD literature tries to translate truths found in science. Just look at how closely Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo follow the discoveries of science. Knowledge is constantly bleeding between science, philosophy, and art. There is a nobility and a beauty to the search, the discovery, and understanding. If we aren't curious and aren't engaged, we might as well be dead or slaves.
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18 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-05-15
good. not his best though.
the performance or read, felt rushed. the book is still excellent and worth reading I think.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Matt
- 04-29-16
Sloppy Narrative
Hard to listen to the narrator which distracts from the content. Couldn't get past but a few chapters.
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- M. Heltsley
- 04-21-16
Still a great book
I think I enjoyed hearing him read this more than I enjoyed reading it myself. This is still a relevant book and the topics discussed are just as timely now as they were when it was written. You can't always say that about science related literature. I view this book as a foundational book for anyone interested in understanding physics better. I use the examples found here to help explain these concepts to my children and many other people who have a tenuous grasp on science in the world around them. I would recommend this book to just about anyone.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mathabatha
- 07-26-16
I understand how physicists think
While all the concepts were not easily understood, and I think I will actually have to actually read this book to fully understand, I understand how physicists think.
That is the creative application of existing concepts. Which is a valuable lesson.
Thank you
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- kieron t.
- 02-17-19
twice in succession
I listened to this book twice in succession, as it was not easy to grasp first time round. Most informative, and more enjoyable the second time around. I'm a huge fan of Lawrence Krauss. great book, highly recommended.
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- Timothy English
- 09-16-16
Great book...terrible voice performance
Great book if you can understand the reader. He speaks quietly to make his voice sound more basey. Even with the bass turned all the way down on my radio, I don't find the intelligibility to be at a professional level.
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- Derick
- 04-18-16
Friendly and Inviting Tone for Physics
Who was your favorite character and why?
Spherical Cow
What about David Smalley and Lawrence M. Krauss ’s performance did you like?
The author, Lawrence Krauss, did a great job reading his work. His inflections help make a subject matter that can be confusing more manageable. He also adds an excitement that I found contagious.
Any additional comments?
Very good book for someone who is interested in physics but doesn't necessarily want to make that their concentration. Or if they do, it's a wonderful starting point.
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