Zoom
From Atoms and Galaxies to Blizzards and Bees: How Everything Moves
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.83
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dan Woren
-
By:
-
Bob Berman
About this listen
From the speed of light to moving mountains - and everything in between, Zoom explores how the universe and its objects move.
If you sit as still as you can in a quiet room, you might be able to convince yourself that nothing is moving. But air currents are still wafting around you. Blood rushes through your veins. The atoms in your chair jiggle furiously. In fact, the planet you are sitting on is whizzing through space 35 times faster than the speed of sound.
Natural motion dominates our lives and the intricate mechanics of the world around us. In Zoom, Bob Berman explores how motion shapes every aspect of the universe, literally from the ground up. With an informative and entertaining style and a knack for distilling the wondrous, Berman spans astronomy, geology, biology, meteorology, and the history of science, uncovering how clouds stay aloft, how the earth's rotation curves a home run's flight, and why a mosquito's familiar whine resembles a telephone's dial tone.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
©2014 Bob Berman (P)2014 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Zapped
- From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light
- By: Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How much do you know about the radiation all around you? Your electronic devices swarm with it; the sun bathes you in it. It's zooming at you from cell towers, microwave ovens, CT scans, mammogram machines, nuclear power plants, deep space, even the walls of your basement. You cannot see, hear, smell, or feel it, but there is never a single second when it is not flying through your body. Too much of it will kill you, but without it you wouldn't live a year.
-
-
Wow, such a great book
- By johnathan on 11-16-21
By: Bob Berman
-
Earth-Shattering
- Violent Supernovas, Galactic Explosions, Biological Mayhem, Nuclear Meltdowns, and Other Hazards to Life in Our Universe
- By: Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Earth-Shattering, astronomy writer Bob Berman guides us through an epic, all-inclusive investigation into these instances of violence both mammoth and microscopic. From the sudden creation of dazzling "new stars" to the furiously explosive birth of our moon, from the uncomfortable truth about ultra-high-energy cosmic rays bombarding us to the incredible ways in which humanity has harnessed cataclysmic energy for its gain, Berman masterfully synthesizes some of our worst fears into an astonishing portrait of the universe.
-
-
Another great berman book
- By johnathan on 06-19-23
By: Bob Berman
-
The Skeptics' Guide to the Future
- What Yesterday's Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow
- By: Dr. Steven Novella, Bob Novella - contributor, Jay Novella - contributor
- Narrated by: Dr. Steven Novella
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE FUTURE, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
-
-
Thin gruel from the rogues
- By James Weisner on 11-27-22
By: Dr. Steven Novella, and others
-
The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
-
-
The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
-
How to Astronaut
- An Insider's Guide to Leaving Planet Earth
- By: Terry Virts
- Narrated by: Terry Virts
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Former NASA astronaut Terry Virts offers an insider's guide to astronauting—a behind-the-scenes look at the training, the basic rules, lessons, and procedures of space travel, including how to deal with a dead body in space, what it’s like to film an IMAX movie in orbit, what exactly to do when nature calls, and much more, in 51 brief chapters.
-
-
A Tough Review to Write
- By Todd R Fredricks on 03-27-21
By: Terry Virts
-
What If? 2
- Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
- By: Randall Munroe
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The millions of people around the world who loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on an erupting geyser? Okay, if you insist.
-
-
Interesting book, horrible narrator
- By Peter on 02-18-24
By: Randall Munroe
-
Zapped
- From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light
- By: Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How much do you know about the radiation all around you? Your electronic devices swarm with it; the sun bathes you in it. It's zooming at you from cell towers, microwave ovens, CT scans, mammogram machines, nuclear power plants, deep space, even the walls of your basement. You cannot see, hear, smell, or feel it, but there is never a single second when it is not flying through your body. Too much of it will kill you, but without it you wouldn't live a year.
-
-
Wow, such a great book
- By johnathan on 11-16-21
By: Bob Berman
-
Earth-Shattering
- Violent Supernovas, Galactic Explosions, Biological Mayhem, Nuclear Meltdowns, and Other Hazards to Life in Our Universe
- By: Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Earth-Shattering, astronomy writer Bob Berman guides us through an epic, all-inclusive investigation into these instances of violence both mammoth and microscopic. From the sudden creation of dazzling "new stars" to the furiously explosive birth of our moon, from the uncomfortable truth about ultra-high-energy cosmic rays bombarding us to the incredible ways in which humanity has harnessed cataclysmic energy for its gain, Berman masterfully synthesizes some of our worst fears into an astonishing portrait of the universe.
-
-
Another great berman book
- By johnathan on 06-19-23
By: Bob Berman
-
The Skeptics' Guide to the Future
- What Yesterday's Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow
- By: Dr. Steven Novella, Bob Novella - contributor, Jay Novella - contributor
- Narrated by: Dr. Steven Novella
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE FUTURE, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
-
-
Thin gruel from the rogues
- By James Weisner on 11-27-22
By: Dr. Steven Novella, and others
-
The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
-
-
The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
-
How to Astronaut
- An Insider's Guide to Leaving Planet Earth
- By: Terry Virts
- Narrated by: Terry Virts
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Former NASA astronaut Terry Virts offers an insider's guide to astronauting—a behind-the-scenes look at the training, the basic rules, lessons, and procedures of space travel, including how to deal with a dead body in space, what it’s like to film an IMAX movie in orbit, what exactly to do when nature calls, and much more, in 51 brief chapters.
-
-
A Tough Review to Write
- By Todd R Fredricks on 03-27-21
By: Terry Virts
-
What If? 2
- Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
- By: Randall Munroe
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The millions of people around the world who loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on an erupting geyser? Okay, if you insist.
-
-
Interesting book, horrible narrator
- By Peter on 02-18-24
By: Randall Munroe
-
Humble Pi
- When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World
- By: Matt Parker
- Narrated by: Matt Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.
-
-
Fascinating & enlightening even for da mathphobic✏️
- By C. White on 01-23-20
By: Matt Parker
-
Storm in a Teacup
- The Physics of Everyday Life
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Storm in a Teacup, Helen Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, and innovative medical testing.
-
-
Everyday Physics Thoroughly Explained
- By Amazon Customer on 01-19-17
By: Helen Czerski
-
Professor Maxwell's Duplicitous Demon
- The Life and Science of James Clerk Maxwell
- By: Brian Clegg
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Asked to name a great physicist, most people would mention Newton or Einstein, Feynman or Hawking. But ask a physicist and there’s no doubt that James Clerk Maxwell will be near the top of the list. Maxwell, an unassuming Victorian Scotsman, explained how we perceive color. He uncovered the way gases behave. And, most significantly, he transformed the way physics was undertaken in his explanation of the interaction of electricity and magnetism, revealing the nature of light and laying the groundwork for everything from Einstein’s special relativity to modern electronics.
-
-
Science writing done right
- By Erik Hill Reviews on 04-08-20
By: Brian Clegg
-
How Magicians Think
- Misdirection, Deception, and Why Magic Matters
- By: Joshua Jay
- Narrated by: Joshua Jay
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The door to magic is closed, but it’s not locked. And now Joshua Jay, one of the world’s most accomplished magicians, not only opens that door but brings us inside to reveal the artistry and obsessiveness, esoteric history, and long-whispered-about traditions of a subject shrouded in mystery. In 52 short, compulsively listenable essays, Jay describes how he does it, whether it’s through the making of illusions, the psychology behind them, or the way technology influences the world of magic.
-
-
Joshua Jay Delivers
- By Travis N. on 12-15-21
By: Joshua Jay
-
The End of Everything
- (Astrophysically Speaking)
- By: Katie Mack
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Katie Mack
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it expanded from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now?
-
-
My New Favorite!
- By Hannah Crazyhawk on 08-16-20
By: Katie Mack
-
What If?
- Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
- By: Randall Munroe
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent of the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there were a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last?
-
-
Hope You got an A in Math and Physics...
- By Rod on 09-13-14
By: Randall Munroe
-
What's Gotten into You
- The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner
- By: Dan Levitt
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth’s deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you’ve got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to forge a 3-inch nail. But how did these elements combine to make us human?
-
-
One of the Very Best Science Books I have Read
- By TStair on 03-20-23
By: Dan Levitt
-
Death by Black Hole
- And Other Cosmic Quandaries
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neil deGrasse Tyson has a talent for guiding readers through the mysteries of outer space with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm. This collection of his essays from Natural History magazine explores a myriad of cosmic topics. Tyson introduces us to the physics of black holes by explaining what would happen to our bodies if we fell into one; he also examines the needless friction between science and religion, and notes Earth's status as "an insignificantly small speck in the cosmos".
-
-
Well worth the time
- By Sarda on 04-19-07
-
Liquid Rules
- The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
- By: Mark Miodownik
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We all know that without water we couldn't survive, and that sometimes a cup of coffee or a glass of wine feels just as vital. But do we really understand how much we rely on liquids, or the destructive power they hold? Set over the course of a flight from London to San Francisco, Liquid Rules offers listeners a fascinating tour of these formless substances, told through the language of molecules, droplets, heartbeats, and ocean waves.
-
-
Interesting book!
- By Wayne on 08-04-19
By: Mark Miodownik
-
A Short History of Nearly Everything
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn't know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world's leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant.
-
-
The Only Book I reread imediatley after reading
- By Andrew on 11-09-09
By: Bill Bryson
-
Cosmos
- A Personal Voyage
- By: Carl Sagan
- Narrated by: LeVar Burton, Seth MacFarlane, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cosmos is one of the bestselling science books of all time. In clear-eyed prose, Sagan reveals a jewel-like blue world inhabited by a life form that is just beginning to discover its own identity and to venture into the vast ocean of space.
-
-
Over-acting voice actors
- By John on 11-09-17
By: Carl Sagan
-
Your Brain Is a Time Machine
- The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
- By: Dean Buonomano
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Your Brain Is a Time Machine, brain researcher and best-selling author Dean Buonomano draws on evolutionary biology, physics, and philosophy to present his influential theory of how we tell and perceive time. The human brain, he argues, is a complex system that not only tells time but creates it; it constructs our sense of chronological flow and enables "mental time travel" - simulations of future and past events.
-
-
Great book on an underrated subject
- By Neuron on 05-09-17
By: Dean Buonomano
Related to this topic
-
18 Miles
- The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather
- By: Christopher Dewdney
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live at the bottom of an ocean of air - 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth’s atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer - 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet, within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm - at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. With his keen eye for identifying and uniting seemingly unrelated events, Chris Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works and the structure of clouds and storms and seasons, the rollercoaster of climate.
-
-
10% science, 90% other stuff
- By Daniel W. Fox, Jr. on 10-09-20
-
What Einstein Didn't Know
- Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions
- By: Robert L. Wolke
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does soap know what's dirt? How do magnets work? Why do ice cubes crackle in your glass? And how can you keep them quiet? These are questions that torment us all. Now Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, provides definitive - and amazingly simple - explanations for the mysteries of everyday life.
-
-
A funny thing happened on the way to a great book
- By Joseph on 10-01-12
By: Robert L. Wolke
-
Five Billion Years of Solitude
- The Search for Life Among the Stars
- By: Lee Billings
- Narrated by: Lee Billings
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its formation nearly five billion years ago, our planet has been the sole living world in a vast and silent universe. Now, Earth's isolation is coming to an end. Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered thousands of "exoplanets" orbiting other stars, including some that could be similar to our own world. Studying those distant planets for signs of life will be crucial to understanding life's intricate mysteries right here on Earth. In a firsthand account of this unfolding revolution, Lee Billings draws on interviews with top researchers.
-
-
Bloated
- By Dr A on 01-09-14
By: Lee Billings
-
A Short History of Nearly Everything
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn't know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world's leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant.
-
-
The Only Book I reread imediatley after reading
- By Andrew on 11-09-09
By: Bill Bryson
-
When the Earth Had Two Moons
- Cannibal Planets, Icy Giants, Dirty Comets, Dreadful Orbits, and the Origins of the Night Sky
- By: Erik Asphaug
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1959, the Soviet probe Luna 3 took the first photos of the far side of the Moon. Even in their poor resolution, the images stunned scientists: The far side is an enormous mountainous expanse, not the vast lava plains seen from Earth. Subsequent missions have confirmed this in much greater detail. How could this be, and what might it tell us about our own place in the universe? As it turns out, quite a lot. When the Earth Had Two Moons is an astonishing exploration of planet formation and the origins of life by one of the world’s most innovative planetary geologists.
-
-
Poorly written, poorly narrated
- By RickyF on 05-11-23
By: Erik Asphaug
-
The Universe in Your Hand
- A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond
- By: Christophe Galfard
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christophe Galfard's mission in life is to spread modern scientific ideas to the general public in entertaining ways. Using his considerable skills as a brilliant theoretical physicist and successful young-adult author, The Universe in Your Hand employs the immediacy of simple, direct language to show us, not explain to us, the theories that underpin everything we know about our universe.
-
-
Awesome
- By AJ on 02-28-17
-
18 Miles
- The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather
- By: Christopher Dewdney
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live at the bottom of an ocean of air - 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth’s atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer - 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet, within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm - at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. With his keen eye for identifying and uniting seemingly unrelated events, Chris Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works and the structure of clouds and storms and seasons, the rollercoaster of climate.
-
-
10% science, 90% other stuff
- By Daniel W. Fox, Jr. on 10-09-20
-
What Einstein Didn't Know
- Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions
- By: Robert L. Wolke
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does soap know what's dirt? How do magnets work? Why do ice cubes crackle in your glass? And how can you keep them quiet? These are questions that torment us all. Now Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, provides definitive - and amazingly simple - explanations for the mysteries of everyday life.
-
-
A funny thing happened on the way to a great book
- By Joseph on 10-01-12
By: Robert L. Wolke
-
Five Billion Years of Solitude
- The Search for Life Among the Stars
- By: Lee Billings
- Narrated by: Lee Billings
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its formation nearly five billion years ago, our planet has been the sole living world in a vast and silent universe. Now, Earth's isolation is coming to an end. Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered thousands of "exoplanets" orbiting other stars, including some that could be similar to our own world. Studying those distant planets for signs of life will be crucial to understanding life's intricate mysteries right here on Earth. In a firsthand account of this unfolding revolution, Lee Billings draws on interviews with top researchers.
-
-
Bloated
- By Dr A on 01-09-14
By: Lee Billings
-
A Short History of Nearly Everything
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn't know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world's leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant.
-
-
The Only Book I reread imediatley after reading
- By Andrew on 11-09-09
By: Bill Bryson
-
When the Earth Had Two Moons
- Cannibal Planets, Icy Giants, Dirty Comets, Dreadful Orbits, and the Origins of the Night Sky
- By: Erik Asphaug
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1959, the Soviet probe Luna 3 took the first photos of the far side of the Moon. Even in their poor resolution, the images stunned scientists: The far side is an enormous mountainous expanse, not the vast lava plains seen from Earth. Subsequent missions have confirmed this in much greater detail. How could this be, and what might it tell us about our own place in the universe? As it turns out, quite a lot. When the Earth Had Two Moons is an astonishing exploration of planet formation and the origins of life by one of the world’s most innovative planetary geologists.
-
-
Poorly written, poorly narrated
- By RickyF on 05-11-23
By: Erik Asphaug
-
The Universe in Your Hand
- A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond
- By: Christophe Galfard
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christophe Galfard's mission in life is to spread modern scientific ideas to the general public in entertaining ways. Using his considerable skills as a brilliant theoretical physicist and successful young-adult author, The Universe in Your Hand employs the immediacy of simple, direct language to show us, not explain to us, the theories that underpin everything we know about our universe.
-
-
Awesome
- By AJ on 02-28-17
-
How to Speak Science
- Gravity, Relativity, and Other Ideas That Were Crazy Until Proven Brilliant
- By: Bruce Benamran, Stephanie Delozier Strobel
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As smartphones, supercomputers, supercolliders, and AI propel us into an ever more unfamiliar future, How to Speak Science takes us on a rollicking historical tour of the greatest discoveries and ideas that make today's cutting-edge technologies possible. Wanting everyone to be able to "speak" science, YouTube science guru Bruce Benamran explains - as accessibly and wittily as in his acclaimed videos - the fundamental ideas of the physical world: matter, life, the solar system, light, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, and much more.
-
-
Wowzers!
- By Ralph Temblador on 02-15-21
By: Bruce Benamran, and others
-
Space Chronicles
- Facing the Ultimate Frontier
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his signature wit and thought-provoking insights, Neil deGrasse Tyson - one of our foremost thinkers on all things space - illuminates the past, present, and future of space exploration and brilliantly reminds us why NASA matters now as much as ever. As Tyson reveals, exploring the space frontier can profoundly enrich many aspects of our daily lives, from education systems and the economy to national security and morale.
-
-
The least helpful review of Space Chronicles.
- By Joshua Kring on 06-17-15
-
Forces of Nature
- By: Professor Brian Cox, Andrew Cohen
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Complicated in its simplicity
- By Philomath on 06-13-17
By: Professor Brian Cox, and others
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Everything, Absolutely Everything!
- By Gillian on 03-09-17
By: Stuart Clark
-
Coming of Age in the Milky Way
- By: Timothy Ferris
- Narrated by: Timothy Ferris
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humans have long sought to comprehend the enormities of cosmic space and time. Here, best selling science writer Timothy Ferris tells the story of that quest. He interweaves the majestic themes of astronomy, physics, religion, and philosophy with fresh and lasting portraits of the men and women who created what has been called our society's most precious treasure - its conception of the universe at large.
-
-
Brief survey of discovery from Columbus to now
- By serine on 01-23-16
By: Timothy Ferris
-
The Story of Earth
- The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet
- By: Robert M. Hazen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth evolves. From first atom to molecule, mineral to magma, granite crust to single cell to verdant living landscape, ours is a planet constantly in flux. In this radical new approach to Earth’s biography, senior Carnegie Institution researcher and national best-selling author Robert M. Hazen reveals how the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere - of rocks and living matter - has shaped our planet into the only one of its kind in the Solar System, if not the entire cosmos.
-
-
Makes minerals interesting
- By Gary on 07-31-12
By: Robert M. Hazen
-
Exoplanets
- Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar Planets, and the New Search for Life Beyond Our Solar System
- By: Michael Summers
- Narrated by: Jon Bennett
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its 2009 launch, the Kepler satellite has discovered more than 2,000 exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. More exoplanets are being discovered all the time, remarkable in their variety. Astronomer Michael Summers and physicist James Trefil explore these remarkable recent discoveries: planets revolving around pulsars, planets made of diamond, planets that are mostly water, and numerous rogue planets wandering through the emptiness of space.
-
-
FINALLY, an Attention-Grabbing Planet Book!
- By aaron on 05-11-17
By: Michael Summers
-
The Disappearing Spoon
- And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it’s never been seen before. Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
-
-
Great Book, Great Narration, But...
- By Henny Button on 09-18-10
By: Sam Kean
-
The Planets
- By: Professor Brian Cox, Andrew Cohen
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mercury, a lifeless victim of the Sun’s expanding power. Venus, once thought to be lush and fertile, now known to be trapped within a toxic and boiling atmosphere. Mars, the red planet, doomed by the loss of its atmosphere. Jupiter, twice the size of all the other planets combined, but insubstantial. Saturn, a stunning celestial beauty, the jewel of our Solar System. Uranus, the sideways planet and the first ice giant. Neptune, dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds. Pluto, the dwarf planet, a frozen rock.
-
-
baroque and flowery verbiage
- By Chris on 01-14-20
By: Professor Brian Cox, and others
-
Confessions of an Alien Hunter
- A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- By: Seth Shostak
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This engaging memoir reveals the true story of the Search for ExtraterrestrialIntelligence (SETI), and discloses what we may very soon discover. Chronicling the program’s history with insight and humor, SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak assures us that if there is sentient life in the universe, we are within decades of picking up its signal.
-
-
Somewhat Disappointed...
- By Tim on 11-12-10
By: Seth Shostak
-
Sync
- How Order Emerges from Chaos in the Universe, Nature, and Daily Life
- By: Steven Strogatz
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once elegant and riveting, Sync tells the story of the dawn of a new science. Steven Strogatz, a leading mathematician in the fields of chaos and complexity theory, explains how enormous systems can synchronize themselves, from the electrons in a superconductor to the pacemaker cells in our hearts. He shows that although these phenomena might seem unrelated on the surface, at a deeper level there is a connection, forged by the unifying power of mathematics.
-
-
Engaging, but maybe better suited for non-audio
- By Ryan on 05-26-12
By: Steven Strogatz
-
The Complete (Short) Guide to Absolutely Everything
- Adventures in Math and Science
- By: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
- Narrated by: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide listeners through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe.
-
-
Humour and understandability.
- By Chris B on 09-08-24
By: Adam Rutherford, and others
What listeners say about Zoom
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- johnathan
- 01-10-23
Love bobs books
Another great book by bob berman, he keeps your attention the entire book with some great stories that you’ve never heard before.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mark Vance
- 11-12-15
Solid Interesting fun and Informative.
Recommended highly. Good balance of fun and info. Good reader as well. Looking forward to a sequel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dave B
- 01-26-20
Not bad, expecting a little more
It wasn't a bad book I think I was just expecting a little more. Most of the book was fine, it's just that I felt certain chapters were lacking. I do not regret purchasing or listening to this book. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- irene
- 07-03-16
Excellent
Where does Zoom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Top 5.
What did you like best about this story?
Just plain interesting but the narrator really makes a difference in this one, too.
What does Dan Woren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Exactly how to get the point across whether the point is interesting or downright humorous.
Any additional comments?
This book will captivate you with facts but Bob Berman's humor is as good as it gets.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dann
- 08-28-14
Good info
Some really interesting stuff in here. Some stuff bared repeating to get all the info and understand it. I liked it, good stuff.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wesley
- 01-08-24
the category it was placed in on my phone
it was placed in a sexual genre that I don't understand especially considering it's about science. the speed of things, physics, etc.
other than that unrelated nonsense the book was ok.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- -Dr. D.L.C.
- 02-19-21
Very interesting book about 'movement '!
I thought it would be somewhat boring, but to my surprise, it was very interested informative. I especially liked the information about snow and germs, seasons and wildlife, and the myths about water flow at the equator as well as the (actual) location of the equator to vwhich many tourists are oblivious.
I enjoyed nerding out listening to this book and dare I add, I wish the book was longer 😉
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DIOMEDEXSZ
- 11-13-21
I JUST FINISHED LISTENING TO THE WHOLE THING
~ Explanative narrative tour thru life's journey & existential trek.
~ I got so addicted to listening to it that I had to listen even in my sleep, but I finally finished listening, & will listen again.
~ It helps so much that there is a PDF file to go along with it. I would have been taking notes constantly.
~ The narrator does a great job of merging the story of facts & figures so well that it is seamless in performance.
~ If you don't have the full PDF with the full text narrative then go here:
https://www.pdfdrive.com/zoom-how-everything-moves-from-atoms-and-galaxies-to-blizzards-and-bees-d166683707.html
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- serine
- 01-23-16
a new way to think about old things
Berman looks at the very ordinary and well studied concept of motion and applies a novel lens. His fresh perspective made reading this book really fun. It is written for anyone with any level of education in the sciences, including no formal education.
Chapter 17 provided the best explanation of entanglement/quantum vs relativity that I have ever read. Without overwhelming his reader with extremely detailed scientific information (most of the time, I actually prefer the heavy science), Berman provides a shockingly simple and yet shockingly complete explanation of how observation affects reality, the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paper that mocked quantum theory, the new experiments that demonstrate how spooky action at a distance is indeed real, and how it affects our perception of speed/light speed.
I crave novelty and get really excited when an author can serve up the same old stuff on a brand new platter, and every chapter of this book did just that. It was deliciously satisfying. Some of the subjects Berman addresses are:
- Motion itself. Temperature and motion are the same thing. True motionless means reaching a state of infinite cool.
- The universe did not have a big bang as much as slow motion explosion that you are still in at this very moment.
- (I love his humor) When Newton wrote the Principia, he "proved that the sun's gravity should make planets travel in elliptical paths, **thus effectively awarding Kepler a posthumous 1600 SAT score**." (emphasis added)
- Our scientific observations themselves are very self centered. Humans can only recognize patterns that are in close rhythm with their own heartbeats. This is why we can recognize the crickets chirp as a pattern, since it only deviates from the rhythm of our heart beat by about 50%. But, we don't recognize the owl hoot as a pattern because it is not in rhythm with our own heartbeat. Mosquito sounds like it is making a constant annoying noise, that is either and a sharp or a D. The rubbing of their wings is indeed a distinct pattern but it is too fast for us to contact since it deviates to far from the rhythm of our heart beat.
- Boiling hot coffee in one state in the U.S. is not the same temp as boiling hot coffee in another state. The hottest coffee in Denver is 10 degrees cooler than the hottest coffee in Boston.
- The magic motion of hydrogen and oxygen (great chapter!)
- Unexpected facts about radiation (so entertaining)
- An excellent story of the personal life of a film/photography pioneer who set us on the road of developing the incredible movie watching experience we enjoy today
- The motion of cells, animals, and the universe at large (makes you appreciate your place in the universe)
- How we think we know space is flat (again, great, simple explanation)
My brain was so happy the entire time I read this book. A+
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jpo
- 02-24-23
Fun and informative
Very enjoyable and informative. Highly recommended. An interesting perspective on the universe and motion. Recommend
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!