13 Things That Don't Make Sense

The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time

By: Michael Brooks

Narrated by: James Adams

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Science starts to get interesting when things don't make sense.

Science's best-kept secret is that there are experimental results and reliable data that the most brilliant scientists can neither explain nor dismiss. In the past, similar "anomalies" have revolutionized our world, as in the 16th century, when a set of celestial anomalies led Copernicus to realize that the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the reverse, and in the 1770s, when two chemists discovered oxygen because of experimental results that defied the theories of the day. If history is any precedent, we should look to today's inexplicable results to forecast the future of science.

In 13 Things That Don't Make Sense, Michael Brooks heads to the scientific frontier to meet 13 modern-day anomalies and discover tomorrow's breakthroughs.

©2008 Michael Brooks (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Absolutely fascinating

This has been one of my favorite listens. I have listened to every chapter multiple times and get something new out of each listening. It is content dense, but so interesting.

Fascinating

One of the most fascinating presentations of challenges facing science. Should be required reading for all college students.

It's ok

The first few chapters are very interesting, but once the author shifts from physics and cosmology into biology and psychology watch out. Incredibly week arguments and examples leading to broad sweeping conclusions. If only the life sciences were treated with the same rigor as with physics, the book would not be a let down.

A Walk Through The High Weeds in Science

I am not a physicist, biologist or nuclear scientist. But as a (somewhat) normal human with a (reasonable) amount of curiosity, I found this book engaging. I admit to not following every science based nuance and facet that the author presented in these 13 anomalies of the scientific world but I did feel that Michael Brooks had dumbed down the intricacies as much as was possible for the lay reader and still preserve the essential ingredients of the Things.

If you were drawn to the title, you will be drawn into the book's intriguing facts. The narration is superb and it's the type of book that can handle a second or third listen, just to nail down some of the fine points you may have missed during the first listen. If you've already read a few reviews & like what they say, you will find the unreasonable 13 Things excellent fodder for your gray matter to chew upon.

If you decide against listening to or reading 13 Things That Don't Make Sense, Mr. Brooks will have to edit the title to then read: 14 Things That Don't Make Sense.

Fascinating and Fair

A fascinating overview written for lay people. The accuracy of the explanations does not suffer as a result of the simplicity. I am always on the lookout for bias in accounts of controversial topics. This struck me as very fair. The narration is also quite good.

Good for what it is

It's not uncommon for academics to write a book for "the rest of us," taking what is normally incredibly obscure data and explaining as best as possible in everyman language. This is one of those and the subject matter can be quite fascinating. That being said, be prepared for the material to still be somewhat dry. The science is fascinating, but read gets bogged down in some of the references and there are callouts to various science disciplines which, if I was reading the book I would have glanced over, but in the audio version they are read at the same pace as the main information. This not intended as a slight, but just the nature of academic based material. Also, typically the written book would have associated diagrams to illustrate the point. With science materials, there is a load of truth to the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words." Unfortuately in the audio version you have to endure all the words instead :) I liked the book, but but by the time it was over I was tired of the presentation.

Enjoyable at First, but Gets Increasingly Marginal

Brooks begins with some interesting musings on the mysteries of modern science (e.g., dark matter and dark energy), and manages to include the famous "WOW!" moment from 1977 when for a moment it looked like a radio telescope in Ohio had gotten a message from outer space. But as the book progresses he moves into increasingly paranormal territory (e.g., whether human beings have free will, or whether homeopathic medicine works). To call some of the topics he discusses "scientific" mysteries is a bit of a strain -- one senses that he started out with the idea of discussing "13 things," and then had to pad out the book with marginal topics in order to meet the pre-determined size of his list. It's still an interesting book for the most part, and the narrator does a good job -- too bad that Brooks couldn't find 13 strictly scientific mysteries to discuss.

More than just trivia

What did you like best about this story?

This audiobook was a pleasant surprise: scholarly but accessible, a mix of the big (is there dark matter?) and the small (what happened in cold fusion?) as well as life, death, and free will among others. As can be expected, there are no solutions here nor does Brooks really try to resolve these debates. Rather, he carefully lays out the arguments and counterarguments, the science for and against. What elevates this book above trivia or a bathroom browser is that many of these problems may never be fully resolved and as Brooks points out, that is the beauty of science – as we develop a greater understanding of our universe, it does not become more simple but rather more complex which in turn raises new questions. In this, 13 things is a loveletter to science and curiosity. I highly recommend it.

Great popular science write up

Loved it! such a great popular science book! it touches various different seemingly unrelated subjects but manages to keep a story line.

If you love to learn...

If you could sum up 13 Things That Don't Make Sense in three words, what would they be?

Fully fascinating facts.

Any additional comments?

While the author did have a clear agenda at times (despite his multiple warnings to be objective) the book provided a very interesting case study of 13 items science is currently unable to explain or that there is debate regarding. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to know what is going on or enjoys learning in general