Regular price: $26.22

Membership details Membership details
  • A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook, free.
  • 1 credit/month after trial – good for any book, any price.
  • Easy exchanges – swap any book you don’t love.
  • Keep your audiobooks, even if you cancel.
  • After your trial, Audible is just $14.95/month.
OR
In Cart

People who bought this also bought...

The Violinist's Thumb audiobook cover art

  • The Violinist's Thumb

  • And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
  • By: Sam Kean
  • Narrated by: Henry Leyva
  • Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 690
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 589
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 594

From New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean come more incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • So much to think about!

  • By Traci on 08-18-12
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons audiobook cover art

  • The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

  • The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery
  • By: Sam Kean
  • Narrated by: Henry Leyva
  • Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 817
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 743
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 746

Early studies of the human brain used a simple method: Wait for misfortune to strike - strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, horrendous accidents - and see how victims coped. In many cases their survival was miraculous, if puzzling. Observers were amazed by the transformations that took place when different parts of the brain were destroyed, altering victims' personalities. With the lucid, masterful explanations and razor-sharp wit his fans have come to expect, Kean explores the brain's secret passageways.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Detailed but not overly Technical

  • By Michael on 05-06-15
The Disappearing Spoon audiobook cover art

  • 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
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 3,960
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 3,000
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 3,008

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.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • Great Book, Great Narration, But...

  • By Henny Button on 09-18-10
Caesar's Last Breath audiobook cover art

  • Caesar's Last Breath

  • Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us
  • By: Sam Kean
  • Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
  • Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 940
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 862
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 858

The fascinating science and history of the air we breathe. It's invisible. It's ever present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell. In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • vastly entertaining

  • By Amazon Customer on 08-11-17
What If? audiobook cover art

  • What If?

  • Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
  • By: Randall Munroe
  • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
  • Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 7,464
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 6,830
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 6,790

Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent of the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there were a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last?

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Humorous but serious answers to crazy hypothetical

  • By Neuron on 05-08-16
The Door Before audiobook cover art

  • The Door Before

  • 100 Cupboards Prequel
  • By: N. D. Wilson
  • Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
  • Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 52
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 46
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 46

Hyacinth Smith can see things that others miss, stop attack dogs from attacking, and grow trees where no trees have grown before. But she's never had a real home. When her father tells them they've inherited a house from their great-aunt, Hyacinth sees trouble brewing. Their great-aunt has been playing with forces beyond her control, using her lightning-tree forest to create doors to other worlds. When one door opens, two boys tumble through...bringing with them a battle with the undying witch-queen, Nimiane.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • If Siri read you a book

  • By Brian K on 06-29-17

Publisher's Summary

A young listeners edition of the New York Times best seller The Disappearing Spoon, chronicling the extraordinary stories behind one of the greatest scientific tools in existence: the periodic table.

Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history?

The periodic table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, greed, betrayal, and obsession. The fascinating tales in The Disappearing Spoon follow elements on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

Adapted for a middle-grade audience, the young listeners edition of The Disappearing Spoon offers the material in a simple, easy-to-follow format. Students, teachers, and burgeoning science buffs will love learning about the history behind the chemistry.
©2010 Sam Kean (P)2018 Hachette Audio

What members say

Average Customer Ratings

Overall

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Performance

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Story

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Audible.com Reviews
Amazon Reviews
Sort by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Tm
  • 09-25-18

Nice history stories but....

Nice history stories but a bit disjointed. The editors brief is a bit vague. I now know why. This collection of stories while interesting I don’t think could keep the interest of a teenager. It could barely hold mine.