We Are All Stardust
Scientists Who Shaped Our World Talk about Their Work, Their Lives, and What They Still Want to Know
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Narrated by:
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Gildart Jackson
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Simon Vance
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Kate Reading
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Sean Runnette
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By:
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Stefan Klein
About this listen
A sterling roster of natural and social scientists in conversation with top-flight journalist Stefan Klein - shedding new light on their work, their lives, and what they still hope to discover.
When acclaimed science writer Stefan Klein asks Nobel Prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann what sets scientists apart, Hoffmann says, "First and foremost, curiosity." In this collection of intimate conversations with 19 of the world's best-known scientists (including three Nobel Laureates), Klein lets us listen in as today's leading minds reveal what they still hope to discover - and how their paradigm-changing work entwines with their lives outside the lab.
From the sports car that physicist Steven Weinberg says helped him on his quest for "the theory of everything" to the jazz musicians who gave psychologist Alison Gopnik new insight into raising children, these scientists explain how they find inspiration everywhere. Hear from renowned scientists including: evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on selfishness, anthropologist Sarah Hrdy on motherhood, primatologist Jane Goodall on animal behavior, neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran on consciousness, geographer Jared Diamond on chance in history, and many other luminaries.
©2010, 2015 Stefan Klein. English translation © 2015 by Ross Benjamin (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Professor Jim Davies's fascinating and highly accessible book, Riveted, reveals the evolutionary underpinnings of why we find things compelling. Drawing on work from philosophy, anthropology, religious studies, psychology, economics, computer science, and biology, Davies offers a comprehensive explanation to show that in spite of the differences between the many things that we find compelling, they have similar effects on our minds and brains.
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Fun and excellent listen!
- By Alejandro Franco on 04-13-18
By: Jim Davies
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At the Edge of Uncertainty
- 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise
- By: Michael Brooks
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The atom, the big bang, DNA, natural selection - all are ideas that have revolutionized science; and all were dismissed out of hand when they first appeared. The surprises haven't stopped in recent years, and in At the Edge of Uncertainty, best-selling author Michael Brooks investigates the new wave of radical insights that are shaping the future of scientific discovery.
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All smoke, no fire
- By Kenton on 07-25-15
By: Michael Brooks
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Breaking the Spell
- Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why - and how - it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma.
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Great Reader Actually Enhances A Great Book!
- By Don Caliente on 07-14-14
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Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life
- A Psychologist Investigates How Evolution, Cognition, and Complexity Are Revolutionizing Our View of Human Nature
- By: Douglas T. Kenrick
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Between what can be learned from evolutionary psychology and cognitive science a picture emerges. In Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life, social psychologist Douglas Kenrick fuses these two fields to create a coherent story of human nature. In his analysis, many ingrained, apparently irrational behaviors—one-night stands, prejudice, conspicuous consumption, even art and religious devotion—are quite explicable and (when desired) avoidable.
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Rather dated and self-aggrandizing
- By Laurie Frick on 07-21-11
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The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking
- How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane
- By: Matthew Hutson
- Narrated by: Matthew Hutson, Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this witty and perceptive debut, a former editor at Psychology Today shows us how magical thinking makes life worth living. Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biases and explained their positive functions. Now, Matthew Hutson shows us that even the most hardcore skeptic indulges in magical thinking all the time - and it's crucial to our survival. Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience, Hutson shows us that magical thinking has been so useful to us that it's hardwired into our brains.
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Highly enjoyable
- By David R Pinsof on 05-01-12
By: Matthew Hutson
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The Age of Empathy
- Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
- By: Frans de Waal
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Is it really human nature to stab one another in the back in our climb up the corporate ladder? Competitive, selfish behavior is often explained away as instinctive, thanks to evolution and "survival of the fittest", but in fact, humans are equally hard-wired for empathy. Using research from the fields of anthropology, psychology, animal behavior, and neuroscience, Frans de Waal brilliantly argues that humans are group animals.
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A Lot Of Things In Common With Our Animal Friends!
- By James on 08-14-11
By: Frans de Waal
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The Blank Slate
- The Modern Denial of Human Nature
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
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Don't bother. Outdated science & poor logic...
- By ejf211 on 03-31-10
By: Steven Pinker
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The Psychopath Inside
- A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain
- By: James Fallon
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The memoir of a neuroscientist whose research led him to a bizarre personal discovery, James Fallon had spent an entire career studying how our brains affect our behavior when his research suddenly turned personal. While studying brain scans of several family members, he discovered that one perfectly matched a pattern he’d found in the brains of serial killers. This meant one of two things: Either his family’s scans had been mixed up with those of felons or someone in his family was a psychopath.
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Entertaining story with some quick neuroscience
- By smarmer on 09-21-14
By: James Fallon
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Virus of the Mind
- The New Science of the Meme
- By: Richard Brodie
- Narrated by: Richard Brodie
- Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins
- Abridged
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Virus of the Mind is the first popular work devoted to the science of memetics, a controversial new field that transcends psychology, biology, anthropology, and cognitive science. Memetics is the science of memes, the invisible but very real DNA of human society. Here, the author carefully builds on the work of scientists Richard Dawkins, Douglas Hofstadter, Daniel Dennett, and others who have become fascinated with memes and their potential impact on our lives.
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The "Memes Explain Everything" Meme.
- By Nelson Alexander on 02-20-10
By: Richard Brodie
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A General Theory of Love
- By: Richard Lannon MD, Thomas Lewis MD, Fari Amini MD
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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This original and lucid account of the complexities of love and its essential role in human well-being draws on the latest scientific research. Three eminent psychiatrists tackle the difficult task of reconciling what artists and thinkers have known for thousands of years about the human heart with what has only recently been learned about the primitive functions of the human brain.
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Great subject matter-hard to listen to
- By Laurel on 07-22-19
By: Richard Lannon MD, and others
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The Philosophical Baby
- What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love and the Meaning of Life
- By: Alison Gopnik
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In the last decade there has been a revolution in our understanding of the minds of infants and young children. We used to believe that babies were irrational, and that their thinking and experience were limited. Now Alison Gopnik - a leading psychologist and philosopher, as well as a mother - explains the cutting-edge scientific and psychological research that has revealed that babies learn more, create more, care more, and experience more than we could ever have imagined.
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Good info, annoying narrator
- By Anonymous User on 05-17-10
By: Alison Gopnik
What listeners say about We Are All Stardust
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Susana H.
- 05-25-22
Insightful interviews with brilliant minds
I enjoy listening to various interviews with brilliant minds from different areas, it’s insightful to hear their views on their expertise and life.
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- xiangyang zhao
- 02-11-22
There are Nobel prize winners and there are Nobel prize winners
It is a unique collection of interview of famous scientists from a wide range of fields.
It is clear that everyone is different and is informed with own experience, culture and humility.
Overall worthy and rewarding eight hours of listening!
Thanks
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- Paola A. Maino
- 06-23-23
Excellent selection of outstanding minds
I really enjoyed all the interviews to the most influential masterminds presented in this book. The breath of knowledge and discovery is awesome. Definitely worth listening!
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- Cameron Dyer
- 02-09-22
Poorly named fantastic book
This is by far one of my most favorite books of 2022 I originally got it thinking it was about astrophysics and stars but it’s an interview with famous scientist and it’s a fantastic book loved it loved it loved it this is a voice to text review so pardon the lack of punctuation try this book you will not be disappointed
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- Rawad
- 03-11-22
A chat with the world's best minds
Each chapter is a new conversation with a brilliant mind, on a new topic. You will learn, question, think, grow, and connect personally with how these great minds think.
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- Philomath
- 05-17-16
Great People, Great Science, Great Scientists
The book is a collection of interviews with some of the well known scientists of our era from across many fields.
It is clear these guys know what they're talking about. They are true experts choosing their words very carefully and in doing so engage the listeners in understanding their science. Made easy to appreciate by those who are not experts.
I wish more scientists were interviewed in this age of scientific breakthroughs, and for those that have the interview could have been longer, but that would be asking too much for one book. Great read.
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3 people found this helpful
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- graveydh
- 02-22-23
Fascinating
It was a great book. Really fun to listen to the personal perspectives from so many great scientists.
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- Molly Gordon
- 01-07-18
Great idea, disappointing execution
I very much enjoyed what there was in this book. My dissatisfaction is with what was not there. The author had something like five hours of conversation with each of the people he interviewed. The edited and abridged transcripts we have here, while intriguing and tasty, left me hungry for a real meal.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Angela
- 01-11-24
Everyone Should Read This Book
I laughed, I cried, I learned a lot. I sort of think everyone should read this book?
Now, please understand that I am NOT a reader of non-fiction - it simply doesn't engage my brain. I try occasionally and only very rarely do I get further than halfway through a non-fiction book. When I told my husband I thought he'd like the book I was listening to and that it was non-fiction, he looked at me like I'd spouted antlers and felt my forehead to see if I had a fever.
This book was perfect though: each chapter a bite-sized conversation with an expert in their given field. And the fields and subjects of discussion range from anthropology to molecular biology, cosmology to economics - there's literally something for everyone. Even the topics I wasn't interested in I was hooked by.
Yes, it's a wee bit dated now, but so what? The story of how Jane Goodall came to be Jane Freaking Goodall in her own words won't change with the passage of time.
I wish there were more of these - I'd buy them in a second.
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