The Age of Wonder Audiobook By Richard Holmes cover art

The Age of Wonder

How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science

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The Age of Wonder

By: Richard Holmes
Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
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National Book Critics Circle Award, Nonfiction, 2010

The Age of Wonder is a colorful and utterly absorbing history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science.

When young Joseph Banks stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, he hoped to discover Paradise. Inspired by the scientific ferment sweeping through Britain, the botanist had sailed with Captain Cook in search of new worlds. Other voyages of discovery—astronomical, chemical, poetical, philosophical—swiftly follow in Richard Holmes's thrilling evocation of the second scientific revolution. Through the lives of William Herschel and his sister Caroline, who forever changed the public conception of the solar system; of Humphry Davy, whose near-suicidal gas experiments revolutionized chemistry; and of the great Romantic writers, from Mary Shelley to Coleridge and Keats, who were inspired by the scientific breakthroughs of their day, Holmes brings to life the era in which we first realized both the awe-inspiring and the frightening possibilities of science—an era whose consequences are with us still.

©2008 Richard Holmes (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc. History History & Philosophy Philosophy Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology World Astronomy Biography

Critic reviews

“Richard Holmes—who is almost unfairly gifted both as a writer of living, luminous prose and as a tireless researcher—braids Herschel’s story together with a dozen others to create the most joyful, exciting book of the year.” ( Time, The Top 10 Everything of 2009)
Engaging Storytelling • Detailed Biographies • Excellent Narration • Compelling Scientist Lives • Terrific Reader
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Great storytelling of an incredible time in human history, the evolution of the scientist in Western culture.

Fascinating history and biography rolled into one.

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I love this book and am on my second time listening. the reading is good but the content is amazing

wonderful book - completely worth it

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A great story of the beginning of the science most of us know about, before after Newton and before Darwin, there was a time where they found the beginning of the universe, the idea of electromagnetic forces and many other sciences that the Victorian era stood upon to reach such lofty heights.
This is the story of the men... and women who made science something that people did as a pursuit for the good of humanity.
A well told and often gossipy tone, the story of the time of science is well told. A good read for the history and science buff in us.

An in depth look at the romantic science period

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Great ride through history and the lives that changed the investigation of our universe when coming out of a dark period for our species.

History's interesting stories that are rarely told

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With just the right amount of detail, and covering all the most interesting aspects of these great scientists' lives, this book takes you through all the most memorable and important episodes of the Romantic age of scientific exploration. Exquisite narration.

Surprisingly Fascinating!

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I enjoyed learning about early scientific explorations in Georgian and Regency England, both as a scientist, and as someone interested in the time-period an an Austen fan. It is a long book and the narrative jumps around sometimes, but the author does a great job in trying to present a coherent picture.

The audiobook narrator does an excellent job.

Great history of early scientific explorations

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You get great biography, history of institutions, some literary history/criticism, and the details of how scientific discoveries were made. The opening section on Joseph Banks is worth the price by itself. Exactly what you want from popular science & history.

Great book - fascinating from beginning to end

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Really disappointed the chapters are unlabeled, and out of sync, making it hard to really dig-in to this good book. Cross-referencing is frustrating, and irritating. It wouldn't take much to label these chapters just like the book.
This is a fine scholarship, written well, and told by an excellent reader. I just wish this audio book format was more accessible.

Fine book, poorly labeled chapters

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a great listen. a literal fleshing out of history. how early scientists invented their individual disciplines, but more importantly how they invented the very idea of scientist.

wonder-full

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This is, in essence, a very detailed history of science in the period between Newton and the dawn of modern science in the mid-1800s, with a particular focus on excitement of discovery and the lives of a few scientists. The book opens with Captain Cook's trip to Tahiti, and then swings through the discovery of Uranus, the birth of air travel (by balloon), and the rapid evolution of chemistry, among other topics. The biographies are quite detailed, covering the work, personal, and professional lives of the scientists involved. To that end, I would agree with the other reviewer - the title is misleading to the extent that the classic Romantics (Byron, Keats, Shelly, etc.) are covered only in passing, and art and literature is not the clear focus.

On the other hand, this book covers a fascinating period in science, one that is rarely written about, since it is less sexy than either the time of Newton or the birth of modern physics. In the stories in this book, you can see how science transitions from a period of pure discovery to an attempt to follow a scientific method. And this is told through engaging stories of life in Tahiti, the early experiments with electricity by genuine mad scientists, and the early days of flight (the President of the Royal Society's first thought when he heard about balloons was to tie them to carriages in order to make the load lighter for horses!) Additionally, for someone like me who doesn't usually like biographies, I found the coverage of the lives of the scientists compelling and the storytelling to be top notch.

A couple of things weigh the experience down. First, the book is a bit long, but there is a lot to keep you listening, though the detail does pile up. Also, the reader is mostly average, except when he tries to do American accents, which is outside his range.

Overall, though, if you like the history of science and want something different, or you are interested in the late 18th/early 19th century, this is a really great listen. For others, it may be a less compelling subject, but it is well written and full of new information.

Voyages of discovery and ages of wonder

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