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Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science

By: Bill Bryson
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  • Summary

  • Sunday Times best-selling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, teams up with The Science Museum to celebrate the ideas and inventions of the incurably curious.

    Across this five-episode series, Bill Bryson, with the help of The Science Museum's curators, takes us object-by-object through some of the museum's lesser known inventions and discoveries - and the human stories behind them.

    Discover how a teenage inventor, a pig's head, a lump of plywood and a famous British record label made medical history or how some inventions simply happen by accident. This 'museum for your ears' looks at how experimentation, competition, hard work and a desire to change our lives for the better have contributed to the progress of mankind.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 5 episodes to your Library now.
    ©2017 Audible, Ltd. (P)2017 Audible, Ltd.
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History & Culture Innovations
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Episodes
  • Ep. 1: Mapping the Earth

    Ep. 1: Mapping the Earth
    Feb 27 2018

    An object that helped create the first map of Britain and one at the forefront of climate-change research. Bill tells the stories of the Great Theodolite that was used on the principle triangulation of Britain, and AATSR (Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer) that measures the temperature of the sea from space.

    Both objects tell a story about why collaboration is so important in the field of scientific discovery from the teams that put together the first maps to the international fight against climate change. He is joined in this episode by Alex Rose, curator of Earth Sciences at the Science Museum.

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    16 mins
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  • Ep. 2: The Pioneers of Radio

    Ep. 2: The Pioneers of Radio
    Feb 27 2018
    Bill tells the story of the Italian Navy Detector that was devised by a humble scientist, Jagadish Chandra Bose, who could be regarded as one of India's greatest minds. And the more famous, Guillermo Marconi, and his quest to invent the Marconi Short-Wave Beam Transmitter. He is joined by John Liffen, the Science Museum's Curator of Communications.
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    22 mins
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  • Ep. 3: Life-Saving Clocks

    Ep. 3: Life-Saving Clocks
    Feb 27 2018
    Bill is joined by David Rooney, the Science Museum's Curator of Time, Navigation and Transport, who tells the story of the John Harrison Clock and the inventor's quest to solve the longitude problem.
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    14 mins
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What listeners say about Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science

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Profile Image for Gabriela

Very interesting

It was very instructive and left me wanting to know about more objects from this museum.

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More please

This series of shows is Interesting and entertaining. Keep them coming. You make them, I will listen and learn. Thank you

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Profile Image for STACEY

Interesting

I liked this and found it interesting and entertaining. I liked Bill as narrator. Great listen.

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Profile Image for R. MCRACKAN

Mixed bag

Fascinating facts with unexpectedly dull presentation. Which pains me to say because I love Bryson.

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review

simple short to the point. I wanted to see the London museum of science after hearing this.

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Profile Image for David

Fascinating, compelling and informative.

I love the sciences and to have access to such a well produced audiobook has made me very greatful for all the work that is involved.

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Loved It!

Bill Bryson has never failed to entertain me in print and now on audio. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

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Profile Image for Kevin

Entertaining and enlightening

Just as it promises, these episodes bring you a glimpse into the scientific world in a very creative way. Science can be hard to understand without visual models, but with this series, Bill Bryson has succeeded in painting the mental pictures you need to understand the content. I will be checking out his other work and books as well.

Thank you Bill Bryson, as well as those who helped him produce this podcast. I plan to be a loyal listener!

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Profile Image for Betsy Fowler

Tour of obscure scientific objects

This book is nicely written and narrated by Bill Bryson, with guest appearances by various curators at London's Science Museum. However, it is nearly impossible to follow this without images, so one comes away without any clear idea of how each object actually works.

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Profile Image for Beth

Genuinely educational, enlightening, WoW!

excellent, saavy, executive director of the subject matter entirely different from the others completely, brilliantly, well read

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