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Soonish
- Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything
- Narrated by: Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
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Publisher's summary
From a top scientist and the creator of the hugely popular web comic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, a hilarious investigation into future technologies - from how to fling a ship into deep space on the cheap to 3-D organ printing.
What will the world of tomorrow be like? How does progress happen? And why do we not have a lunar colony already? What is the holdup?
In this smart and funny book, celebrated cartoonist Zach Weinersmith and noted researcher Dr. Kelly Weinersmith give us a snapshot of what's coming next - from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters. By weaving their own research and interviews with the scientists who are making these advances happen, the Weinersmiths investigate why these technologies are needed, how they would work, and what is standing in their way.
New technologies are almost never the work of isolated geniuses with a neat idea. A given future technology may need any number of intermediate technologies to develop first, and many of these critical advances may appear to be irrelevant when they are first discovered. The journey to progress is full of strange detours and blind alleys that tell us so much about the human mind and the march of civilization. To this end, Soonish investigates 10 different emerging fields, from programmable matter to augmented reality, from space elevators to robotic construction, to show us the amazing world we will have, you know, soonish.
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During the Roaring Twenties, two of the most revered and influential men in American business proposed to transform one of the country’s poorest regions into a dream technological metropolis, a shining paradise of small farms, giant factories, and sparkling laboratories. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s “Detroit of the South” would be 10 times the size of Manhattan, powered by renewable energy, and free of air pollution. And it would reshape American society.
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Feels incomplete
- By M on 12-12-23
By: Thomas Hager
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Crossings
- How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
- By: Ben Goldfarb
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they're practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill.
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Great book, but narration doesn’t fit.
- By Anonymous User on 09-22-23
By: Ben Goldfarb
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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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The Code Book
- The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
- By: Simon Singh
- Narrated by: Patty Nieman
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In his first book since the best-selling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logistical breakthrough that made internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy.
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Great overview of the history of cryptography and code breaking
- By Oliver J. Siodmak on 02-15-24
By: Simon Singh
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The Big Picture
- On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
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ABSOLUTE MUST READ!
- By serine on 05-12-16
By: Sean Carroll
What listeners say about Soonish
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- SkyFitsJeff
- 05-09-18
A lot of potential derailed by bad jokes
The idea of this book is really cool and unique--looking at the costs and practical concerns that affect whether new technologies will be successful in everyday implementation and why. The authors have spent a lot of time researching emerging technologies and point out the cost and practical engineering problems that must be overcome. Neither are actively involved in research or development of the technologies, so all their information is second hand and probably not as complete as it could be, but it still could make for an interesting read.
If only they had stopped there. But no, the authors had to inject their poor sense of humor into the book. They are constantly injecting footnotes into book (when they really mean sidenotes), only half of which are relevant or interesting. They also try to make jokes that just aren't funny. And their delivery of the narration is very flat and expository which is a little boring to listen to. And I didn't appreciate the sexist language used throughout.
Overall, this book had a great idea and great potential, but the bad jokes, poor narration, and not understanding the difference between a sidenote and a footnote yet inserting one in every 10-20 seconds took away from what could potentially be an excellent book.
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- Robert wallace
- 04-18-20
Funny nerd candy
The authors are really funny, and they talk about a bunch of wild ideas that people are working on, and they look at the pros and cons. Some of the ideas really expand your mind about what can be done. You can tell the amount of research and interviews that went into making this book was immense. The authors are pretty funny as well!
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- Miha
- 07-27-19
Entertaining and educational
Surprisingly fun and entertaining book about the technologies that are just behind the horizon. Must read while it’s still relevant since in some areas (reusable rockets) huge improvements were made since it was written. We’re still no closer to fusion though :P
Probably a great summer read as well. Highly recommended.
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- Frank
- 10-26-22
GREAT
loved this book. I learned a ton of interesting information about many emerging technologies and ideas. Made me look things up, thank you
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- John Doe
- 06-13-18
Solid Overview of Potentially Upcoming Tech
Strikes a good balance between entertaining and informative. Some bits involving biological/medical innovations may be rough for squeamish listeners.
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- Shane
- 06-27-18
Sciency and Humorous
For all the closeted Science Geeks, this is a Must Listen!! And by listening, you'll catch all the Humor and Snark and Pop-Sci references...
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-26-18
Fun interesting read
I bought this on a whim and am very glad. this is a very well written look at future tech that's definitely got a sense of humor.
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- Tyrrell Foster
- 11-09-18
Good review of future tech in layman's terms.
Good review of future tech in layman's terms. The authors use humor and easy to understand examples. A good listen for someone who doesn't live in science, engineering, or technology but wants to know about cutting edge things people are working on and a decent, easy, and entertaining listen for those who are.
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- FoxMan
- 07-06-18
Entertaining if a bit speculative
The authors did the reading, and that usually results in a good performance. This was no exception. The topic of the book seemed interesting, but grew a little tiresome as the book went on.
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- Placeholder
- 12-09-17
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Future
The Weinersmiths’ book is to popular science/futurology what John Oliver is to investigative journalism
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11 people found this helpful