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What Stars Are Made Of
- The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
- Narrated by: Donovan Moore, Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
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What Stars Are Made Of
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Publisher's summary
It was not easy being a woman of ambition in early 20th-century England, much less one who wished to be a scientist. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin overcame prodigious obstacles to become a woman of many firsts: the first to receive a PhD in astronomy from Radcliffe College, the first promoted to full professor at Harvard, the first to head a department there. And, in what has been called "the most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy", she was the first to describe what stars are made of.
Payne-Gaposchkin lived in a society that did not know what to make of a determined schoolgirl who wanted to know everything. She was derided in college and refused a degree. As a graduate student, she faced formidable skepticism. Revolutionary ideas rarely enjoy instantaneous acceptance, but the learned men of the astronomical community found hers especially hard to take seriously. Though welcomed at the Harvard College Observatory, she worked for years without recognition or status. Still, she accomplished what every scientist yearns for: discovery. She revealed the atomic composition of stars - only to be told that her conclusions were wrong by the very man who would later show her to be correct.
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Finally on Audible!
- By Jason N on 05-16-19
By: George Pendle
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The Day We Found the Universe
- By: Marcia Bartusiak
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 143
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
From one of our most acclaimed science writers: a dramatic narrative of the discovery of the true nature and startling size of the universe, delving back past the moment of revelation to trace the decades of work--by a select group of scientists--that made it possible.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Worth the Effort
- By Roy on 08-13-09
By: Marcia Bartusiak
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The Glass Universe
- How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars
- By: Dava Sobel
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 113
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Story4 out of 5 stars 112
Number-one New York Times best-selling author Dava Sobel returns with the captivating, little-known true story of a group of women whose remarkable contributions to the burgeoning field of astronomy forever changed our understanding of the stars and our place in the universe.
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4 out of 5 stars
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But the seeing, which was everything, was better
- By Cynthia on 01-07-17
By: Dava Sobel
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The Hidden Habits of Genius
- Beyond Talent, IQ, and Grit - Unlocking the Secrets of Greatness
- By: Craig Wright
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 335
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 293
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 290
What is genius? The word evokes iconic figures like Einstein, Beethoven, Picasso, and Steve Jobs, whose cultural contributions have irreversibly shaped society. Yet Beethoven could not multiply. Picasso couldn’t pass a fourth grade math test. And Jobs left high school with a 2.65 GPA. The Hidden Habits of Genius explores the meaning of this contested term, and the unexpected motivations of those we have dubbed "genius" throughout history, from Charles Darwin and Marie Curie to Leonardo Da Vinci and Andy Warhol to Toni Morrison and Elon Musk.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Click-bait title, minimal substance inside
- By James S. on 11-27-20
By: Craig Wright
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A Mind at Play
- How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 511
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 436
Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the Digital Revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I wanted more information about Information Theory
- By Bonny on 05-08-18
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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American Eclipse
- A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World
- By: David Baron
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
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Story4 out of 5 stars 69
In the scorching summer of 1878, with the Gilded Age in its infancy, three tenacious and brilliant scientists raced to Wyoming and Colorado to observe a rare total solar eclipse. One sought to discover a new planet. Another - an adventuresome female astronomer - fought to prove that science was not anathema to femininity. And a young megalomaniacal inventor, with the tabloid press fast on his heels, sought to test his scientific bona fides and light the world through his revelations.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Just OK.
- By Melanie A Hwalek on 09-18-17
By: David Baron
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Hidden Figures
- The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
- By: Margot Lee Shetterly
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,556
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,514
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,538
Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space. Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Story of a History Obscured
- By Cynthia on 09-18-16
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A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman
- A Memoir
- By: Lindy Elkins-Tanton
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23
From one of the world’s leading planetary scientists, a luminous memoir of exploration on Earth, in space, and within oneself—equal parts ode to the beauty of science, meditation on loss, and roadmap for personal resilience.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Inspiring
- By SLL on 12-03-23
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Proving Ground
- The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World's First Modern Computer
- By: Kathy Kleiman
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
After the end of World War II, the race for technological supremacy sped on. Top-secret research into ballistics and computing, begun during the war to aid those on the front lines, continued across the United States as engineers and programmers rushed to complete their confidential assignments. Among them were six pioneering women, tasked with figuring out how to program the world's first general-purpose, programmable, all-electronic computer—better known as the ENIAC. Proving Ground restores these women to their rightful place as technological revolutionaries.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Joy to Listen To
- By Sam on 08-07-22
By: Kathy Kleiman
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Great Scientists and Their Discoveries
- By: David Angus
- Narrated by: Benjamin Soames, Clare Corbett
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Nine remarkable men produced inventions that changed the world. The printing press, the telephone, powered flight, recording and others have made the modern world what it is. But who were the men who had these ideas and made reality of them? As David Angus shows, they were very different - quiet, boisterous, confident, withdrawn - but all had a moment of vision allied to single-minded determination to battle through numerous prototypes and produced something that really worked. This is a fascinating account for younger listeners.
By: David Angus
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Headstrong
- 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World
- By: Rachel Swaby
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: “She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise three children.” It wasn’t until the second paragraph that readers discovered why the Times had devoted several hundred words to her life: Brill was a brilliant rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to keep communications satellites in orbit, and had recently been awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Role models for young women
- By mtsuda90 on 06-25-16
By: Rachel Swaby
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You Say to Brick
- The Life of Louis Kahn
- By: Wendy Lesser
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Born to a Jewish family in Estonia in 1901 and brought to America in 1906, the architect Louis Kahn grew up in poverty in Philadelphia; by the time of his death in 1974, he was widely recognized as one of the greatest architects of his era. Yet this enormous reputation was based on only a handful of masterpieces, all built during the last 15 years of his life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A book about architect needs pictures
- By Kristin Olson-garewal on 10-15-17
By: Wendy Lesser
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The Age of Entanglement
- When Quantum Physics was Reborn
- By: Louisa Gilder
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 314
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 197
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Story4 out of 5 stars 200
A brilliantly original and richly illuminating exploration of entanglement, the seemingly telepathic communication between two separated particles - one of the fundamental concepts of quantum physics.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Quite nice
- By Michael on 02-14-10
By: Louisa Gilder
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Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field
- How Two Men Revolutionized Physics
- By: Nancy Forbes, Basil Mahon
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 310
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Story5 out of 5 stars 310
Two of the boldest and most creative scientists of all time were Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879). This is the story of how these two men - separated in age by 40 years - discovered the existence of the electromagnetic field and devised a radically new theory which overturned the strictly mechanical view of the world that had prevailed since Newton's time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing narration of an incredibly well told story
- By Paul de Jong on 03-01-21
By: Nancy Forbes, and others
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My Remarkable Journey
- A Memoir
- By: Katherine Johnson, Joylette Hylick, Katherine Moore
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 366
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 320
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Story5 out of 5 stars 317
The remarkable woman at heart of the smash New York Times best seller and Oscar-winning film Hidden Figures tells the full story of her life, including what it took to work at NASA, help land the first man on the moon, and live through a century of turmoil and change.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Amazing Woman, Interesting Life
- By Grace on 08-20-21
By: Katherine Johnson, and others
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Metaphysical Animals
- How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life
- By: Clare Mac Cumhaill, Rachae Wiseman
- Narrated by: Alex Dunmore
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
The history of European philosophy is usually constructed from the work of men. In Metaphysical Animals, a pioneering group biography, Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman offer a compelling alternative. In the mid-twentieth century Elizabeth Anscombe, Mary Midgley, Philippa Foot, and Iris Murdoch were philosophy students at Oxford when most male undergraduates and many tutors were conscripted away to fight in the Second World War. Together, these young women, all friends, developed a philosophy that could respond to the war’s darkest revelations.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Book about nothing
- By Gerardo Naranjo Gonzalez on 06-14-22
By: Clare Mac Cumhaill, and others
What listeners say about What Stars Are Made Of
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
- kate
- 01-11-24
Enlightened
A must read❤️. I am sorry to say I knew nothing about Cecelia until this book. It was so interesting and easy to follow considering the subject matter. So glad I read it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elliott Wolfe, M.D.
- 09-19-20
Scientist's Success
Dr. Gaposchkin was one of America's first woman astronomers and one of the first women promoted to a full professorship at Harvard College. This biography provides her life's story with her scientific achievements explained clearly and melded with how she integrated science and personal lives. A splendid book for showing both women and men how to achieve success by understanding and then overcoming barriers; a terrific gift for any young scientist.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lamedoc
- 03-30-22
Fascinating story
Such an interesting story, and well written without technical jargon. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of science in the 20th century and for anyone interested in the (appalling) treatment of women scientists.
The narrator was only okay. The various accents were distracting, and there were a few needless mispronunciations of names. But overall it was a good listen.
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