The Joy of Science

By: Robert M. Hazen, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Robert M. Hazen

Length: 30 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Science is humanity's greatest achievement. It ranges from the study of the universe itself to the smallest particles of matter contained within it - and everything in between. It explores everything from the big bang to theories about the end of the universe.

If you want to better understand our physical world, as most of us do, gaining a basic understanding of science itself is profoundly important - yet many are intimidated by the breathtaking scope of such an endeavor.

Now an award-winning science teacher has taken out the intimidation, harnessing that breathtaking scope into a series of 60 exciting, comprehensive, and accessible lectures that let you explore and understand the wealth of ideas, discoveries, and principles in all of the physical and biological sciences. You learn that understanding science comes from understanding not only its component disciplines - each of which has its own theories, pioneers, problems, and fundamental questions - but of knowing how these disciplines work with one another to create an entire mosaic of human knowledge.

The lectures have been crafted to make those relationships crystal-clear, with an integrated approach that takes you through all of the major disciplines that fall under the umbrella of "science," including physics, chemistry, Earth science, geophysics, and biology.

Each lecture covers one of the 60 fundamental principles of the scientific world - offering you new knowledge and insight into topics such as the scientific method, gravitation, atoms, the big bang, plate tectonics, volcanoes, proteins, ecosystems, and electricity.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2001 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2001 The Great Courses

Full of Amazement

I often reflected, while listening to this lecture series, about the teachers that Robert Hazen must have had (beginning with his father) who inspired such a sense of wonder and delight in his view of the world of science. I majored in Science in University, but never studied electronics, physics or mechanics. This lecture series opened a door into that mysterious world, and I "caught" a sense of the wonder with which Dr. Hazen shared his flying trip through these subjects - always tantalizing the listener with other Great Courses that would permit them to delve further into these amazing subjects.
I have only one SMALL criticism. This lecture series is nearly 20 years old! With the world of science galloping ahead, it felt strange to hear Dr. Hazen refer to the turn of the century in future tense. In a way, it offered an almost historical perspective of the world of science and what scientists hoped to discover in the not too distant future (which is now past). I would love to hear a sequel . . . to pick up the thread where this wonderful series left off.
Bless Dr. Hazen - and bless those teachers who so inspired him to explore and inspire those who were lucky enough to learn from him.

Superb!! But abit out of date!

Excellent! They need to record new chapters for some of the topics, such as space and genetics. I highly recommend it!

Engaging and educational

A very comprehensive series of lectures on science, and what it can teach us about our world. It seems to have covered all the important scientific principles and discoveries. It also conveys information through interesting historical anecdotes and clear simple English that is relatively free from technical jargon. It provides an important foundation for a balanced educated mind.

Little outdated

Not as good as Bill Bryson's, A short history of nearly everything. These are actually video lectures. With only audio, little difficult to picturise. Looks like it was done in twentieth century. Little outdated.

Still, it has many topics to offer. It would definitely make a good video lecture.

The big picture

this is a big puzzle with many pieces brought together to give the big picture in a way that we can understand.

Well rounded presentation of major topics

Great unbiased presentation of the major disciplines of science. Particularly appreciated tying in different disciplines, such as how the evidence of plate techtonics was corroborated by geology, paleontology, and volcanology.

Good but a bit outdated

I really enjoyed this lecture series. The information is couple decades old though. This impacts only a few of the lectures.

interesting but very long. May need to be listened

to in small bits. I enjoyed listening to this. I downloaded it in one part rather than the multipart format and that was the only thing wrong with it. it was so long that at times there was a feeling I wasn't making any progress. nevertheless it was an interesting and intriguing listen.

Great course, but a bit dated.

Where does The Joy of Science rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I really enjoyed the course, but a lot of the course's mentioned projects have been completed, and there is a great deal that is missing...since this just came out, I was assuming it would be more current.

If you’ve listened to books by The Great Courses before, how does this one compare?

This is the best course of the three I have listened to.

Any additional comments?

I find Dr. Hazen is very good at explaining complex material. I read his book on scientific literacy, and it is a great place to start on many subjects.

Well done.

What made the experience of listening to The Joy of Science the most enjoyable?

Well constructed and executed. This is a great guided tour of where we're at (scientifically) and how we got here.