Sean

As noted by several other readers the buddhist approach to teaching difficult religious and philosophical concepts translates beautifully to teaching difficult scientific concepts. His Holiness does a wonderful job of taking complex scientific discussions and reducing them to concepts that can be grasped by the average listener. Of course, some of the detail is lost in this translation, but on the whole this book contains a good explanation of both its subject matters.

That being said this is a very difficult book to read in audio format. One of the failings of the audio format is that in technical discussions you do not have the ability to set the book down and ponder the issues raised. As both the religious/philosophical questions raised by his holiness and the scientific concepts discussed need a fair amount of time for contemplation this is one book that may be better for those with at least a rudimentary understanding of both subject matters.

Like the remainder of the books in the Narnia series this one is quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, each of the audiobooks in the series has been done by a different reader. This breaks up the continuum a little, but Kenneth Brannaugh does a spectacular job with this story.

As it is thematically the first book and in my opinion the best read this book makes a fine introduction to the Narnia series.