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Human Universe  By  cover art

Human Universe

By: Professor Brian Cox, Andrew Cohen
Narrated by: Samuel West
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Publisher's summary

Human life is a staggeringly strange thing. On the surface of a ball of rock falling around a nuclear fireball in the blackness of a vacuum, the laws of nature conspired to create a naked ape that can look up at the stars and wonder where it came from. What is a human being? Objectively, nothing of consequence. Particles of dust in an infinite arena, present for an instant in eternity. Clumps of atoms in a universe with more galaxies than people. Yet a human being is necessary for the question itself to exist, and the presence of a question in the universe - any question - is the most wonderful thing. Questions require minds, and minds bring meaning. What is meaning? I don't know, except that the universe and every pointless speck inside it means something to me. I am astonished by the existence of a single atom and find my civilisation to be an outrageous imprint on reality. I don't understand it. Nobody does, but it makes me smile.

This book asks questions about our origins, our destiny, and our place in the universe. We have no right to expect answers; we have no right to even ask. But ask and wonder we do. Human Universe is first and foremost a love letter to humanity - a celebration of our outrageous fortune in existing at all.

I have chosen to write my letter in the language of science, because there is no better demonstration of our magnificent ascent from dust to paragon of animals than the exponentiation of knowledge generated by science. Two million years ago we were apemen. Now we are spacemen. That has happened, as far as we know, nowhere else. That is worth celebrating.

©2016 Professor Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Cox's romantic, lyrical approach to astrophysics all adds up to an experience that feels less like homework and more like having a story told to you. A really good story, too." ( Guardian)
"He bridges the gap between our childish sense of wonder and a rather more professional grasp of the scale of things." ( Independent)
"If you didn't utter a wow watching the TV, you will while reading the book." ( The Times)
"Engaging, ambitious and creative." ( Guardian)
"In this book of the acclaimed BBC2 TV series, Professor Cox shows us the cosmos as we have never seen it before - a place full of the most bizarre and powerful natural phenomena." ( Sunday Express)
"Will entertain and delight...what a priceless gift that would be." ( Independent on Sunday)

What listeners say about Human Universe

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Listened to it three times and still love it

I'm blown away that this only has 13 ratings on Audible as of writing. Incredibly underrated audiobook. Samuel West does a fantastic job and Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen's writing is truly extraordinary. I've listened to this three times and read the book once (about to re-read it very soon) and it's one of my personal favorites.

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Poetic and informative

I never knew science could be so poetic and informative in the same time, like this!

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1 person found this helpful