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Mad Like Tesla
- Underdog Inventors and Their Relentless Pursuit of Clean Energy
- Narrated by: Peter Johnson
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
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Mad Like Tesla
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Nuclear power, flying machines, satellites - there was a time when all these technologies, now largely taken for granted, were considered impossible, and their advocates derided as lunatics. Indeed, Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla offers a telling reminder of underappreciated genius’ potency: his most noteworthy inventions, including alternating current (AC) and radio communication, are more widely used today than during his lifetime. Mad Like Tesla examines fringe inventors of the 21st century, many of them, like Tesla, working in the field of energy. Performer Peter Johnson introduces listeners to a litany of curious conservationists, attempting to harness energy from tornadoes, algae, nuclear fusion, and outer-space solar panels, among other sources. Johnson is fluid and direct while nevertheless betraying the inquisitive, thought-provoking nature of this unconventional anthology.
Publisher's summary
A search for the contemporary Nikola Tesla - considered a mad scientist by his society for predicting global warming more than 100 years ago - fuels this analysis of climate issues, which introduces thinkers and inventors who are working to find possible ways out of the energy crisis. From Louis Michaud, a retired refinery engineer who claims we can harness the energy of man-made tornadoes, to a professor and a businessman who are running a company that genetically modifies algae so it can secrete ethanol naturally, these individuals and their unorthodox methods are profiled through first-person interviews, exposing the social, economic, financial, and personal barriers that prevent them from making an impact with their ideas.
The existing state of green energy technologies, such as solar, wind, biofuels, smart grid, and energy storage, is also explored, creating a sense of hope against a backdrop of climate dread.
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Perhaps multiply his time estimates by 10
- By Rick on 11-06-21
By: Steven Kotler, and others
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Rocket Billionaires
- Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race
- By: Tim Fernholz
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 169
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
For the larger-than-life personalities now staking their fortunes on the development of rocket ships, the new race to explore space could be a dead end, a lucrative opportunity - or the key to humanity's salvation. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast-paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy, feed their own egos, and maybe even save the world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting book; hard to listen to
- By K. Thai on 04-12-18
By: Tim Fernholz
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Simply Electrifying
- The Technology That Transformed the World, from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk
- By: Craig R. Roach
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4 out of 5 stars 58
Simply Electrifying: The Technology That Transformed the World, from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk brings to life the 250-year history of electricity through the stories of the men and women who used it to transform our world: Benjamin Franklin, James Watt, Michael Faraday, Samuel F.B. Morse, Thomas Edison, Samuel Insull, Albert Einstein, Rachel Carson, Elon Musk, and more. In the process, it reveals for the first time the complete, thrilling, and often dangerous story of electricity's historic discovery, development, and worldwide application.
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2 out of 5 stars
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decent, but ended up disappointing.
- By Alexander Douglass on 12-28-18
By: Craig R. Roach
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Car Wars
- The Rise, the Fall, and the Resurgence of the Electric Car
- By: John Fialka
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
The resurgence of the electric car in modern life is a tale of adventurers, men and women who bucked the complete dominance of the fossil-fueled car to seek something cleaner, simpler and cheaper. Award-winning former Wall Street Journal reporter John Fialka documents the early days of the electric car, from the MIT/Caltech race between prototypes in the summer of 1968 to the 1987 victory of the Sunraycer in the world's first race featuring solar-powered cars.
By: John Fialka
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Getting Green Done
- Hard Truths From the Frontlines of Sustainability Revolution
- By: Auden Schendler
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4 out of 5 stars 55
Soccer moms drive Priuses. Sport utility vehicles are going hybrid. Families are using hemp shopping bags. More and more companies are developing "green" buildings. What's more, the business consultants say going green is easy and profitable. In reality, though, many green-leaning businesses, families, and governments are still fiddling with the small stuff while the planet burns. Why?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Green's Dirty Little Secrets
- By Martin on 07-10-09
By: Auden Schendler
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The Quest
- Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World
- By: Daniel Yergin
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 29 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 898
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 750
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 750
A master storyteller as well as a leading energy expert, Daniel Yergin continues the riveting story begun in his Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Prize. In The Quest, Yergin shows us how energy is an engine of global political and economic change and conflict, in a story that spans the energies on which our civilization has been built and the new energies that are competing to replace them. The Quest tells the inside stories, tackles the tough questions, and reveals surprising insights about coal, electricity, and natural gas.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best nonfiction book of 2011
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Daniel Yergin
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Beyond
- Our Future in Space
- By: Chris Impey
- Narrated by: Julie McKay
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4 out of 5 stars 67
Beyond dares to imagine a fantastic future for humans in space - and then reminds us that we're already there. Human exploration has been an unceasing engine of technological progress, from the first homo sapiens to leave our African cradle to a future in which mankind promises to settle another world. Beyond tells the epic story of humanity leaving home - and how humans will soon thrive in the vast universe beyond the Earth.
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4 out of 5 stars
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OTHER WORLDS
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 01-10-16
By: Chris Impey
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Sun in a Bottle
- The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking
- By: Charles Seife
- Narrated by: Bill Weideman
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 133
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4 out of 5 stars 73
For the past 50 years, governments and research teams have tried to bottle the sun with lasers, magnets, sound waves, and particle beams, struggling to harness the power of fusion. Again and again, they have failed, disgracing generations of scientists. Throughout this fascinating journey, Charles Seife introduces us to the daring geniuses, villains, and victims of fusion science.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Focused on the Lone Wolves
- By Robert Goldston on 11-14-08
By: Charles Seife
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The Boom
- How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World
- By: Russell Gold
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 250
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 209
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Story4 out of 5 stars 210
Russell Gold, a brilliant and dogged investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal, has spent more than a decade reporting on one of the biggest stories of our time: the spectacular, world-changing rise of "fracking". Recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a recipient of the Gerald Loeb Award for his work, Gold has traveled along the pipelines and into the hubs of this country’s energy infrastructure; he has visited frack sites from Texas to North Dakota; and he has conducted thousands of interviews with engineers and wildcatters, CEOs and roughnecks, environmentalists and politicians.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Somehow the author manages to stay balanced
- By Emily C on 05-28-14
By: Russell Gold
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The Great Oil Conspiracy
- How the U.S. Government Hid the Nazi Discovery of Abiotic Oil from the American People
- By: Jerome R. Corsi
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 252
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 222
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Story4 out of 5 stars 221
At the end of World War II, U.S. intelligence agents confiscated thousands of Nazi documents on what was known as the “Fischer-Tropsch Process” - a series of equations developed by German chemists unlocking the secrets of how oil is formed. When the Nazis took power, Germany had resolved to develop enough synthetic oil to wage war successfully, even without abundant national oil reserves.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Complete and total waste of time
- By Dustin on 07-25-14
By: Jerome R. Corsi
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Adapt
- Why Success Always Starts with Failure
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 273
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Story4 out of 5 stars 218
In this groundbreaking work, Tim Harford shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. Harford argues that today’s challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinions; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt. Deftly weaving together psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, and economics, along with compelling stories of hard-won lessons learned in the field, Harford makes a passionate case for the importance of adaptive trial-and-error....
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3 out of 5 stars
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Hidden Agenda
- By Lawrence on 05-20-13
By: Tim Harford
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The Case for Mars
- The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must
- By: Robert Zubrin, Richard Wagner, Arthur C. Clarke - Foreword
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 350
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 310
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 307
Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream - the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with engaging anecdotes. The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Compelling
- By Michael D. Busch on 04-16-18
By: Robert Zubrin, and others
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Flash Foresight
- How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible
- By: Daniel Burrus, John David Mann
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 230
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Today we all face more impossible challenges than ever before. But flash foresight lets you transform the impossible into the possible, revealing hidden opportunities and allowing you to solve your biggest problems before they happen.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Time Sensitive
- By Roy on 01-30-11
By: Daniel Burrus, and others
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The Idea Factory
- Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
- By: Jon Gertner
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 990
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 826
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 827
In The Idea Factory, New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner reveals how Bell Labs served as an incubator for scientific innovation from the 1920s through the1980s. In its heyday, Bell Labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today’s most exciting technologies.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great story -- horrible pauses
- By Rodney on 01-29-13
By: Jon Gertner
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Warnings
- Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes
- By: Richard A. Clarke, R.P. Eddy
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
Warnings is the story of the future of national security, threatening technologies, the US economy, and possibly the fate of civilization. In Greek mythology Cassandra foresaw calamities, but was cursed by the gods to be ignored. Modern-day Cassandras clearly predicted the disasters of Katrina, Fukushima, the Great Recession, the rise of ISIS, and many more. Like the mythological Cassandra, they were ignored. There are others right now warning of impending disasters, but how do we know which warnings are likely to be right?
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4 out of 5 stars
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On prediction, catastrophe and mitigation
- By S. Yates on 02-28-18
By: Richard A. Clarke, and others
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Space Chronicles
- Facing the Ultimate Frontier
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 760
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 701
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 695
With his signature wit and thought-provoking insights, Neil deGrasse Tyson - one of our foremost thinkers on all things space - illuminates the past, present, and future of space exploration and brilliantly reminds us why NASA matters now as much as ever. As Tyson reveals, exploring the space frontier can profoundly enrich many aspects of our daily lives, from education systems and the economy to national security and morale.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The least helpful review of Space Chronicles.
- By Joshua Kring on 06-17-15
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Everything All at Once
- How to Unleash Your Inner Nerd, Tap into Radical Curiosity and Solve Any Problem
- By: Bill Nye
- Narrated by: Bill Nye
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,492
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,374
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,366
Everything All at Once is an exciting, inspiring call to unleash the power of the nerd mindset that exists within us all. Nye believes we'll never be able to tackle our society's biggest, most complex problems if we don't even know how to solve the small ones. Step by step, he shows his listeners the key tools behind his everything-all-at-once approach: radical curiosity, a deep desire for a better future, and a willingness to take the actions needed to make it a reality.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Bill Nye is awesome, but skip this one
- By Evan on 08-15-17
By: Bill Nye
What listeners say about Mad Like Tesla
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- jeffrey d curry
- 08-08-15
Time flew
Enjoyed listening ,did not want audio to end,so much information I did not know got me up to speed on energy
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- T. Hradek
- 05-18-12
Good Readd
Where does Mad Like Tesla rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?
Its a good read much more about the energy economy and what's going on and how complicated it is.
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