Biology & Chemistry Audiobooks | Non-Fiction

Physics in Mind: A Quantum View of the Brain

"No one can escape a sense of awe when reflecting on the workings of the mind: we see, we hear, we feel, we are aware of the world around us. But what is the mind? What do we mean when we say we are “aware” of something? What is this peculiar state in our heads, at once utterly familiar and bewilderingly mysterious, that we call awareness or consciousness? In Physics in Mind, eminent biophysicist Werner R. Loewenstein argues that to answer these questions, we must first understand the physical mechanisms that underlie the workings of the mind. And so begins an exhilarating journey along the sensory data stream of the brain, which shows how our most complex organ processes the vast amounts of information coming in through our senses to create a coherent, meaningful picture of the world. Bringing information theory to bear on recent advances in the neurosciences, Loewenstein reveals a web of immense computational power inside the brain. He introduces the revolutionary idea that quantum mechanics could be fundamental to how our minds almost instantaneously deal with staggering amounts of information, as in the case of the information streaming through our eyes. Combining cutting-edge research in neuroscience and physics, Loewenstein presents an ambitious hypothesis about the parallel processing of sensory information that is the heart, hub, and pivot of the cognitive brain. Wide-ranging and brimming with insight, Physics in Mind breaks new ground in our understanding of how the mind works."

Werner R. Loewenstein (Author), Walter Dixon (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Brain Advantage: Become a More Effective Business Leader Using the Latest Brain Research

"Business leaders are in charge. They are in charge of people, of budgets, of production lines. Most leaders also believe that they are in charge of their greatest resource--their own brain. But how true is that? The more we understand about how the brain works, the clearer it becomes that often our brain kicks in before we do. For example: 1. The more expert we become, the less we 'think.' 2. Our brain can con us into being sure that we're right--even when we're wrong. 3. Without consulting us, our brain decides who to trust. The good news is that leaders can use what researchers have learned about the brain to manage their own brains more effectively. That's the first Brain Advantage. Just as important, leaders can use that knowledge to manage other people more effectively. That's the second Brain Advantage. The Brain Advantage does for business leaders what few have time to do for themselves. It combines the latest brain research with insights from psychological studies of how people think. It uses powerful stories to convey that information."

Brad Kolar, Ken A. Paller, Lisa P. Callahan, Madeleine L. Van Hecke (Author), Erik Synnestvedt (Narrator)

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Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind to Maximize Health, Happiness, and Spiritua

"A manual for relating to the brain in a revolutionary new way, Super Brain shows you how to use your brain as a gateway for achieving health, happiness, and spiritual growth. Two pioneers, bestselling author and physician Deepak Chopra and Harvard Medical School professor Rudolph E. Tanzi, one of the world's foremost experts on the causes of Alzheimer's, have merged their wisdom and expertise for a bold new understanding of the "three-pound universe" and its untapped potential. In contrast to the "baseline brain" that fulfills the tasks of everyday life, Chopra and Tanzi propose that, through a person's increased self-awareness and conscious intention, the brain can be taught to reach far beyond its present limitations. "We are living in a golden age for brain research, but is this a golden age for your brain?" they ask. Super Brain explains how it can be, by combining cutting-edge research and spiritual insights, demolishing the five most widespread myths about the brain that limit your potential, and then showing you methods to: -Use your brain instead of letting it use you -Create the ideal lifestyle for a healthy brain -Reduce the risks of aging -Promote happiness and well-being through the mind-body connection -Access the enlightened brain, the gateway to freedom and bliss -Overcome the most common challenges, such as memory loss, depression, anxiety, and obesity Your brain is capable of incredible healing and constant reshaping. Through a new relationship with your brain you can transform your life. In Super Brain, Chopra and Tanzi guide you on a fascinating journey that envisions a leap in human evolution. The brain is not just the greatest gift that Nature has given us. It's the gateway to an unlimited future that you can begin to live today. Includes a bonus PDF of brain anatomy graphics & explanations"

Deepak Chopra, Rudolph E. Tanzi (Author), Shishir Kurup (Narrator)

Audiobook

"Maybe you know someone who swears by the reliability of psychics or who is in regular contact with angels. Or perhaps you're trying to find a nice way of dissuading someone from wasting money on a homeopathy cure. Or you met someone at a party who insisted the Holocaust never happened or that no one ever walked on the moon. How do you find a gently persuasive way of steering people away from unfounded beliefs, bogus cures, conspiracy theories, and the like? Longtime skeptic Guy P. Harrison shows you how in this down-to-earth, entertaining exploration of commonly held extraordinary claims. A veteran journalist, Harrison has not only surveyed a vast body of literature, but has also interviewed leading scientists, explored "the most haunted house in America," frolicked in the inviting waters of the Bermuda Triangle, and even talked to a "contrite Roswell alien." Harrison is not out simply to debunk unfounded beliefs. Wherever possible, he presents alternative scientific explanations, which in most cases are even more fascinating than the wildest speculation. For example, stories about UFOs and alien abductions lack good evidence, but science gives us plenty of reasons to keep exploring outer space for evidence that life exists elsewhere in the vast universe. The proof for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster may be nonexistent, but scientists are regularly discovering new species, some of which are truly stranger than fiction. Stressing the excitement of scientific discovery and the legitimate mysteries and wonder inherent in reality, Harrison invites readers to share the joys of rational thinking and the skeptical approach to evaluating our extraordinary world."

Guy P. Harrison (Author), Erik Synnestvedt (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date

"New insights from the science of science Facts change all the time. Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly. We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe and that Pluto was a planet. For decades, we were convinced that the brontosaurus was a real dinosaur. In short, what we know about the world is constantly changing. But it turns out there’s an order to the state of knowledge, an explanation for how we know what we know. Samuel Arbesman is an expert in the field of scientometrics—literally the science of science. Knowledge in most fields evolves systematically and predictably, and this evolution unfolds in a fascinating way that can have a powerful impact on our lives. Doctors with a rough idea of when their knowledge is likely to expire can be better equipped to keep up with the latest research. Companies and governments that understand how long new discoveries take to develop can improve decisions about allocating resources. And by tracing how and when language changes, each of us can better bridge generational gaps in slang and dialect. Just as we know that a chunk of uranium can break down in a measurable amount of time—a radioactive half-life—so too any given field’s change in knowledge can be measured concretely. We can know when facts in aggregate are obsolete, the rate at which new facts are created, and even how facts spread. Arbesman takes us through a wide variety of fields, including those that change quickly, over the course of a few years, or over the span of centuries. He shows that much of what we know consists of “mesofacts”—facts that change at a middle timescale, often over a single human lifetime. Throughout, he offers intriguing examples about the face of knowledge: what English majors can learn from a statistical analysis of The Canterbury Tales, why it’s so hard to measure a mountain, and why so many parents still tell kids to eat their spinach because it’s rich in iron. The Half-life of Facts is a riveting journey into the counterintuitive fabric of knowledge. It can help us find new ways to measure the world while accepting the limits of how much we can know with certainty."

Samuel Arbesman (Author), Sean Pratt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch

"Roundworld is in trouble again, and this time it looks fatal. Having created it in the first place, the wizards of Unseen University feel vaguely responsible for its safety. They know the creatures who lived there escaped the impending Big Freeze by inventing the space elevator - they even intervened to rid the planet of a plague of elves, who attempted to divert humanity onto a different time track. But now it's all gone wrong - Victorian England has stagnated and the pace of progress would embarrass a limping snail. Unless something drastic is done, there won't be time for anyone to invent spaceflight and the human race will be turned into ice-pops. Why, though, did history come adrift? Was it Sir Arthur Nightingale's dismal book about natural selection? Or was it the devastating response by an obscure country vicar called Charles Darwin, whose bestselling Theology of Species made it impossible to refute the divine design of living creatures? Either way, it's no easy task to change history, as the wizards discover to their cost. Can the God of Evolution come to humanity's aid and ensure Darwin writes a very different book? And who stopped him writing it in the first place?"

Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Terry Pratchett (Author), Michael Fenton Stevens, Stephen Briggs (Narrator)

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The Science Of Discworld II: The Globe

"The acclaimed Science of Discworld centred around an original Pratchett story about the Wizards of Discworld. In it they accidentally witnessed the creation and evolution of our universe, a plot which was interleaved with a Cohen & Stewart non-fiction narrative about Big Science. In The Science of Discworld II our authors join forces again to see just what happens when the wizards meddle with history in a battle against the elves for the future of humanity on Earth. London is replaced by a dozy Neanderthal village. The Renaissance is given a push. The role of fat women in art is developed. And one very famous playwright gets born and writes The Play. Weaving together a fast-paced Discworld novelette with cutting-edge scientific commentary on the evolution and development of the human mind, culture, language, art, and science, this is a book in which 'the hard science is as gripping as the fiction'. (The Times)"

Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Terry Pratchett (Author), Michael Fenton Stevens, Stephen Briggs (Narrator)

Audiobook

Elemental Matters:An Introduction to Chemistry

"In Elemental Matters, Professor Deborah Sauder leads a comprehensive overview of chemistry, a subject that influences every aspect of daily life. Kicking off the lecture series with a revealing look at one of the planet's most vital chemicals-water-Sauder then delves into the basics of molecular structure and chemical reactions. The course concludes with an eye-opening glimpse of 21st-century applications such as nanotechnology and energy alternatives."

Deborah G. Sauder (Author), Deborah G. Sauder (Narrator)

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Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind

"Sigmund Freud’s life bridged the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and his reputation and influence have endured, even intensified, in the twenty-first. Often referred to as “the father of psychoanalysis,” Freud did, in fact, conceive of many of its defining characteristics: he was the original advocate of the “talking cure,” and discovered--or, some argue, invented--the human unconscious. Kramer’s take on Freud is at once critical and sympathetic: he recognizes what is archaic in Freud’s work and also what endures, interpreting him as not only a pioneer, but a writer whose work will survive among the classics of our literature."

Peter D. Kramer (Author), William Dufris (Narrator)

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Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History

"Did you know that breast milk contains substances similar to cannabis? Or that it's sold on the Internet for 262 times the price of oil? Feted and fetishized, the breast is an evolutionary masterpiece. But in the modern world, the breast is changing. Breasts are getting bigger, arriving earlier, and attracting newfangled chemicals. Increasingly, the odds are stacked against us in the struggle with breast cancer, even among men. What makes breasts so mercurial—and so vulnerable? In this informative and highly entertaining account, intrepid science reporter Florence Williams sets out to uncover the latest scientific findings from the fields of anthropology, biology, and medicine. Her investigation follows the life cycle of the breast from puberty to pregnancy to menopause, taking her from a plastic surgeon's office where she learns about the importance of cup size in Texas to the laboratory where she discovers the presence of environmental toxins in her own breast milk. The result is a fascinating exploration of where breasts came from, where they have ended up, and what we can do to save them."

Florence Williams (Author), Kate Reading (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

"The Development of an Extraordinary Species We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet -- having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art -- while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival. What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins? In this fascinating, provocative, passionate, funny, endlessly entertaining work, renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning author and scientist Jared Diamond explores how the extraordinary human animal, in a remarkably short time, developed the capacity to rule the world . . . and the means to irrevocably destroy it."

Jared Diamond (Author), Rob Shapiro (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fatal Flaws: What Evolutionists Don't Want You to Know

"Materials drawn from The Face That Demonstrates The Farce of Evolution (ISBN 0-8499-4272-1) Today's generation is bombarded with theories about humankind and its origins. The danger for Christians lies in the wealth of misinformation and miscommunication about simple biblical truths such as: (1) How and when the world began, (2) Whether humans are unique or merely a happenstance of evolution, (3) The distinction between humankind and other living creatures, (4) The evolution of life on this planet, and (5) The spiritual dimensions of the human soul. Hank Hanegraff keeps Christians from falling prey to corrupting scientific speculation about the origins of life and reminds us that we are God's creation. This common sense approach puts the concept of evolution in the grasp of everyday Christians and reminds us that ultimately the key to our purpose in this life comes from understanding whose we are and who created us."

Hank Hanegraaff (Author), Hank Hanegraaff (Narrator)

Audiobook

Biology & Chemistry Audiobooks in Non-Fiction