The Canon

A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science

By: Natalie Angier

Narrated by: Nike Doukas

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Buckle up for a joy ride through physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. Drawing on conversations with hundreds of the world's top scientists and her own work as an award-winning science writer, Natalie Angier does the impossible: she makes science fascinating and seriously fun, even for those of us who, in Angier's words, "still can't tell the difference between a proton, a photon, and a moron".

Most of the profound questions we will explore in our lives (such as those involving evolution, global warming, or stem cells) have to do with science. So do a lot of everyday things, like our ice-cream melting, our coffee getting cold, and our vacuum cleaner running (or not). What does our liver do when we eat a caramel? How does the horse demonstrate evolution at work? Are we really made of stardust? (Yes we are.)

In The Canon, Lewis Thomas meets Lewis Carroll in a book destined to become a modern classic, because it quenches our curiosity, sparks our interest in the world around us, reignites our childhood delight in discovering how things work, and instantly makes us smarter.

This is a playful, passionate, ebullient guide to the science all around us by a Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author.

©2007 Natalie Angier (P)2007 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"A pleasurable and nonthreatening guide for anyone baffled by science." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Every sentence sparkles with wit and charm...it all adds up to an intoxicating cocktail of fine science writing." (Richard Dawkins)

Uninteresting and Unentertaining

I purchased this audio book based on my delight in reading Bryson's book A Short History of nearly Everything (or something like that) and based on the professional reviews posted. Boy, was I dissappointed! I've listened to the agonizing long introduction, the first two chapters and the beginning of 3 more chapters. There is NO logical formation to relaying any information - it's just sort of "stream of conciousness" writing. If something can be said in 10 words, this writer has to use three times that many words, causing me to loose interest in what she started out to say, even if I was interested in the first place. One enlightening point in her introduction is her dismay as how many people she meets who don't read her newspaper science columns - that should have been an alarm to her that her writing is so awful, at least as it relates to science. I didn't learn anything from what I listened to; I wasn't entertained and it's not interesting - so what is the point of the book? I'm very sorry that I wasted the money on it! This publisher and writer certainly could not offer a satisfaction money back guarantee, or they would be giving back most of what they took in. Bill Byrson's book is great - this book not even in the same universe.

do NOT buy this one...

Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" - is SO much better! She's not covering half of the things Bill Bryson does. And IF you'll make yourself to listen to it once, you will not be able to make yourself listen to it second time. On the positive side you'll be more concentrated on the road.

Terminally Cute

Everytime the author seemed on the verge of informing or educating me, she inserted a "cute side comment" grounded in pop culture that served to disrupt my concentration and take me away from the subject at hand. I am not sure why she feels that science needs "dumbing" down, in order to sell books, but it detracted from the listening experience. I will make sure that I never purchase another of her audio books. I will not recommend it to anyone.