We Are All Stardust

Scientists Who Shaped Our World Talk about Their Work, Their Lives, and What They Still Want to Know

By: Stefan Klein

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson, Simon Vance, Kate Reading, Sean Runnette

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A sterling roster of natural and social scientists in conversation with top-flight journalist Stefan Klein - shedding new light on their work, their lives, and what they still hope to discover.

When acclaimed science writer Stefan Klein asks Nobel Prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann what sets scientists apart, Hoffmann says, "First and foremost, curiosity." In this collection of intimate conversations with 19 of the world's best-known scientists (including three Nobel Laureates), Klein lets us listen in as today's leading minds reveal what they still hope to discover - and how their paradigm-changing work entwines with their lives outside the lab.

From the sports car that physicist Steven Weinberg says helped him on his quest for "the theory of everything" to the jazz musicians who gave psychologist Alison Gopnik new insight into raising children, these scientists explain how they find inspiration everywhere. Hear from renowned scientists including: evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on selfishness, anthropologist Sarah Hrdy on motherhood, primatologist Jane Goodall on animal behavior, neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran on consciousness, geographer Jared Diamond on chance in history, and many other luminaries.

©2010, 2015 Stefan Klein. English translation © 2015 by Ross Benjamin (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Insightful interviews with brilliant minds

I enjoy listening to various interviews with brilliant minds from different areas, it’s insightful to hear their views on their expertise and life.

Excellent selection of outstanding minds

I really enjoyed all the interviews to the most influential masterminds presented in this book. The breath of knowledge and discovery is awesome. Definitely worth listening!

There are Nobel prize winners and there are Nobel prize winners

It is a unique collection of interview of famous scientists from a wide range of fields.

It is clear that everyone is different and is informed with own experience, culture and humility.

Overall worthy and rewarding eight hours of listening!
Thanks

Poorly named fantastic book

This is by far one of my most favorite books of 2022 I originally got it thinking it was about astrophysics and stars but it’s an interview with famous scientist and it’s a fantastic book loved it loved it loved it this is a voice to text review so pardon the lack of punctuation try this book you will not be disappointed

A chat with the world's best minds

Each chapter is a new conversation with a brilliant mind, on a new topic. You will learn, question, think, grow, and connect personally with how these great minds think.

Great People, Great Science, Great Scientists

The book is a collection of interviews with some of the well known scientists of our era from across many fields.

It is clear these guys know what they're talking about. They are true experts choosing their words very carefully and in doing so engage the listeners in understanding their science. Made easy to appreciate by those who are not experts.

I wish more scientists were interviewed in this age of scientific breakthroughs, and for those that have the interview could have been longer, but that would be asking too much for one book. Great read.

Fascinating

It was a great book. Really fun to listen to the personal perspectives from so many great scientists.

Great idea, disappointing execution

I very much enjoyed what there was in this book. My dissatisfaction is with what was not there. The author had something like five hours of conversation with each of the people he interviewed. The edited and abridged transcripts we have here, while intriguing and tasty, left me hungry for a real meal.

Everyone Should Read This Book

I laughed, I cried, I learned a lot. I sort of think everyone should read this book?

Now, please understand that I am NOT a reader of non-fiction - it simply doesn't engage my brain. I try occasionally and only very rarely do I get further than halfway through a non-fiction book. When I told my husband I thought he'd like the book I was listening to and that it was non-fiction, he looked at me like I'd spouted antlers and felt my forehead to see if I had a fever.

This book was perfect though: each chapter a bite-sized conversation with an expert in their given field. And the fields and subjects of discussion range from anthropology to molecular biology, cosmology to economics - there's literally something for everyone. Even the topics I wasn't interested in I was hooked by.

Yes, it's a wee bit dated now, but so what? The story of how Jane Goodall came to be Jane Freaking Goodall in her own words won't change with the passage of time.

I wish there were more of these - I'd buy them in a second.