
Impossible Monsters
Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion
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Narrated by:
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Michael Langan
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By:
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Michael Taylor
About this listen
"Vivid with a Mesozoic bestiary" (Tom Holland), this on-the-ground, must-listen narrative weaves together the chance discovery of dinosaurs and the rise of the secular age.
When the twelve-year-old daughter of a British carpenter pulled some strange-looking bones from the country's southern shoreline in 1811, few people dared to question that the Bible told the accurate history of the world. But Mary Anning had in fact discovered the "first" ichthyosaur, and over the next seventy-five years—as the science of paleontology developed, as Charles Darwin posited radical new theories of evolutionary biology, and as scholars began to identify the internal inconsistencies of the Scriptures—everything changed. Beginning with the archbishop who dated the creation of the world to 6 p.m. on October 22, 4004 BC, and told through the lives of the nineteenth-century men and women who found and argued about these seemingly impossible, history-rewriting fossils, Impossible Monsters reveals the central role of dinosaurs and their discovery in toppling traditional religious authority, and in changing perceptions about the Bible, history, and mankind's place in the world.
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World on the Brink
- How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century
- By: Dmitri Alperovitch, Garrett M. Graff - contributor
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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A leading national security expert, who publicly predicted Vladimir Putin's intention to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine months before it took place, lays out the case for why China's Xi Jinping is preparing to conquer Taiwan in the coming years and the dire stakes for America and the whole world if he is not deterred.
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a must read book!
- By Val Lendaro on 06-02-24
By: Dmitri Alperovitch, and others
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How Economics Explains the World
- A Short History of Humanity
- By: Andrew Leigh
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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This small book indeed tells a big story. It is the story of capitalism–of how our market system developed. It is the story of the discipline of economics, and some of the key figures who formed it. And it is the story of how economic forces have shaped world history. Why didn’t Africa colonize Europe instead of the other way around? What happened when countries erected trade and immigration barriers in the 1930s? Why did the Allies win World War II? You’ll find answers to these questions and more in How Economics Explains the World.
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Rehashed ideas better explained in other books
- By Louislocke on 10-27-24
By: Andrew Leigh
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The Lost World of the Dinosaurs
- On the Trail of the Dinosaurs' Final Secrets
- By: Armin Schmitt
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Dinosaurs. No other class of animals captures the hearts of both children and adults alike. Paleontologist Armin Schmitt brings us a firsthand account of the latest research on dinosaurs and their lives millions of years ago, including his spectacular global excavations and fascinating discoveries in the field. With the help of cutting-edge technology and unbelievable new finds, the age-old tale of the dinosaurs is now revitalized for the very first time, complete with astonishing illustrations by Ben Rennen that help us imagine dinosaurs like never before.
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Strong on Birds
- By Lloyd E. Peterson on 12-22-24
By: Armin Schmitt
What listeners say about Impossible Monsters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gram1950
- 09-18-24
Interesting but Slow
The narrator was annoying and had this habit of reading every quote in a breathy whisper. I finally listened at faster than normal speed and found that better. The book does effectively take you back to a time when people actually believed Bishop Usher. Scientists who were mostly dilettantes had a terrible time reconciling their discoveries with what everyone knew was true. As the science became harder to deny people had to rearrange their world view. It does make an interesting story.
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- Leslie RP
- 08-17-24
Interesting
I liked this book, it gave me more insights into to history of dinosaurs and the people and the science of the study of dinosaurs.
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- Michael
- 09-09-24
Repetitive and not that interesting
Just didn’t get much out of this . Felt like each new scientist they explored was basically the same point being made again and again.
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1 person found this helpful