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The Science of Discworld
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Michael Fenton Stevens, Stephen Briggs
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
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Publisher's summary
Not just another science audiobook and not just another Discworld novella, The Science of Discworld is a creative, mind-bending mash-up of fiction and fact, that offers a wizard’s-eye view of our world that will forever change how you look at the universe.
Can Unseen University’s eccentric wizards and orangutan Librarian possibly shed any useful light on hard, rational Earthly science?
In the course of an exciting experiment, the wizards of Discworld have accidentally created a new universe. Within this universe is a planet that they name Roundworld. Roundworld is, of course, Earth, and the universe is our own. As the wizards watch their creation grow, Terry Pratchett and acclaimed science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen use Discworld to examine science from the outside. Interwoven with the Pratchett’s original story are entertaining, enlightening chapters which explain key scientific principles such as the Big Bang theory and the evolution of life on Earth, as well as great moments in the history of science.
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What is the nature of the material world? How does it work? What is the universe and how was it formed? What is life? Where do we come from and how did we evolve? How and why do we think? What does it mean to be human? How do we know? There are many different versions of our creation story. This book tells the version according to modern science. It is a unique account, starting at the Big Bang and travelling right up to the emergence of humans as conscious intelligent beings, 13.8 billion years later.
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Interesting book, but WOW, the narrator ...
- By UH on 01-10-17
By: Jim Baggott
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The Equations of Life
- How Physics Shapes Evolution
- By: Charles S. Cockell
- Narrated by: Ian Porter
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Too many equations, not enough insights
- By Alec Drumm on 09-24-18
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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
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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.
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Challenging textbook more than an enjoyable listen
- By Eric on 01-15-12
By: Richard Dawkins
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The Science of Rick and Morty
- The Unofficial Guide to Earth's Stupidest Show
- By: Matt Brady
- Narrated by: Joe Hempel
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Blending biology, chemistry, and physics basics with accessible - and witty-prose, The Science of Rick and Morty equips you with the scientific foundation to thoroughly understand Rick's experiments from the show, such as how we can use dark matter and energy, just what is intelligence hacking, and whether or not you can really control a cockroach's nervous system with your tongue. Perfect for longtime and new fans of the show, this is the ultimate segue into discovering more about our complicated and fascinating universe.
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Some good science in here?
- By Darin Harbert on 02-06-20
By: Matt Brady
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The Disappearing Spoon
- And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it’s never been seen before. Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
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Great Book, Great Narration, But...
- By Henny Button on 09-18-10
By: Sam Kean
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A Most Improbable Journey
- A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves
- By: Walter Alvarez
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Big History, the field that studies the entire known past of our universe to give context to human existence, has so far been the domain of historians. Geologist Walter Alvarez - best known for his Impact Theory explaining dinosaur extinction - makes a compelling case for a new, science-first approach to Big History.
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Learned so much
- By Niki on 12-09-18
By: Walter Alvarez
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The Universe in the Rearview Mirror
- How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality
- By: Dave Goldberg
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A physicist speeds across space, time, and everything in between showing that our elegant universe from the Higgs boson to antimatter to the most massive group of galaxies is shaped by hidden symmetries that have driven all our recent discoveries about the universe and all the ones to come. Why is the sky dark at night? Is it possible to build a shrink-ray gun? If there is antimatter, can there be antipeople? Why are past, present, and future our only options? Are time and space like a butterfly's wings? No one but Dave Goldberg, the coolest nerd physicist on the planet, could give a hyper-drive tour of the universe like this one.
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Good, but for whom?
- By Michael on 08-31-13
By: Dave Goldberg
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Five Billion Years of Solitude
- The Search for Life Among the Stars
- By: Lee Billings
- Narrated by: Lee Billings
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Since its formation nearly five billion years ago, our planet has been the sole living world in a vast and silent universe. Now, Earth's isolation is coming to an end. Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered thousands of "exoplanets" orbiting other stars, including some that could be similar to our own world. Studying those distant planets for signs of life will be crucial to understanding life's intricate mysteries right here on Earth. In a firsthand account of this unfolding revolution, Lee Billings draws on interviews with top researchers.
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Bloated
- By Dr A on 01-09-14
By: Lee Billings
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The Varieties of Scientific Experience
- A Personal View of the Search for God
- By: Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan - editor
- Narrated by: Adrienne C. Moore, Ann Druyan
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The late great astronomer and astrophysicist describes his personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos. Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, Sagan presents his views on a wide range of topics, including the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets, creationism and so-called intelligent design.
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Sagan's lectures about the possibility of God
- By David T. on 11-13-17
By: Carl Sagan, and others
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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
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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?
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More woo than new
- By Gary on 09-09-15
By: Johnjoe McFadden, and others
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When the Earth Had Two Moons
- Cannibal Planets, Icy Giants, Dirty Comets, Dreadful Orbits, and the Origins of the Night Sky
- By: Erik Asphaug
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1959, the Soviet probe Luna 3 took the first photos of the far side of the Moon. Even in their poor resolution, the images stunned scientists: The far side is an enormous mountainous expanse, not the vast lava plains seen from Earth. Subsequent missions have confirmed this in much greater detail. How could this be, and what might it tell us about our own place in the universe? As it turns out, quite a lot. When the Earth Had Two Moons is an astonishing exploration of planet formation and the origins of life by one of the world’s most innovative planetary geologists.
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Poorly written, poorly narrated
- By RickyF on 05-11-23
By: Erik Asphaug
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What listeners say about The Science of Discworld
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Massha
- 05-01-23
awesome
As others pointed out, there's nothing not to like here - Discworld at its finest cleverly combined with science approximately in the sequence of Sagan's Cosmos. With awesome detail and generally thoughtful. From how Earth's magnetism really comes about to the real link between the Moon and the tides, it fills many a gap in our science knowledge left from the simplified way we were taught as kids. Marvellous.
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- Jonathan
- 05-26-15
Great narrative and interesting facts
This is a great book for anyone who is interested in an insightful overview of science and has enjoyed a couple of the discworld books
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4 people found this helpful
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- Nancy Olson
- 12-27-16
Real science + Unseen University chaos
Where does The Science of Discworld rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It was a good book put together in an unexpected way. I would rank it a nice solid B+ of a book.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I always love Rincewind the Wizard because he is so funny in a fatalistic kind of way.
What does Michael Fenton Stevens and Stephen Briggs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
they brought in hard science explained in a way that was easy to understand and entertaining.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
No moving parts in this book. Just plenty of laughs!
Any additional comments?
It was so unexpected to find this mixture of science and the Disc World. It was funny and informative moving back-and-forth between the narrator explaining the science of things going on in disc world and the Unseen University with Ridcully and the other wizards being pompous and totally ridiculous moving about in a constructed time and world of the past. Rincewind and "The Luggage" were funny and entertaining as always with Rincewind being gloomy and fatalistic in the most entertaining and funny way. Not your traditional Disc World book but highly entertaining and informative at the same time. Well worth reading.
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- Rachel
- 07-30-14
Not the best Pratchett, but gets there in the end
As other reviewers have said, this is really two books, a non-fiction brief history of time/evolution kind of thing with sarcastic jokes thrown in every so often and a mini disc world novella featuring the wizards of Unseen University.
It took me a while to get into this book, for two reasons which may relate more to me than to other potential readers: First, while I enjoy learning (and re-learning) about evolution and science fiction and extinctions, I really dislike learning or thinking about deep space and vast time. It gives me the heebie jeebies and makes my tummy hurt. If it doesn't do that to you, potential reader, you'll enjoy the first part of the non-fiction-y part of this book better than I did.
Second, I don't particularly like the Unseen University professors. I'd always rather read about the witches, the watch or, Vetinari. Especially Rincewind bugs me. Though he wasn't so bad in this one.
That being said, I pretty much enjoyed the second half of this book and got used to the interweaving of the two books. I was looking for the sequel but it looks like Audible doesn't have it. Shame--it sounded like there would be less deep time/space stuff.
One last suggestion: if there are any regular disc world books (besides color of magic) you haven't yet read, do those first. If you are through the whole set and need a Pratchett fix, read the Tiffany Aching books first. Still need more funny Pratchett? This one is it, I guess. (of course the less funny Long Earth books and his earlier stuff and YA is still out there for your enjoyment too).
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11 people found this helpful
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- Joseph
- 02-05-17
Just as good as I remember
This is a book I read in high school and remembered being actually very influential in my view on life. I still recognize those most important passages to me.
That said, as an adult who follows this sort of thing there was not much for me in the science parts. I highly recommend for a younger audience or as a fun introduction to topics of probability, evolution, and some physics though.
Wonderfully narrated as well. Well made as an audiobook.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-08-21
learn a lot
This is your chance to learn a lot--and enjoy the magicians making us from nothing more than lizards to us.
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- John B. Fisher
- 09-25-16
Scientific thoughts through eyes of wizards
by presenting the current scientific thoughts through the eyes of the wizards, we get to exploit what is "obvious" and what we really know. The gap between the two can be striking. It's Very educational. It's enlightening. and it's fun. Worth the read.
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- FDR
- 06-21-15
So good.
Excellent book of science (Roundworld science) for fans of Discworld. Looking forward to starting book 2.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kira Shelton
- 04-03-16
A wonderful framework for learning
I would say this book is more a discussion of science philosophy than a discussion of the nitty gritty details of science; and it works wonderfully well. I say philosophy because it deals far more with how to approach a scientific view. The format with chapters alternating between the wizards of UU and the discussion of real world science do a marvelous job of gently poking at modes of thinking we may not even realize we're using. The Wizards take a very simple and egotistical view of what should be happening on round world, if you change the voices and the description of the clothes you can hear those ideas being thrown about here in the real world. Taking those thought patterns and dressing them up as the Wizards is a great way to examine them with some objectivity and humor.
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- JC
- 10-31-16
Fascinating
Well written, well performed. This is a great book as an introduction to the ring world.
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