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Pulp Physics  By  cover art

Pulp Physics

By: Dr. Richard Berendzen
Narrated by: Richard Berendzen
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Publisher's summary

In this unscripted recording, renowned astrophysicist Dr. Richard Berendzen takes you on a journey through space and time that is captivating from the moment he begins to speak. Acting as your personal tour guide through the galaxy, Dr. Berendzen enthusiastically shares his expertise in this conventional - yet comprehensive - introduction to physics and astronomy. Enjoy the best of both worlds: an expert's knowledge in a user-friendly format!
©2000 by Dr. Richard Berendzen (P)2000 by The Publishing Mills

What listeners say about Pulp Physics

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    118
  • 4 Stars
    91
  • 3 Stars
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Performance
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Story
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

The universe, from the begining(?) to tomorrow

Having listened to other books read by their authors, I was at first wary.
This author made me feel that he was talking personally to me; talking and explaining everything I could want to know about our whole world. Not once did I feel he was reading from a book or script.
He explains what is known about our Earth and the whole universe, from start to finish, dealing with history, philosophers, scientists, physicists, mathematics . . . starting with the ancients, and their perceptions of their world, up to the use of all the latest modern equipment and theories available to mankind in his efforts to understand where, what and why?
The threads are continuous, leading logically from one discovery/realization to another; from a flat Earth to telescopes to gravity and on through vast distances to the gradual realization that we are just a small item and a small solar system in one of a huge number of galaxies.
The book presents a truly good listen that can be appreciated by any inquiring mind, from 12 years old up to the oldest of us.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Pulp Physics is insightful history

This book has fascinating insights into many historical situations of physics. It carries its message in simple conversational style. It is almost complete to the present day. It's omission is the acceleration of expansion of the galaxies. I am a 30 year teacher of college physics, now retired. I believe anyone from highschool to graduate school would be well served in understanding the progress of science by reading this book(or listening). The coverage is broad, but he has wonderful treatements of Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and cosmology in general. I recommend this book without reservation.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Get it

If you are remotely interested in the history of astrophysics then get it. His style is great and even though you are listening he does a great job of putting pictures in your head. Even my wife who is not interested in physics loved his stories. It is the right length and very easy listening for such a deep topic.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Grandpa Simpson tells the history of physics

My title pretty much sums up how I felt about this one. Don't get me wrong--it's not a bad read. It's reasonably informative and the writing is acceptable. Mostly I was just bored with it, though that was because it was almost all rehashed material for me. I stuck with it because every once in a while the guy says something that is just so unrelated and random (think Grandpa Simpson's rambling stories), I laughed out loud while running on the treadmill. So it was good for a laugh once in a while and I picked up a few new factoids here and there. Not a great popular science book, or a great book at all, but not too bad.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Pulp Physics

This is an excellent introduction to science and ought to be required listening (or reading) for novice and expert physicists/astronomers alike. Dr. Berendzen's folksy style plays very well in audio format and is very enjoyable even in the low-fidelity formats (1,2). I have only one factual quibble with Dr. Berendzen's material - Galileo's eye problems were not caused by sighting the sun directly through a telescope. It is well known that Galileo observed the sun indirectly by veiwing a projection of the sun on a piece of notebook paper on which he traced the sunspots. Rather, it was Galileo's habit of sharing his telescope eyepieces with many people that facilitated infection of his eyes.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Pulp Physics

Excellent book. There are many books that changes your life, this is one of those.

For those of you who would like to know about our world and the discoveries that now shape our lives, this is the book for you.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

I do not recommend this audiobook.

I feel the author was lucky that the title "Pulp Physics" had not been taken. The title promises a level of sophistication and sexiness that the book does not even begin to approach. Even though the book is full of facts and real scientific delving, the tone suites the book better for children, not serious readers or thinkers. Or grown-ups.

Annoyingly, and for a professor of Science, surprisingly, the author is painfully apologetic toward religion. This nullifies any interest his discourse may be raising in the complex subject of science. And, in no small part, adds to the book's drudgery and senility.

Dr. Berendzen is knowledgeable in the area of physics, cosmology, mathematics and science history. There is no question about that. However, he is not a narrator. The content not withstanding, his reading deeply diminishes the quality of the audiobook. His efforts, in places, to channel Dr. Sagan's style only underscores the weakness of the product.

There are many Science titles on Audible that are far superior to this one, in content, style and delivery. I do not recommend this audiobook.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

A Rambling Lecture

This "audio book" is more correctly described as a rambling lecture. There is a lot of good, basic introductory material here, but if you are looking for something other than a primer this lecture is not for you. There a many repetitive statements, and the material has almost no structure that I can discern. It seems to move from topic to topic, place to place, theme to theme without much sense. But, if you are looking for an introduction to the variety of knowledge that makes up the science of physics, by all means this is a good choice. Just be prepared to hear similar, if not identical, bits and pieces of information several times.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The most amazing book on the Cosmos ever!

What did you love best about Pulp Physics?

This book tells the whole story...from beginning to end, who the players were, what accomplishments they had made to the study of Astonomy, as well as a chronological order of how this science came about. It clearly brings you from a novice to almost a full-blown Astonomer in just over 9 hours! the author is awesome in explaining the planets, the orbits, the stars...the whole cosmic story...in easy to understand language and thought! I did not think I would be so interested in the Cosmos as I am now after reading this book. I thoroughly understand what this Physicist is talking about, and I am just a beginner trying to understand these concepts for the first time. If you love Astronomy, but don't know much about the Cosmos or where it was founded, I highly recommend this book!

What did you like best about this story?

The storyline is chronological and easy to follow...

Which scene was your favorite?

The whole book

Was there a moment in the book that particular moved you?

I loved the definitions about the different and varying stars/planets.

Any additional comments?

Author is spectacular! I can't seem to find anything else from him...I will keep searching...even if I have to look into the Cosmos!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great overview of Science

You'll feel like you're getting a private lecture on science. A great listen.

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1 person found this helpful