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Losing the Nobel Prize
- A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
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Publisher's Summary
What would it have been like to be an eyewitness to the Big Bang? In 2014, astronomers wielding BICEP2, the most powerful cosmology telescope ever made, revealed that they'd glimpsed the spark that ignited the Big Bang. Millions around the world tuned in to the announcement broadcast live from Harvard University, immediately igniting rumors of an imminent Nobel Prize. But had these cosmologists truly read the cosmic prologue or, swept up in Nobel dreams, had they been deceived by a galactic mirage?
In Losing the Nobel Prize, cosmologist and inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) experiment Brian Keating tells the inside story of BICEP2's mesmerizing discovery and the scientific drama that ensued. In an adventure story that spans the globe from Rhode Island to the South Pole, from California to Chile, Keating takes us on a personal journey of revelation and discovery, bringing to vivid life the highly competitive, take-no-prisoners, publish-or-perish world of modern science. Along the way, he provocatively argues that the Nobel Prize, instead of advancing scientific progress, may actually hamper it, encouraging speed and greed while punishing collaboration and bold innovation.
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What listeners say about Losing the Nobel Prize
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Venera2022
- 02-17-19
The breakthrough, and a roller coaster ride...
Not only does the scientific community but anyone with interest in this subject get to embark in this adventure. How the LIGO team discovered Gravitational Waves and at the center of such breakthrough a roller coaster. Hop in!
Brian Keating, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCSD takes us in a journey of discovery in Losing the Nobel Prize.
In September 2015 the LIGO team confirmed the existence of Gravitational Waves 100 years after a major prediction in Einstein’s famous General Theory of Relativity, E=mc2.
Unfortunately even after this massive accomplishment they still lost this monumental award winning a year later.
I know. No use to dwell on the past but I stand by him when he says “Dead men win no Nobels” because he is absolutely right, Science IS at stake.
The Nobel committee should rewrite their non conformist policies. Regardless of age, gender and posthumous awards need apply here. They should be awarded.
Although science isn’t about the recognition because the fruits of discovery are in themselves reaping good fruit; if the scientific community isn’t willing to recognize the men and women’s hard work for all the advancements in understanding how the universe works, how are we to inspire the future generations?
It’s imperative we give them their due.
This was such a huge discovery, and so it has been the ones that came before it.
This is not an angry review I promise but It’s a rather grateful one.
That we have all been given access to what went through the mind of these geniuses in the LIGO Labs although some will contend that it was the lasers instead than the men and women behind these experiments, is but a gift.
Every single Laureate, every single scientist in the world working in the field in outreach after years and years of research confirming those theories; my stars, 100 years. If Einstein were alive today; I wonder what would he have to say after this massive breakthrough.
We can only hope funding is acquired for future research and other projects should be pursued. Just 2 labs simply aren’t enough.
This isn’t a book you want to miss, and it’s one for the ages too. You want to buy one for your friends if they love science in general, those who have no understanding in the field will understand easily the subject and those that do understand it will love it even more so.
An in-depth view at what goes through the minds of men and women who walk the long and narrow passage to discovery which can be both fortuitous and lonely sometimes; all the way from Antarctica to the farthest reaches of the space where black holes merge in which the universe can help you confirm what you so long for, and humanity can take everything from you because it is what we usually do.
But that never stopped us before and our determination is far greater than anything.
We are explorers, wanderers and we shall continue on to the stars for that in itself is the true reward.
What are you waiting for? You won’t be able to put it down. Also, did I mention the chapter names are bomb?! An homage to pop culture. Bravo Professor. BRAVO! I got a kick every. Single. Time.
Now, if LIGO could please get more funding to upgrade the interferometers and see what neutron stars and pulsars are doing in deep space (if I’m understanding this correctly) and perhaps in a not so distant future it could also be sent to Space would be great. It works. It’s time.
Thank you Professor for such a wonderful read and listen. I’ll liaten to this again and again. Loved it!
2 people found this helpful
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- Andrea
- 03-19-19
Awesome science for a lay audience
This book was so good that I intend immediately to begin reading the print version. It is my plan after I have done that to write a complete review. The narration was superb, clean and clear.I cannot imagine a better narration of this material
1 person found this helpful
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- Sean McCarthy
- 01-04-19
Great book!
Great book for anyone who loves science. Superbly read and performed. Very interesting topic which does not go too deeply into cosmology.
1 person found this helpful
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- Customer2383
- 12-08-18
Missing part in chapter 1
In chapter 1 at 13:52, there seems to a missing part. It jumps from one topic to a completely unrelated part. Has anyone else noticed this, or did I get a faulty download.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-28-22
A Spectacular Journey
"Losing the Nobel Prize" is a thought-provoking and illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the scientific community and the motivations behind scientific discovery. Keating's personal anecdotes and insights add a unique and personal touch to the book, making it a compelling and engaging story full of laughter and tears.
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- NakedSnake4113
- 12-23-22
Focusing on What is Important
Keating likens the Nobel Prize to the worship of the Golden Calf in Exodus. This line in the book really made it click for me. It is easy to fall into the mistake of chasing rewards and recognition like a lot of the scientists that chase the Nobel Prize. It is not a mistake to liken this to a worship of an idol. This book helped me reevaluate what is important in terms of my career and intellectual pursuits.
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- pwat
- 01-03-21
My review
Too much “prose” and too much complaining about the Nobel prize. I like the author but he occasionally drones on.
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- Steve Promisel
- 09-27-19
Overall worth reading
This was a somewhat frustrating audio book. The performance was excellent. There was a gap in chapter one that threw me off for a bit and was reported to Audible as well as mentioned in other reviews.
Even though the author sort of apologized for the somewhat whiny tone of a Nobel ‘loser’ and the book did bounce around too much, it was a fascinating study of science and the politics of science. I learned something new and that makes it worth reading to me.
So even though it sort of bothered me occasionally, I highly recommend listening to it or reading it.
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- Rob Sedgwick
- 04-28-21
A multiverse of a book
This book is several stories in one. First of all, it's about the Nobel Prize; secondly, it's about the work that Brian Keating did that may have won him the price (in one of his multiverses) and thirdly it's a mini autobiography, and fourthly there's a lot of background material about the discovery of the CMB and inflation. The theme I suppose is how the Nobel Prize by its very existence is skewing physics in how it is conducted, and having a different influence from what its creator ever intended. There's a lot of competing themes there and there is also a lot of frustration I suspect at having made the wrong decisions. He doesn't quite say that the Nobel Prize has ruined his life and his career but the implication is that it's taken the shine off them. Is it any good? The best thing for me is an honest description of how science works and the collaboration and competition between teams. I do have some sympathy with his frustration about the prize but if he really wanted to write about that he should have less of his work and more of the history of the winners and should be winners than he does.
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- Dr. A.
- 07-28-20
A passionate scientific self review
I loved it. Keating of course is a brilliant scientific but also a very good writer. It was full of fine tuned sentences with carefully and beautifully chosen words. This book can be devided in 3 chapters; a memoir, a scientific review of the cosmology field, and a sharp criticism on the Nobel prize. Despite the fact that the subjects are scattered somewhat randomly throughout the book, I enjoyed listening to it. It made me angry, emotional, happy, and above all thought me things. Thank you Keating!
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Dispatches from Planet 3
- Thirty-Two (Brief) Tales on the Solar System, the Milky Way, and Beyond
- By: Marcia Bartusiak
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The galaxy, the multiverse, and the history of astronomy are explored in this engaging compilation of cosmological "tales" by multiple award-winning science writer Marcia Bartusiak. In 32 concise and engrossing essays, the author provides a deeper understanding of the nature of the universe and those who strive to uncover its mysteries. Bartusiak shares the back stories for many momentous astronomical discoveries, including the contributions of such pioneers as Beatrice Tinsley and her groundbreaking research in galactic evolution.
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Lots of quick bites make for a decent plateful
- By Underporch on 10-24-21
By: Marcia Bartusiak
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The 4 Percent Universe
- Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality
- By: Richard Panek
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Over the past few decades, a handful of scientists have been racing to explain a disturbing aspect of our universe: only four percent of it consists of the matter that makes up you, me, our books, and every star and planet. The rest is completely unknown. Richard Panek tells the dramatic story of the quest to find this “dark” matter and an even more bizarre substance called “dark energy”. This is perhaps the greatest mystery in all of science, and solving it will bring fame, funding, and certainly a Nobel Prize.
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Not What I Expected
- By John on 06-13-14
By: Richard Panek
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The Perfect Theory
- A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity
- By: Pedro G. Ferreira
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Physicists have been exploring, debating, and questioning the general theory of relativity ever since Albert Einstein first presented itin 1915. Their work has uncovered a number of the universe's more surprising secrets, and many believe further wonders remain hidden within the theory's tangle of equations, waiting to be exposed. In this sweeping narrative of science and culture, astrophysicist Pedro Ferreira brings general relativity to life through the story of the brilliant physicists, mathematicians, and astronomers who have taken up its challenge.
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A Love Letter to General Relativity
- By Michael on 07-10-14
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Black Hole
- How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawking Became Loved
- By: Marcia Bartusiak
- Narrated by: Randye Kaye
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For more than half a century, physicists and astronomers engaged in heated dispute over the possibility of black holes in the universe. The weirdly alien notion of a space-time abyss from which nothing escapes - not even light - seemed to confound all logic. This engrossing audiobook tells the story of the fierce black hole debates and the contributions of Einstein, Hawking, and other leading thinkers who completely altered our view of the universe.
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Great into to black holes
- By serine on 01-23-16
By: Marcia Bartusiak
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The Unknown Universe
- A New Exploration of Time, Space and Cosmology
- By: Stuart Clark
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On March 21, 2013, the European Space Agency released a map of the afterglow of the big bang. Taking in 440 sextillion kilometers of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: We will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis of modern cosmology; on the other, it threatens to undermine almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.
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Everything, Absolutely Everything!
- By Gillian on 03-09-17
By: Stuart Clark
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Neutrino Hunters
- The Thrilling Chase for a Ghostly Particle to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe
- By: Ray Jayawardhana
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Detective thriller meets astrophysics in this adventure into neutrinos and the scientists who pursue them.
For more than 80 years, brilliant and eccentric scientists around the world have been searching for the incredibly small bits of matter we call neutrinos. Trillions of these ghostly particles pass through our bodies every second, but they are so pathologically shy that neutrino hunters have to use Olympic-size pools deep underground and a gigantic cube of Antarctic ice to catch just a handful.
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Thoroughly Enjoyable
- By Zak on 11-06-20
By: Ray Jayawardhana
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Dispatches from Planet 3
- Thirty-Two (Brief) Tales on the Solar System, the Milky Way, and Beyond
- By: Marcia Bartusiak
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The galaxy, the multiverse, and the history of astronomy are explored in this engaging compilation of cosmological "tales" by multiple award-winning science writer Marcia Bartusiak. In 32 concise and engrossing essays, the author provides a deeper understanding of the nature of the universe and those who strive to uncover its mysteries. Bartusiak shares the back stories for many momentous astronomical discoveries, including the contributions of such pioneers as Beatrice Tinsley and her groundbreaking research in galactic evolution.
-
-
Lots of quick bites make for a decent plateful
- By Underporch on 10-24-21
By: Marcia Bartusiak
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The 4 Percent Universe
- Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality
- By: Richard Panek
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the past few decades, a handful of scientists have been racing to explain a disturbing aspect of our universe: only four percent of it consists of the matter that makes up you, me, our books, and every star and planet. The rest is completely unknown. Richard Panek tells the dramatic story of the quest to find this “dark” matter and an even more bizarre substance called “dark energy”. This is perhaps the greatest mystery in all of science, and solving it will bring fame, funding, and certainly a Nobel Prize.
-
-
Not What I Expected
- By John on 06-13-14
By: Richard Panek
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The Perfect Theory
- A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity
- By: Pedro G. Ferreira
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Physicists have been exploring, debating, and questioning the general theory of relativity ever since Albert Einstein first presented itin 1915. Their work has uncovered a number of the universe's more surprising secrets, and many believe further wonders remain hidden within the theory's tangle of equations, waiting to be exposed. In this sweeping narrative of science and culture, astrophysicist Pedro Ferreira brings general relativity to life through the story of the brilliant physicists, mathematicians, and astronomers who have taken up its challenge.
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A Love Letter to General Relativity
- By Michael on 07-10-14
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Coming of Age in the Milky Way
- By: Timothy Ferris
- Narrated by: Timothy Ferris
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Humans have long sought to comprehend the enormities of cosmic space and time. Here, best selling science writer Timothy Ferris tells the story of that quest. He interweaves the majestic themes of astronomy, physics, religion, and philosophy with fresh and lasting portraits of the men and women who created what has been called our society's most precious treasure - its conception of the universe at large.
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Brief survey of discovery from Columbus to now
- By serine on 01-23-16
By: Timothy Ferris
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Ripples in Spacetime
- Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy
- By: Govert Schilling, Martin Rees
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ripples in Spacetime is an engaging account of the international effort to complete Einstein's project, capture his elusive ripples, and launch an era of gravitational-wave astronomy that promises to explain, more vividly than ever before, our universe's structure and origin. The quest for gravitational waves involved years of risky research and many personal and professional struggles that threatened to derail one of the world's largest scientific endeavors.
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Absolutely Loved it.
- By Quidne IT on 10-11-17
By: Govert Schilling, and others
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The Particle at the End of the Universe
- How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Scientists have just announced an historic discovery on a par with the splitting of the atom: The Higgs boson, the key to understanding why mass exists has been found. In The Particle at the End of the Universe, Caltech physicist and acclaimed writer Sean Carroll takes readers behind the scenes of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to meet the scientists and explain this landmark event.
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A History of Modern Particle Physics
- By Matthew on 12-22-12
By: Sean Carroll
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Present at the Creation
- Discovering the Higgs Boson
- By: Amir D. Aczel
- Narrated by: Byron Wagner
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Large Hadron Collider is the biggest, and by far the most powerful, machine ever built. A project of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, its audacious purpose is to re-create, in a 16.5-mile-long circular tunnel under the French-Swiss countryside, the immensely hot and dense conditions that existed some 13.7 billion years ago within the first trillionth of a second after the fiery birth of our Universe. The collider is now crashing protons at record energy levels never created by scientists before, and it will reach even higher levels by 2013.
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Fascinating, at times goes too fast to follow
- By Stef on 01-16-12
By: Amir D. Aczel
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Mapping the Heavens
- The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos
- By: Priyamvada Natarajan
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Mapping the Heavens provides a tour of the "greatest hits" of cosmological discoveries - the ideas that reshaped our universe over the past century. The cosmos, once understood as a stagnant place filled with the ordinary, is now a universe that is expanding at an accelerating pace, propelled by dark energy and structured by dark matter. Priyamvada Natarajan, our guide to these ideas, is at the forefront of the research - an astrophysicist who literally creates maps of invisible matter in the universe.
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Unoriginal and nothing special
- By AJ on 01-27-17