-
Sleeping Beauties
- The Mystery of Dormant Innovations in Nature and Culture
- Narrated by: Ulf Bjorklund
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Sleeping Beauties
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 473
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 473
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Life Finds a Way
- What Evolution Teaches Us About Creativity
- By: Andreas Wagner
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
In Life Finds a Way, biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural creativity. Rarely is either a linear climb to perfection - instead, "progress" is typically marked by a sequence of peaks, plateaus, and pitfalls. For instance, in Picasso's 40-some iterations of Guernica, we see the same combination of small steps, incessant reshuffling, and large, almost reckless, leaps that characterize the way evolution transformed a dinosaur's grasping claw into a condor's soaring wing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
New favorite complexity book!
- By Anonymous User on 08-01-19
By: Andreas Wagner
-
Arrival of the Fittest
- Solving Evolution's Greatest Puzzle
- By: Andreas Wagner
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 298
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 299
In Arrival of the Fittest, renowned evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner draws on over 15 years of research to present the missing piece in Darwin's theory. Using experimental and computational technologies that were heretofore unimagined, he has found that adaptations are not just driven by chance, but by a set of laws that allow nature to discover new molecules and mechanisms in a fraction of the time that random variation would take.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Robustness makes for an interesting life and book
- By Gary on 11-29-14
By: Andreas Wagner
-
Size
- How It Explains the World
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 6
Size explains the regularities—and peculiarities—of the key processes shaping life (from microbes to whales), the Earth (from asteroids to volcanic eruptions), technical advances (from architecture to transportation), and societies and economies (from cities to wages).
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Worth a read
- By Rurik McKaiser on 05-21-23
By: Vaclav Smil
-
Fancy Bear Goes Phishing
- The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks
- By: Scott J. Shapiro
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
It’s a signal paradox of our times that we live in an information society but do not know how it works. And without understanding how our information is stored, used, and protected, we are vulnerable to having it exploited. In Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Scott J. Shapiro draws on his popular Yale University class about hacking to expose the secrets of the digital age. With lucidity and wit, he establishes that cybercrime has less to do with defective programming than with the faulty wiring of our psyches and society.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I can't seem to like this book...
- By Ken Vanden branden on 07-23-23
By: Scott J. Shapiro
-
The Coming Wave
- Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
- By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar - contributor
- Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 545
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 494
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 493
We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy. None of us are prepared. As co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind, Mustafa Suleyman has been at the center of this revolution. The coming decade, he argues, will be defined by this wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Click bait
- By Buyer on 09-11-23
By: Mustafa Suleyman, and others
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 473
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 473
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Life Finds a Way
- What Evolution Teaches Us About Creativity
- By: Andreas Wagner
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
In Life Finds a Way, biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural creativity. Rarely is either a linear climb to perfection - instead, "progress" is typically marked by a sequence of peaks, plateaus, and pitfalls. For instance, in Picasso's 40-some iterations of Guernica, we see the same combination of small steps, incessant reshuffling, and large, almost reckless, leaps that characterize the way evolution transformed a dinosaur's grasping claw into a condor's soaring wing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
New favorite complexity book!
- By Anonymous User on 08-01-19
By: Andreas Wagner
-
Arrival of the Fittest
- Solving Evolution's Greatest Puzzle
- By: Andreas Wagner
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 298
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 299
In Arrival of the Fittest, renowned evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner draws on over 15 years of research to present the missing piece in Darwin's theory. Using experimental and computational technologies that were heretofore unimagined, he has found that adaptations are not just driven by chance, but by a set of laws that allow nature to discover new molecules and mechanisms in a fraction of the time that random variation would take.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Robustness makes for an interesting life and book
- By Gary on 11-29-14
By: Andreas Wagner
-
Size
- How It Explains the World
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 6
Size explains the regularities—and peculiarities—of the key processes shaping life (from microbes to whales), the Earth (from asteroids to volcanic eruptions), technical advances (from architecture to transportation), and societies and economies (from cities to wages).
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Worth a read
- By Rurik McKaiser on 05-21-23
By: Vaclav Smil
-
Fancy Bear Goes Phishing
- The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks
- By: Scott J. Shapiro
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
It’s a signal paradox of our times that we live in an information society but do not know how it works. And without understanding how our information is stored, used, and protected, we are vulnerable to having it exploited. In Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Scott J. Shapiro draws on his popular Yale University class about hacking to expose the secrets of the digital age. With lucidity and wit, he establishes that cybercrime has less to do with defective programming than with the faulty wiring of our psyches and society.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I can't seem to like this book...
- By Ken Vanden branden on 07-23-23
By: Scott J. Shapiro
-
The Coming Wave
- Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
- By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar - contributor
- Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 545
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 494
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 493
We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy. None of us are prepared. As co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind, Mustafa Suleyman has been at the center of this revolution. The coming decade, he argues, will be defined by this wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Click bait
- By Buyer on 09-11-23
By: Mustafa Suleyman, and others
-
The Parrot and the Igloo
- Climate and the Science of Denial
- By: David Lipsky
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
In 1956, the New York Times prophesied that once global warming really kicked in, we could see parrots in the Antarctic. In 2010, when science deniers had control of the climate story, Senator James Inhofe and his family built an igloo on the Washington Mall and plunked a sign on top: AL GORE'S NEW HOME: HONK IF YOU LOVE CLIMATE CHANGE. In The Parrot and the Igloo, bestselling author David Lipsky tells the astonishing story of how we moved from one extreme (the correct one) to the other.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Depressing
- By Watch Hill on 08-13-23
By: David Lipsky
-
The Blue Machine
- How the Ocean Works
- By: Helen Czerski
- Narrated by: Helen Czerski
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23
All of Earth’s oceans, from the equator to the poles, are a single engine powered by sunlight, driving huge flows of energy, water, life, and raw materials. In The Blue Machine, physicist and oceanographer Helen Czerski illustrates the mechanisms behind this defining feature of our planet, voyaging from the depths of the ocean floor to tropical coral reefs, estuaries that feed into shallow coastal seas, and Arctic ice floes. Timely, elegant, and passionately argued, The Blue Machine presents a fresh perspective on what it means to be a citizen of an ocean planet.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful knowledge locked into much detail
- By S Bell on 11-07-23
By: Helen Czerski
-
The Deepest Map
- The High-Stakes Race to Chart the World’s Oceans
- By: Laura Trethewey
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 3
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 3
Five oceans—the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, the Arctic, and the Southern—cover approximately 70 percent of the earth. Yet we know little about what lies beneath them. By the early 2020s, less than twenty-five percent of the ocean’s floor has been charted, most close to shorelines, and over three quarters of the ocean lies in in what is called the Deep Sea, depths below a thousand meters.
By: Laura Trethewey
-
Knowing What We Know
- The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is Simon Winchester’s brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Colorful anecdotes but tiring after a while.
- By reader on 05-03-23
By: Simon Winchester
-
The Primacy of Doubt
- From Quantum Physics to Climate Change, How the Science of Uncertainty Can Help Us Understand Our Chaotic World
- By: Tim Palmer
- Narrated by: Tim Palmer
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 9
Why does your weather app say “there’s a 10 percent chance of rain” instead of “it will be sunny”? In large part, this is due to the insight of award-winning physicist Tim Palmer, who pioneered the introduction of uncertainty into weather and climate prediction. Now, he wants to apply it to how we study everything else.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Regarding God
- By @DrCarlHoffman on 02-03-23
By: Tim Palmer
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 775
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 657
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 651
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,824
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,256
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,248
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
Undeniable
- Evolution and the Science of Creation
- By: Bill Nye
- Narrated by: Bill Nye
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6,419
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,834
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,813
Sparked by a controversial debate in February 2014, Bill Nye has set off on an energetic campaign to spread awareness of evolution and the powerful way it shapes our lives. In Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, he explains why race does not really exist; evaluates the true promise and peril of genetically modified food; reveals how new species are born, in a dog kennel and in a London subway; takes a stroll through 4.5 billion years of time; and explores the new search for alien life, including aliens right here on Earth.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Leasurly read for those who don't want equations
- By AxeanaB on 02-05-15
By: Bill Nye
-
On the Origin of Time
- Stephen Hawking's Final Theory
- By: Thomas Hertog
- Narrated by: Ethan Kelly
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Perhaps the biggest question Stephen Hawking tried to answer in his extraordinary life was how the universe could have created conditions so perfectly hospitable to life. In order to solve this mystery, Hawking studied the big bang origin of the universe, but his early work ran into a crisis when the math predicted many big bangs producing a multiverse—countless different universes, most of which would be far too bizarre to harbor life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superb
- By Joe Carroll on 07-11-23
By: Thomas Hertog
-
Transformer
- The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death
- By: Nick Lane
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 159
For decades, biology has been dominated by the study of genetic information. Information is important, but it is only part of what makes us alive. Our inheritance also includes our living metabolic network, a flame passed from generation to generation, right back to the origin of life. In Transformer, biochemist Nick Lane reveals a scientific renaissance that is hiding in plain sight-how the same simple chemistry gives rise to life and causes our demise.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
You need lot of chemistry to get it
- By 11104 on 09-05-22
By: Nick Lane
-
The Experience Machine
- How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality
- By: Andy Clark
- Narrated by: Andy Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
For as long as we’ve studied human cognition, we’ve believed that our senses give us direct access to the world. What we see is what’s really there—or so the thinking goes. But new discoveries in neuroscience and psychology have turned this assumption on its head. What if rather than perceiving reality passively, your mind actively predicts it?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
About halfway through, it became propaganda
- By Jesse Helton on 08-13-23
By: Andy Clark
-
Pathogenesis
- A History of the World in Eight Plagues
- By: Jonathan Kennedy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Kennedy
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 75
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 75
According to the accepted narrative of progress, humans have thrived thanks to their brains and brawn, collectively bending the arc of history. But in this revelatory book, Professor Jonathan Kennedy argues that the myth of human exceptionalism overstates the role that we play in social and political change. Instead, it is the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Devolves into political advocacy
- By Mark Fackler on 04-29-23
By: Jonathan Kennedy
Publisher's summary
Life innovates constantly, producing perfectly adapted species—but there's a catch.
Many animals and plants eke out seemingly unremarkable lives. Passive, constrained, modest, threatened. Then, in a blink of evolutionary time, they flourish spectacularly. Once we start to look, these 'sleeping beauties' crop up everywhere. But why?
Looking at the book of life, from apex predators to keystone crops, and informed by his own cutting-edge experiments, renowned scientist Andreas Wagner demonstrates that innovations can come frequently and cheaply to nature, well before they are needed. We have found prehistoric bacteria that harbor the remarkable ability to fight off twenty-first-century antibiotics. And human history fits the pattern too, as life-changing technologies are invented only to be forgotten, languishing in the shadows before they finally take off.
In probing the mysteries of these sleeping beauties, Wagner reveals a crucial part of nature's rich and strange tapestry.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Arrival of the Fittest
- Solving Evolution's Greatest Puzzle
- By: Andreas Wagner
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 298
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 299
In Arrival of the Fittest, renowned evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner draws on over 15 years of research to present the missing piece in Darwin's theory. Using experimental and computational technologies that were heretofore unimagined, he has found that adaptations are not just driven by chance, but by a set of laws that allow nature to discover new molecules and mechanisms in a fraction of the time that random variation would take.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Robustness makes for an interesting life and book
- By Gary on 11-29-14
By: Andreas Wagner
-
Creation
- How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself
- By: Adam Rutherford
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 42
What is life? Humans have been asking this question for thousands of years. But as technology has advanced and our understanding of biology has deepened, the answer has evolved. For decades, scientists have been exploring the limits of nature by modifying and manipulating DNA, cells, and whole organisms to create new ones that could never have previously existed on their own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Goldilocks book on what is life
- By Gary on 07-11-13
By: Adam Rutherford
-
Life's Engines
- How Microbes Made Earth Habitable
- By: Paul G. Falkowski
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 327
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 287
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 286
Paul Falkowski looks "under the hood" of microbes to find the engines of life, the actual working parts that do the biochemical heavy lifting for every living organism on Earth. With insight and humor, he explains how these miniature engines are built - and how they have been appropriated by and assembled like Lego sets within every creature that walks, swims, or flies. Falkowski shows how evolution works to maintain this core machinery of life, and how we and other animals are veritable conglomerations of microbes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best Science Book Ever Written. Period.
- By serine on 07-28-15
-
Biomimicry
- Innovation Inspired by Nature
- By: Janine M. Benyus
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Biomimicry is rapidly transforming life on earth. Biomimics study nature's most successful ideas over the past 3.5 million years, and adapt them for human use. The results are revolutionizing how materials are invented and how we compute, heal ourselves, repair the environment, and feed the world. Janine Benyus takes listeners into the lab and in the field with maverick thinkers as they: discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they're sick; learn how to create by watching spiders weave fibers; and many more examples.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dated but good
- By stephen taylor on 09-05-21
By: Janine M. Benyus
-
The Vital Question
- Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life
- By: Nick Lane
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,166
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,031
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,020
The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies, and cities. Yet there's a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In The Vital Question, award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a solution to conundrums that have puzzled generations of scientists.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Ouch!
- By Mark on 06-24-16
By: Nick Lane
-
A Series of Fortunate Events
- Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You
- By: Sean B. Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean B. Carroll
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
Why is the world the way it is? How did we get here? Does everything happen for a reason, or are some things left to chance? Philosophers and theologians have pondered these questions for millennia, but startling scientific discoveries over the past half century are revealing that we live in a world driven by chance. A Series of Fortunate Events tells the story of the awesome power of chance and how it is the surprising source of all the beauty and diversity in the living world.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
We are for a short time.
- By Anonymous User on 10-14-20
By: Sean B. Carroll
-
Arrival of the Fittest
- Solving Evolution's Greatest Puzzle
- By: Andreas Wagner
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 298
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 299
In Arrival of the Fittest, renowned evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner draws on over 15 years of research to present the missing piece in Darwin's theory. Using experimental and computational technologies that were heretofore unimagined, he has found that adaptations are not just driven by chance, but by a set of laws that allow nature to discover new molecules and mechanisms in a fraction of the time that random variation would take.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Robustness makes for an interesting life and book
- By Gary on 11-29-14
By: Andreas Wagner
-
Creation
- How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself
- By: Adam Rutherford
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 42
What is life? Humans have been asking this question for thousands of years. But as technology has advanced and our understanding of biology has deepened, the answer has evolved. For decades, scientists have been exploring the limits of nature by modifying and manipulating DNA, cells, and whole organisms to create new ones that could never have previously existed on their own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Goldilocks book on what is life
- By Gary on 07-11-13
By: Adam Rutherford
-
Life's Engines
- How Microbes Made Earth Habitable
- By: Paul G. Falkowski
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 327
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 287
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 286
Paul Falkowski looks "under the hood" of microbes to find the engines of life, the actual working parts that do the biochemical heavy lifting for every living organism on Earth. With insight and humor, he explains how these miniature engines are built - and how they have been appropriated by and assembled like Lego sets within every creature that walks, swims, or flies. Falkowski shows how evolution works to maintain this core machinery of life, and how we and other animals are veritable conglomerations of microbes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best Science Book Ever Written. Period.
- By serine on 07-28-15
-
Biomimicry
- Innovation Inspired by Nature
- By: Janine M. Benyus
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Biomimicry is rapidly transforming life on earth. Biomimics study nature's most successful ideas over the past 3.5 million years, and adapt them for human use. The results are revolutionizing how materials are invented and how we compute, heal ourselves, repair the environment, and feed the world. Janine Benyus takes listeners into the lab and in the field with maverick thinkers as they: discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they're sick; learn how to create by watching spiders weave fibers; and many more examples.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dated but good
- By stephen taylor on 09-05-21
By: Janine M. Benyus
-
The Vital Question
- Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life
- By: Nick Lane
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,166
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,031
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,020
The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies, and cities. Yet there's a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In The Vital Question, award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a solution to conundrums that have puzzled generations of scientists.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Ouch!
- By Mark on 06-24-16
By: Nick Lane
-
A Series of Fortunate Events
- Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You
- By: Sean B. Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean B. Carroll
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
Why is the world the way it is? How did we get here? Does everything happen for a reason, or are some things left to chance? Philosophers and theologians have pondered these questions for millennia, but startling scientific discoveries over the past half century are revealing that we live in a world driven by chance. A Series of Fortunate Events tells the story of the awesome power of chance and how it is the surprising source of all the beauty and diversity in the living world.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
We are for a short time.
- By Anonymous User on 10-14-20
By: Sean B. Carroll
-
The Ancestor's Tale
- A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 548
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 476
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 468
In The Ancestor's Tale, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins offers a masterwork: an exhilarating reverse tour through evolution, from present-day humans back to the microbial beginnings of life four billion years ago. Throughout the journey, Dawkins spins entertaining, insightful stories and sheds light on topics such as speciation, sexual selection, and extinction. The Ancestor's Tale is at once an essential education in evolutionary theory and riveting in its telling.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Please do an unabridged version!
- By MovieExpertise on 09-29-16
By: Richard Dawkins
-
The Blind Watchmaker
- Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,790
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,414
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,385
The Blind Watchmaker, knowledgably narrated by author Richard Dawkins, is as prescient and timely a book as ever. The watchmaker belongs to the 18th-century theologian William Paley, who argued that just as a watch is too complicated and functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed. Charles Darwin's brilliant discovery challenged the creationist arguments; but only Richard Dawkins could have written this elegant riposte.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Challenging textbook more than an enjoyable listen
- By Eric on 01-15-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
The Equations of Life
- How Physics Shapes Evolution
- By: Charles S. Cockell
- Narrated by: Ian Porter
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 132
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 111
In The Equations of Life, biologist Charles S. Cockell makes the forceful argument that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve, making evolution's outcomes predictable. If we were to find something very much like a lady bug eating something very much like an aphid on a distant planet, we shouldn't be surprised. The forms of life are guided by a limited set of rules, and, as a result, there is a narrow set of solutions to the challenges of existence.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too many equations, not enough insights
- By Alec Drumm on 09-24-18
-
Why Evolution Is True
- By: Jerry A. Coyne
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,915
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,432
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,428
Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact. In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design", there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned: the evidence, the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
As great as everyone says it is
- By Joseph on 12-01-10
By: Jerry A. Coyne
-
How to Build a Dinosaur
- Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever
- By: Jack Horner, James Gorman
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
In movies, in novels, in comic strips, and on television, we've all seen dinosaurs - or at least somebody's educated guess of what they would look like. But what if it were possible to build, or grow, a real dinosaur without finding ancient DNA? Jack Horner, the scientist who advised Steven Spielberg on the blockbuster film Jurassic Park and a pioneer in bringing paleontology into the 21st century, teams up with the editor of the New York Times's Science Times section to reveal exactly what's in store.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good book but misplaced title
- By Robert on 06-19-15
By: Jack Horner, and others
-
Origin Story
- A Big History of Everything
- By: David Christian
- Narrated by: Jamie Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,885
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,880
Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History", the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A brilliant achievement, must read/listen
- By 11104 on 09-05-18
By: David Christian
-
Population Wars
- A New Perspective on Competition and Coexistence
- By: Greg Graffin
- Narrated by: Tom Zingarelli
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 109
From the very beginning, life on Earth has been defined by war. Today, those first wars continue to be fought around and literally inside us, influencing our individual behavior and that of civilization as a whole. War between populations - whether between different species or between rival groups of humans - is seen as an inevitable part of the evolutionary process. The popular concept of "the survival of the fittest" explains and often excuses these actions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Life Changing Book. No other like it.
- By Abraham R. Herrick-Rough on 05-16-16
By: Greg Graffin
-
Life on the Edge
- The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology
- By: Johnjoe McFadden, Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 393
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 340
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 338
Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: Nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
More woo than new
- By Gary on 09-09-15
By: Johnjoe McFadden, and others
-
How to Clone a Mammoth
- The Science of De-Extinction
- By: Beth Shapiro
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
Could extinct species, like mammoths and passenger pigeons, be brought back to life? The science says yes. In How to Clone a Mammoth, Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist and pioneer in "ancient DNA" research, walks listeners through the astonishing and controversial process of de-extinction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very Readable Take on a Complex Subject
- By John on 04-26-15
By: Beth Shapiro
-
Pandora's Seed
- The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization
- By: Spencer Wells
- Narrated by: Spencer Wells
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 167
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 68
This new book by Spencer Wells, the internationally known geneticist, anthropologist, author, and director of the Genographic Project, focuses on the seminal event in human history: mankind's decision to become farmers rather than hunter-gatherers.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Short and unfocused, but often quite interesting.
- By Alan on 06-23-10
By: Spencer Wells
-
The Lives of a Cell
- Notes of a Biology Watcher
- By: Lewis Thomas
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
In The Lives of a Cell, Dr. Lewis Thomas opens up to the listener a universe of knowledge and perception that is perhaps not wholly unfamiliar to the research scientist; but the world he explores is also one of men and women, of complex interrelationships, old ironies, peculiar powers, and intricate languages that give identity to the alienated and direction to the dependent. This remarkable work offers a subtle, bold vision of humankind and the world around us - a sense of what gives life - from a writer who seems to draw grace and strength from the very substance of his subject.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So enlightening and enjoyable!
- By Flora on 03-15-18
By: Lewis Thomas
-
A Little History of the World
- By: E. H. Gombrich
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,946
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,305
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,291
E. H. Gombrich's world history, an international best seller now available in English for the first time, is a text dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements, and an acute witness to its frailties.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
an enlightening book; very well read
- By A.B.Oxford on 06-03-06
By: E. H. Gombrich
What listeners say about Sleeping Beauties
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- A.G
- 10-28-23
Great overview of how evolution emerges again and again
Overall a great overview of how evolution emerges from the cellular level up to social and technological levels. It can feel a bit slow in the in the introduction but it’s worth sticking with.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- bob
- 07-11-23
popularized
I wish this had been more into the science rather than the "story". It seemed to be greatly simplified, I guess to make it palatable to a greater common denominator.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful