Audiobooks narrated by Edwin Newman

Though medical science began with the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, dissection and the study of the human body was prohibited for religious reasons until the Renaissance. Only in 1628 did William Harvey theorize that blood circulates in the body; germs weren't discovered until the nineteenth century. Since then, surgery and drugs have greatly reduced deaths and pain from accident and disease. Genetic research and biotechnology hold the promise of even greater advances in the twenty-first century. The Science and Discovery series recreates one of history's most successful journeys—four thousand years of scientific efforts to better understand and control the physical world. Science has often challenged and upset conventional wisdom or accepted practices; this is a story of vested interests and independent thinkers, experiments and theories, change and progress. Aristotle, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Einstein, and many others are featured. “The narrator, Edwin Newman, provides continuity to the numerous ultra-short biographies of the great medical names of the past. His pleasant, sandy voice performs nonfiction without exaggeration.”—AudioFile

Dr. Paul M. Heidger, Paul M. Heidger, Richard Eimas (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Complexity and Chaos

Traditional scientific determinism has suggested that the natural world is regular and predictable, and that timeless and universal nature is best understood by studying its parts in isolation. For centuries scientists have viewed nature in terms of the conceptual and mathematical tools available—like the regular shapes of Euclidean geometry. But chaos theory suggests that nature is unpredictable and irregular, and that it is better understood by studying the complex and unstable interactions among nature’s many components. Nature’s order and pattern is seen in a complex-looking geometric shape called the fractal, whose fundamental importance was discovered by Benoit Mandelbrot; these well-defined (yet not completely knowable) shapes pervade nature. We see and understand new patterns in what once seemed too complicated to explain—yet uncertainty is complete, inevitable,and necessary. Science is becoming more rooted in the particular circumstances of time and place. Natural processes are seen to be less smooth and linear than once thought; life itself seems to thrive on non-linearity, in the conditions of far-from-equilibrium systems. The scientist Ilya Prigogine has produced insights into how some natural objects are “self-organizing”. Others have explored how patterns in the exchange of information form a logical or symbolic level of life known as “emergent computation”.

Dr. Roger White, Roger White (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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The Story of Electricity

Ancient and medieval awareness of electrical effects included lightning, electric fish, St. Elmo’s fire, the amber effect, and (esp. in early China) the lodestone (magnet). Plutarch explained the electric effect in terms of air displacement. The following chart shows a timeline of topics discussed in this set of audiotapes.

Jack Sanders, Professor John T. Sanders (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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A New Understanding of the Atom

The concept of the atom'the smallest physical building block of nature'has been around at least since ancient Greece. Leucippus and Democritus conceived of a mechanical or physical atom; in the Middle Ages the Islamic philosophers Ibn Rushd and Agostino Nifo added a chemical role to atomic theory. In the 17th century, Descartes' mechanical philosophy extended the idea of a corpuscle moving in a 'plenum'; and Robert Boyle suggested the possibility of subatomic particles. During the 18th and 19th centuries, atomic theory was involved in the growing understanding of chemistry and in debates about whether light is made of particles or waves. Atoms also were used to theoretically explain electricity, especially after J.C.Maxwell in 1873 showed that light, electricity, and magnetism are all forms of electromagnetic radiation. J.J. Thompson discovered the electron in 1897, stimulating interest in the internal structure of the atom. Prominent models of the atom included Kelvin's vortex model (1867), Thompson's plum pudding model (1904), and Rutherford's nuclear model (1911). Experimental and theoretical problems began to undermine classical physical theory, and in 1900 Max Panck postulated the 'quantum''a smallest possible unit of energy. Energy thus became 'atomized'; in 1905. Einstein's studies of the photoelectric effect suggested that light itself is atomized. In 1912, Neils Bohr created an atomic model that has 'rings' of orbiting electrons, thus accommodating quantum theory and the latest experimental results. Continued elaboration of this model produced what's called the 'Copenhagen Interpretation'; this conception of the atom explains experimental results yet it abandons precise definition of atomic behavior, abandons classical continuity in favor of quantum discontinuity, uses statistics rather than unambiguous definition, and abandons many traditional notions of determinism and causality.

John T. Sanders (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Astronomy: The Heavenly Challenge

Astronomy is perhaps the oldest science. The ancients saw cosmic meanings in the stars, and they organized their lives around lunar and solar cycles (i.e. the month and year). They also observed the solstices, the equinoxes, and of course the four seasons. Over many centuries the “precession of the equinoxes” corrupted Julius Caesar’s ancient calendar (the Julian calendar); in 1586 it was replaced with the Gregorian calendar, which features the system of leap years we know today. Aristotle’s earth-centered (“geocentric”) system of crystalline spheres dominated astronomy for 2000 years. Aristarchus in 270 B.C. was ahead of his time in suggesting that the sun is at the center of the universe, and that the earth spins like a top. Eratosthenes (ca. 200 B.C.) calculated the size of the earth; Hipparchus (2nd century B.C.) calculated the distance to the moon and established a system of latitudes and longitudes. Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) published the great compilation of astronomical knowledge (the Almagest), and he offered the epicycle theory to explain new observations not explained by the geocentric theory of the universe. In 1543, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus overturned the geocentric theory by publishing a book on his heliocentric (sun-centered) theory. Johannes Kepler soon joined the great astronomer Tycho Brahe, systematizing Tycho’s observations with calculations proving that orbits are elliptical. Kepler also established his three great laws of celestial motion. Galileo improved the telescope and discovered many new astronomical features; his work publicly discredited the geocentric doctrine, leading to the famous recantation forced upon him by the church. Galileo’s celestial and terrestrial discoveries laid the foundation for the great advances and discoveries of Isaac Newton.

Jack Arnold (Author), Edwin Newman, Pat Childs (Narrator)

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Science In Antiquity

After 3500 B.C., when cuneiform writing was developed and recorded history began, science first emerged among stargazing astronomer-priests in ancient west Asia. The gods were identified with the stars (which could influence events on earth); "foundation cosmologies" expressed a view of how the world began, usually with flood themes related to the end of the Ice Age in 8000 B.C.. After the 5th century B.C., Greek thinkers (such as Thales, Pythagoras, Euclid, Protagoras, Democritus, and Archimedes) began to challenge the myths of Homeric poetry; they developed logic and philosophy as new ways of knowing. Epicurus developed a materialistic philosophy, based on Democritus' theory of atoms. Zeno and his Stoic philosophy opposed Epicureanism, finding reality in an ever-present vital spirit that controls the physical world. Hippocrates founded medical practice on the theory that the body has four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile); the 1st century Roman physician, Galen, later produced anatomical studies that would remain influential until the Renaissance. Galen's contemporary, Ptolemy, produced a cosmology that also would last almost 1500 years. Plato had used reason to envision truth and to discern the unchanging laws or principles of nature - but his ideas were often detached from observation and experience. Aristotle, in the 4th century B.C., relied much more heavily on direct observation of nature's objects and processes; he is regarded as the first empiricist. Aristotle's on cosmology, physical cause and effect, and the basic elements (fire, earth, water, and air) were to prevail for 2000 years. "Edwin Newman dominates the narration, with his sandy, familiar voice guiding listeners through past millennia without haste. He handles the vocabulary of earlier civilizations and foreign places with ease."-AudioFile

Dr. Jon Mandaville, Jon Mandaville (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Medieval Science

After Rome fell in the 5th century A.D., Europe endured a long drought of ideas. The Middle Ages were a time when spiritual, other-worldly concerns dominated intellectual life; study of the natural world was directed toward moral and religious truth. The works of Aristotle and Plato were almost entirely lost (and often purposefully destroyed) during the Dark Ages (455 - 1000 A.D.). The library and museum at Alexandria, a major repository of learning, was destroyed. Only in the Muslim world of Arabia and Spain, and in some Christian monasteries, was worldly learning preserved to any extent at all. Influences from China, India, and Persia shaped many of the new scientific developments that did occur. Alchemists, the forerunners of modern chemists, were influenced by Neoplatonist views about the close relationship between appearance and reality; they sought to change metals by changing their color. Many natural events were mysterious; magic or superstition were common, and there was a great overlap between the natural and the supernatural. After 1000 A.D., translations of great works were increasingly available, and craft associations evolved into universities. Most educated people were clergy, and they worked to justify their faith with the new learning. With the development of printing in 1452 and the increasing dispersion of knowledge, a foundation was being laid for a scientific breakthrough - in the Renaissance.

Jack Sanders, Professor John T. Sanders (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Origins of the Universe

For most of history, the beginning of the universe has been understood through the many myths offered in various cultures. But in the modern age, scientific cosmology has emerged to offer new explanations for the beginning and evolution of the universe. By 1900, religious and scientific conceptions of creation were widely seen as incompatible. In the 15th century, Nicholas of Cusa anticipated modern relativistic physics by suggesting that the universe has no center, no circumference, and no beginning or end. In the 20th century, Edwin Hubble used statistical analysis to prove that the universe is infinite. Modern cosmology suggests that there are 200 billion billion stars in the universe, including a variety of structures such as the nova, supernova, nebula, quasar, white dwarf, neutron star, pulsar, and black hole. The behavior of stars is governed by the physics of nuclear combustion and gravitation; our theories about stars depend upon advances in particle physics to explain the nuclear reactions that appear to explain star behavior. Edwin Hubble also discovered that the universe is expanding, which tended to confirm the conception that the universe began with a "big bang". Various theories have suggested that the universe either is in a steady state, that it is inflating, that it may be oscillating, or perhaps even winding down.

Jack Arnold (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Natural Science and the Planet Earth

Among the greatest natural historians was Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), who influenced Goethe, Darwin, and America's leading naturalists. Humboldt's Cosmos, published in five volumes from 1845 to 1860, stressed the unity of nature and discussed nature's vast details and unifying principles. He financed and led a scientific expedition to South America at the beginning of the 19th century, contributing profoundly to scientific knowledge of botany, geology, and zoology. Humboldt's careful measurements and descriptions also supported his speculations about more universal patterns in nature. Despite all that has been learned about the earth, we are assured that vast discoveries remain, The earth's ten-mile-thin crust is only the outer shell of a radius that is nearly 4,000 miles, and the deepest human exploration has been only five miles into a petroleum well. The biosphere, or "zone of live", provides the vast majority of materials to sustain life; it is (at most) 15 miles wide, including five miles of crust and five to ten miles of atmosphere. The base of information about earth has rapidly grown larger and more interconnected. Technological advances, combined with growing knowledge in the natural sciences, have enhanced the human power to create resources out of materials that have always been around us. Largely because of these advances, the earth now supports over 5 billion people at a standard of living undreamed of in the past. Humboldt understood this potential for improvement when he wrote that every acquisition won by (scientific) investigation is merely a step to the attainment of higher things in the eventful course of human affairs.

Dr. Jack Sommer, Jack Sommer (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Isaac Newton's New Physics

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) achieved momentous breakthroughs in three areas: mathematics (the calculus), a theory of colors, and gravitational attraction. His first insights in each of these areas occurred during the "wonder years" of 1665-66, when retreat from the plague isolated Newton at Woolsthorpe. Newton's theory of "fluxions", along with independent work by Leibniz, created the methods of modern calculus. Building on the analytic geometry of Rene' Descartes, these techniques allow us to reason about the infinitely small and infinitely small and infinitely large in a mathematically rigorous way. Newton also revised Descartes' theory of light to show that white light is composed of different rays, each associated with a specific angle of refraction and a specific color. Newton also invented the reflection telescope, and considered his work on light to be his first great success. The famous theory of gravitation was built on the foundation of Galileo's laws of terrestrial motion and Kepler's laws of celestial motion. Newton described the inverse-square law of gravitation (F=1/r2); his famous Principia of 1686 included three famous laws: 1. Bodies continue in motion or at rest unless changed by a force. 2. Force equals mass times acceleration (F=ma). 3. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Newton also provided the universal law of gravitation (F=Gm, m2/r2) and showed that the gravitational force (the factor G in this equation) is constant for all bodies.

Dr. Gordon Britian, Gordon Brittan (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Einstein's Revolution

In 1905, Albert Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity, followed by the General Theory of Relativity in 1916. He firmly established (1) the idea that all judgement about motion is a matter of perspective; (2) that energy and mass are interrelated (E=mc2); and (3) that nothing can move faster than the speed of light (which does not vary). Einstein's theory of the space - time continuum was dramatically confirmed in a 1919 experiment during a solar eclipse. "Relativity" is a concept rooted in the tension between appearance and reality, and it reaches far back in history. Heraclitus argued that only change is real; Parmenides argued that change is impossible, and his follower Zeno invented paradoxes illustrating many of the problems in concepts like space, time, and infinity. Protagoras even argued that there is no single, correct view of reality, but that reality for any person is precisely as it seems to that person. In his words, "Man is the measure of all things." Plato used mathematical reasoning to discern reality from mere appearance, and modern natural science emerged from centuries of effort to acquire objective knowledge. The greatest scientists of the Renaissance and Enlightenment -- including Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton -- believed that some real or absolute space and time are independent of the senses. But Immanuel Kant, J.C. Maxwell, Ernest Mach and Henri Poincare chipped away at this idea in the 18th and 19th centuries.

John T. Sanders, Professor John T. Sanders (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Exploring and Mapmaking

The first known navigators were the Phoenicians, who 3000 years ago sailed the Mediterranean and beyond from their base near modern Lebanon. Justinian's mission to China in the 6th century A.D., the Viking expeditions of the 9th - 10th centuries, and Marco Polo's trip to China in 1270 opened new horizons. Then Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator established a school of navigation whose influence touched a young Italian sailor and changed the world. Christopher Columbus sailed west in 1492, a date that began the Age of Exploration. Vasco da Gama in 1497 rounded Africa and sailed to India, opening the route to the east. Expeditions to the Americas by Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan, Cortes, Pizarro, Sir Walter Raleigh, and others soon followed. Over the 16th to 19th centuries came the inland explorations that created the modern world. Expanding settlement and commerce required better maps and navigation methods; a grid system of latitudes and longitudes, originally proposed by the ancient Greeks, was revived. Cartographers struggled with the task of representing a spherical earth on a flat map; dozens of map projections were developed. By the 20th century, new areas of discovery produced better navigational technology, more and more maps, and yet more horizons for future discovery.

Dr. Ian Jackson, Ian Jackson (Author), Edwin Newman (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Edwin Newman