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When Einstein Walked with Gödel
- Excursions to the Edge of Thought
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
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Publisher's summary
From Jim Holt, New York Times best-selling author of Why Does the World Exist?, comes When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought, an entertaining and accessible audiobook guide to the most profound scientific and mathematical ideas of recent centuries
Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot. In this audiobook, Holt offers a painless and playful introduction to many of our most beautiful but least understood ideas, from Einsteinian relativity to string theory, and also invites listeners to consider why the greatest logician of the 20th century believed the US Constitution contained a terrible contradiction - and whether the universe truly has a future.
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- Euler’s Formula and the Beauty of Mathematics
- By: David Stipp
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Bertrand Russell wrote that mathematics can exalt "as surely as poetry". This is especially true of one equation: ei(pi) + 1 = 0, the brainchild of Leonhard Euler, the Mozart of mathematics. More than two centuries after Euler's death, it is still regarded as a conceptual diamond of unsurpassed beauty. Called Euler's identity, or God's equation, it includes just five numbers but represents an astonishing revelation of hidden connections.
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Good treatment of the subject
- By Kindle Customer on 04-09-18
By: David Stipp
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A Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable
- Brief Histories
- By: Brian Clegg
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the street to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.' Douglas Adams, Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.We human beings have trouble with infinity - yet infinity is a surprisingly human subject. Philosophers and mathematicians have gone mad contemplating its nature and complexity - yet it is a concept routinely used by schoolchildren. Exploring the infinite is a
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Really not great in Audio, not great otherwise
- By Michael on 03-29-13
By: Brian Clegg
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Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Jeff Crawford
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun. Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful “imagination-extenders and focus-holders” meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will.
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Loved it, but some philosophy background needed.
- By LongerILiveLessIKnow on 11-14-13
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A Beginner’s Guide to Reality
- Exploring Our Everyday Adventures in Wonderland
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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A unique fusion of philosophy and metaphysics set against the backdrop of contemporary culture. Have you ever wondered if the world is really there when you're not looking? We tend to take the reality of our world very much for granted. This book will lead you down the rabbit hole in search of something we can point to, hang our hats on, and say this is real.
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A real great listen on the nature of reality
- By Patrick Mabry, Jr. on 07-30-14
By: Jim Baggott
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The Story of Western Science
- From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Far too often, public discussion of science is carried out by journalists, voters, and politicians who have received their science secondhand. The Story of Western Science shows us the joy and importance of reading groundbreaking science writing for ourselves and guides us back to the masterpieces that have changed the way we think about our world, our cosmos, and ourselves.
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Good text, tedious book structure
- By Diane K. on 10-07-15
By: Susan Wise Bauer
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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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Einstein and the Quantum
- The Quest of the Valiant Swabian
- By: A. Douglas Stone
- Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Einstein and the Quantum reveals for the first time the full significance of Albert Einstein's contributions to quantum theory. Einstein famously rejected quantum mechanics, observing that God does not play dice. But, in fact, he thought more about the nature of atoms, molecules, and the emission and absorption of light - the core of what we now know as quantum theory - than he did about relativity.
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educational and fun
- By Amjad on 12-04-13
By: A. Douglas Stone
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The Big Picture
- On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
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ABSOLUTE MUST READ!
- By serine on 05-12-16
By: Sean Carroll
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The Invention of Science
- A New History of the Scientific Revolution
- By: David Wootton
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history. The Invention of Science goes back 500 years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently.
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A Good Read Spoiled
- By David A. Donnelly on 12-23-16
By: David Wootton
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Equations via audio are tuff
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A Most Elegant Equation
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Bertrand Russell wrote that mathematics can exalt "as surely as poetry". This is especially true of one equation: ei(pi) + 1 = 0, the brainchild of Leonhard Euler, the Mozart of mathematics. More than two centuries after Euler's death, it is still regarded as a conceptual diamond of unsurpassed beauty. Called Euler's identity, or God's equation, it includes just five numbers but represents an astonishing revelation of hidden connections.
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Good treatment of the subject
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Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire
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Broad collection of specific physics applications
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Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of the classic The First Three Minutes, Weinberg shares his views on some of the most fundamental and fascinating aspects of physics and the universe. But he does not seclude science behind disciplinary walls or shy away from politics, taking on what he sees as the folly of manned spaceflight, the harms of inequality, and the importance of public goods. His point of view is rationalist, realist, reductionist, and devoutly secularist.
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In 1939, Richard Feynman, a brilliant graduate of MIT, arrived in John Wheeler's Princeton office to report for duty as his teaching assistant. A lifelong friendship and enormously productive collaboration was born, despite sharp differences in personality. The soft-spoken Wheeler, though conservative in appearance, was a raging nonconformist full of wild ideas about the universe. The boisterous Feynman was a cautious physicist who believed only what could be tested. Yet they were complementary spirits.
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The Joy of x
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Many people take math in high school and promptly forget much of it. But math plays a part in all of our lives all of the time, whether we know it or not. In The Joy of x, Steven Strogatz expands on his hit New York Times series to explain the big ideas of math gently and clearly, with wit, and insight.
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Great listen
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An Introduction to Information Theory
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Behind the familiar surfaces of the telephone, radio, and television lies a sophisticated and intriguing body of knowledge known as information theory. This is the theory that has permitted the rapid development of all sorts of communication, from color television to the clear transmission of photographs from the vicinity of Jupiter. Even more revolutionary progress is expected in the future.
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Not bad, but...
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Euclid's Window
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Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
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Wow!
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What listeners say about When Einstein Walked with Gödel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Scientific Wrestling
- 10-01-18
An enjoyable romp through the history of science!
What a fantastic audiobook for those interested in the history and philosophy of science and math. Highly recommended!!
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- BB
- 10-04-21
Enjoyed
I'll say it again, Science Rocks! This book has a ton of history of physics in it. I found that interesting and useful... It didn't really work off the title as much but it made up for it with a world of what might have been said in the two principal characters walks... Buy it!
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- Mackenzie
- 07-29-20
Very fascinating
Great book lots of different stories about a lot of different bright minds. Really enjoyed I would advise not listening if your distracted because you will miss a lot. Very simulating.
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- Daniel S. Poulin
- 08-02-19
Often pretentious, occasionally intriguing
It wasn't until after I purchased the book did I realize that this isn't a book at all, but a collection of the author's journalistic writings. That was a little disappointing when I was looking for something in the vein of Carlo Rivelli's "reality is not what it seems".
There are a few articles featured that excited me, not because of their direct edification, but because they gave me a glimpse into areas of higher mathematics and logic that I was not aware of and find myself drawn to learn more about.
On the other hand, I found the section of articles on philosophical topics to be full of bull. That is, a lot of noise amounting to little meaning.
The author's style itself grated on me throughout. He has a propensity to end his articles with punchy half jokes that are clearly meant to say "think more on this" but which come across more like "now here's a bit of elitist humor I can clue you in on. please, admire my wit". He also has a tendency to pull historical figures apart seemingly without aim. I don't mind contrary views on who thought up what first, but it just seemed like a fruitless engagement in drama, amidst otherwise interesting topics.
Regarding the voicing, well that was distractingly dry as well. In places that maybe could have used some emotional expression, we're left with vacant recitation. Knowing some french, and given the amount of phrases in it that the author uses, the narrator's awful pronunciation was also a distraction. I don't know German, but some of the German words and names also came across sounding over emphasized. I've heard this narrator before and in combination with some writings he can be tolerable if not appropriate of tone, but definitely not for this writing.
In short, if you're looking to expand your concepts of reality and gain insight into recent thinking from the scientific community, be prepared to be distracted by a lot of fluff in between a few gems. Hell, even if you're just looking for historical insights on important figures, there's scant of worth here.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Susan A. Henninger
- 11-24-18
Narration stops abruptly near “end??” !!!
Well written and presented. A bit too much about philosophers for my taste but definitely worth reading.
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- Christopher
- 05-12-19
great information, interesting history,
one play through was not enough for me. this book covers a lot of ground and over a long period of time. anyone who has interested in math and science will enjoy this book. it's not as dry as some science history retelling and also goes into detail of the personality's of some of the greatest minds in making the world what it is today.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 05-21-21
Less about Einstein and Gödel
This wasn't what I was expecting (which was more on Einstein and Gödel), but I enjoyed this quite a bit. Holt covered the major ideas of philosophy, science and mathematics. It was a journey through the extremeties of human thought [I just realised that the sub-title is 'Excursions to the Edge of Thought :)]. These are the topics that I would discuss with a friend, if I had a friend who would discuss them! Holt is easy to read and not pushy of any particular position, although he does push back on certain ideas and ideologies. I'd happily read his other books.
The narrator worked really well for this.
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- Robert
- 10-17-18
Fantastic
A combination of storytelling, scientific explanation, history, and philosophical argument. Anybody with broad intellectual interests will find something.
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- David
- 11-02-20
The Full Range of Thought - Sublimity to Abyssmal
This book is a great exposition of thought from mathematics and the very difficult concepts of infinity, unprovability, incompleteness and randomness - the heights of math and physics - to many topics that include the abysmal waste of thought of philosophers spending their time on, and wasting publications pace with, the stupidest pursuits possible (the mirror paradox, the Doom-Soon concept and other meaningless uiltra-deep wastes of intellect that some people get away with as having 'published'). The stunning spectrum of coverage given the many solid, worthy ideas is very impressive and highly enjoyable, but you have also to have the patience to work through the meaningless drivel Mr. Holt included in this work.
The narration is also very well done but Mr. Stifel has a few foibles that can be irritating in terms of the pronunciation of certain words..... for example the word is COS*MOS* not CozMUS. Hearing it said CozMUS a few times is excusable. Fifty times becomes irritating - at least to me.
Good, very worthwhile book overall.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Stan Letovsky
- 01-22-19
Delightful
Holt is a talented scientiific and literary essayist in the mold of Gould, Thomas, or Sacks, but in seldom popularized topics in mathematics, logic and philosophy. He mixes historical anecdotes and explanations into a compelling narrative. The narration survived 1.5x speed up.
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