Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain
UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 5 mins)
By Michael S. Gazzaniga
Narrated By Pete Larkin
Overall
(25)
Performance
(22)
Story
(23)
The father of cognitive neuroscience and author of Human offers a provocative argument against the common belief that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes and we are therefore not responsible for our actions.
Sean says:
"Good brain book, not really about free will"
Leading cognitive neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga offers a provocative argument against the belief that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes. Writing with what Steven Pinker has called “his trademark wit and lack of pretension”, Gazzaniga asserts that responsibility is found, not in brains, but in how people interact.
The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
UNABRIDGED (24 hrs and 44 mins)
By Ray Kurzweil
Narrated By George K. Wilson
Overall
(180)
Performance
(122)
Story
(122)
For over three decades, the great inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine.
Sean says:
"Great Idea, terribly slow and painful listen"
Ray Kurzweil, one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future, gives us a stunning look at a world where computer processing power catches up with that of the human brain, blurring the line between biological and machine intelligence.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Volume 15, Feynman on Electricity and Magnetism, Part 2
ORIGINAL (5 hrs and 38 mins)
By Richard Feynman
Overall
(13)
Performance
(2)
Story
(2)
For more than 30 years, Richard P. Feynman's three-volume Lectures on Physics has been known worldwide as the classic resource for students and professionals alike. Ranging from the most basic principles of Newtonian physics through such formidable theories as Einstein's general relativity, superconductivity, and quantum mechanics, Feynman's lectures stand as a monument of clear exposition and deep insight.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 39 mins)
By Susan Cain
Narrated By Kathe Mazur
Overall
(77)
Performance
(68)
Story
(69)
At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled "quiet," it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society--from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.
The guru to the gurus at last shares his knowledge with the rest of us. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's seminal studies in behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and happiness studies have influenced numerous other authors, including Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman at last offers his own, first book for the general public. It is a lucid and enlightening summary of his life's work. It will change the way you think about thinking. Two systems drive the way we think and make choices, Kahneman explains....
Mike says:
"Difficult Listen, but Probably a Great Read"
What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained
UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 12 mins)
By Robert L. Wolke
Narrated By Sean Runnette
Overall
(6)
Performance
(2)
Story
(2)
Why is red meat red? How do they decaffeinate coffee? Do you wish you understood the science of food but don't want to plow through dry, technical books? In What Einstein Told His Cook, University of Pittsburgh chemistry professor emeritus and award-winning Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides reliable and witty explanations for your most burning food questions, while debunking misconceptions and helping you interpret confusing advertising and labeling.
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells, taken without her knowledge, became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first immortal human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years.
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives
UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 19 mins)
By Leonard Mlodinow
Narrated By Sean Pratt
Overall
(1433)
Performance
(519)
Story
(503)
In this irreverent and illuminating audiobook, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, chance, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious causes, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 38 mins)
By Malcolm Gladwell
Narrated By Malcolm Gladwell
Overall
(2573)
Performance
(376)
Story
(372)
In The Tipping Point, New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell looks at why major changes in society happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a few fare-beaters and graffiti artists fuel a subway crime wave, or a satisfied customer fill the empty tables of a new restaurant. These are social epidemics, and the moment when they take off, when they reach their critical mass, is the Tipping Point.
Why we think it’s a great listen: You thought he was a stodgy scientist with funny hair, but Isaacson and Hermann reveal an eloquent, intense, and selfless human being who not only shaped science with his theories, but politics and world events in the 20th century as well. Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos.
We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people, one in 25, has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in 25 everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath.
In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
UNABRIDGED (19 hrs and 45 mins)
By Steven Levy
Narrated By L. J. Ganser
Overall
(1157)
Performance
(587)
Story
(586)
Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes listeners inside Google headquarters - the Googleplex - to explain how Google works.
Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long
UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 42 mins)
By David Rock
Narrated By Bob Walter
Overall
(549)
Performance
(329)
Story
(331)
Meet Emily and Paul: The parents of two young children, Emily is the newly promoted VP of marketing at a large corporation while Paul works from home or from clients' offices as an independent IT consultant. Their lives, like all of ours, are filled with a bewildering blizzard of emails, phone calls, yet more emails, meetings, projects, proposals, and plans. Just staying ahead of the storm has become a seemingly insurmountable task.
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing
UNABRIDGED (5 hrs and 32 mins)
By Lawrence M. Krauss
Narrated By Lawrence M. Krauss, Simon Vance
Overall
(47)
Performance
(43)
Story
(41)
Where did the universe come from? What was there before it? What will the future bring? And finally, why is there something rather than nothing? Krauss’ answers to these and other timeless questions, in a wildly popular lecture on YouTube, has attracted almost a million viewers. One of the few prominent scientists to have actively crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss reveals that modern science is indeed addressing the question of why there is something rather than nothing—with surprising and fascinating results.
Donald says:
"Reach Exceeds Grasp (Not Surprisingly)"
Can we live robustly until our last breath? Do we have to suffer from debilitating conditions and sickness? Is it possible to add more vibrant years to our lives? In The End of Illness, David B. Agus, MD, one of the world’s leading cancer doctors, researchers, and technology innovators, tackles these fundamental questions, challenging long-held wisdoms and dismantling misperceptions about what “health” means.
Beth says:
"what a scam, what a disappointment, what a mistake"
There is more information in the world than ever before, but who is in control? At the centre is the Establishment: governments, corporations and powerful individuals who have more knowledge about us, and more power, than at any other time in history.
The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World
ABRIDGED (6 hrs and 30 mins)
By John Robbins
Narrated By John Robbins
Overall
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Performance
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(0)
Here, the man who started the "food revolution" with the million-plus-selling Diet for a New America, boldly posits that, collectively, our personal diet can save ourselves and the world. If, according to chaos theory, the beating of a butterfly's wing can cause a hurricane in another part of the world, try this out for chaotic cause and effect: monarch butterflies are dying in droves due to genetically-engineered corn growing in the Midwest. There is also a direct correlation between the Big Mac in your hand and the mile-wide river now running across the North Pole.
Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre at the University of Bristol, Bruce M. Hood has been a research fellow at Cambridge, a visiting scientist at MIT, and a professor at Harvard. SuperSense is a fascinating exploration of the forces that shape people’s beliefs in the irrational - and also a compelling look at how these beliefs bind humans together in society.
Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World
UNABRIDGED (14 hrs and 24 mins)
By Lisa Randall
Narrated By Carrington MacDuffie
Overall
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Performance
(0)
Story
(0)
The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the world: its makeup, its evolution, and the fundamental forces that drive its operation. Knocking on Heaven's Door is an exhilarating and accessible overview of these developments and an impassioned argument for the significance of science. There could be no better guide than Lisa Randall. The best-selling author of Warped Passages is an expert in both particle physics and cosmology.
How to Leave Twitter: My Time as Queen of the Universe and Why This Must Stop
UNABRIDGED (4 hrs and 12 mins)
By Grace Dent
Narrated By Grace Dent
Overall
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Performance
(0)
Story
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Three years ago, columnist and author Grace Dent joined new social networking site Twitter, mainly as a place to dump her surplus jokes, rant about garbage TV, and post exclusive JPEGs of her hot new toenail varnish. But as every "Re-tweet" and "Follow Friday" saw her audience figures soar by tens of thousands, Dent found herself centre stage in an all-consuming highly addictive social network revolution. One where the gags, gossip, scandal, and backstabbing literally never stop.
Turn to Science News for the latest coverage of biology, astronomy, the physical sciences, behavioral sciences, math and computers, chemistry, and earth science. This 75-year-old publication is known for its sharp writing and up-to-date coverage of the latest scientific research. Since its debut in 1922, Science News has been committed to providing reports on scientific and technical developments that the layman would find interesting and easy to digest.
Your Mac Life, hosted by Shawn King, is one of the most popular Mac broadcasts in the world. Download and listen to this weekly, Web-based "radio show" about and for Apple and Mac users. Stay on top of the what's new in the world of Macs, listen to interviews with Mac-related newsmakers, and pick up technical tips to help you make the most of your Mac.
What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained
UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 12 mins)
By Robert L. Wolke
Narrated By Sean Runnette
Overall
(6)
Performance
(2)
Story
(2)
Why is red meat red? How do they decaffeinate coffee? Do you wish you understood the science of food but don't want to plow through dry, technical books? In What Einstein Told His Cook, University of Pittsburgh chemistry professor emeritus and award-winning Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides reliable and witty explanations for your most burning food questions, while debunking misconceptions and helping you interpret confusing advertising and labeling.
Finding Forgiveness: 30 Minutes on Letting Go of Resentment
UNABRIDGED (30 mins)
By Anne Marshall
Narrated By Anne Marshall
Overall
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Performance
(0)
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(0)
Finding forgiveness either for yourself, or for others, can sometimes be a really hard thing to do and yet it is so important for your own wellbeing because what you place your attention on plays a very large part in determining what you experience as real in the world. In this two part audio Anne Marshall offers suggestions to help you open up to the idea of extending forgiveness either to yourself, or to other people.
Stephen Hawking is one of the most remarkable figures of our time, a Cambridge genius who has earned international celebrity as a brilliant theoretical physicist and become an inspiration and revelation to those who have witnessed his courageous triumph over disability. This is Hawking's life story by Kitty Ferguson, who has had special help from Hawking himself and his close associates and who has a gift for translating the language of theoretical physics for non-scientists.
Turn to Science News for the latest coverage of biology, astronomy, the physical sciences, behavioral sciences, math and computers, chemistry, and earth science. This 75-year-old publication is known for its sharp writing and up-to-date coverage of the latest scientific research. Since its debut in 1922, Science News has been committed to providing reports on scientific and technical developments that the layman would find interesting and easy to digest.
Your Mac Life, hosted by Shawn King, is one of the most popular Mac broadcasts in the world. Download and listen to this weekly, Web-based "radio show" about and for Apple and Mac users. Stay on top of the what's new in the world of Macs, listen to interviews with Mac-related newsmakers, and pick up technical tips to help you make the most of your Mac.