Biology & Chemistry Audiobooks | Non-Fiction

The Explorer's Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map

"New York Times-bestselling author of Endure Alex Hutchinson returns with a fresh, provocative investigation into how exploration, uncertainty, and risk shape our behavior and help us find meaning. Off the beaten path, following unmarked trails, we are wired to explore. More than just a need to get outside, the search for the unknown is a primal urge that has shaped the history of our species and continues to mold our behavior in ways we are only beginning to understand. In fact, the latest neuroscience suggests that exploration in any form—whether it’s trying a new restaurant, changing careers, or deciding to run a marathon—is an essential ingredient of human life. Exploration, it turns out, isn’t merely a hobby—it’s our story. In this much-anticipated follow-up to his New York Times bestseller Endure, Alex Hutchinson refutes the myth that, in our fully mapped digital world, the age of exploration is dead. Instead, the itch to discover new things persists in all of us, expressed not just on the slopes of Everest but in the ways we work, play, and live. From paddling the lost rivers of the northern Canadian wilderness to the ocean-spanning voyages of the Polynesians to the search for next-generation quantum computers, The Explorer’s Gene combines riveting stories of exploration with cutting-edge insights from behavioral psychology and neuroscience, making a powerful case that our lives are better—more productive, more meaningful, and more fun—when we break our habits and chart a new path. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook."

Alex Hutchinson (Author), Michael David Axtell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Memory Lane: The Perfectly Imperfect Ways We Remember

"This audiobook narrated by Emily Schwing provides an illuminating look at the adaptive nature of our memories—and how their flexibility and fallibility help us survive and thrive We tend to think of our memories as impressions of the past that remain fully intact, preserved somewhere inside our brains. In fact, we construct and reconstruct our memories every time we attempt to recall them. Memory Lane introduces readers to the cutting-edge science of human memory, revealing how our recollections of the past are constantly adapting and changing, and why a faulty memory isn't always a bad thing. Shedding light on what memory is and what it evolved to do, Ciara Greene and Gillian Murphy discuss the many benefits of our flexible yet fallible memory system, including helping us to maintain a coherent identity, sustain social bonds, and vividly imagine possible futures. But these flexible and easily distorted memories can also result in significant harm, leading us to provide erroneous eyewitness testimony or fall victim to fake news. Greene and Murphy explain why our flawed memories are not a failure of evolution but rather a byproduct of the perfectly imperfect way our minds have evolved to solve problems. They also grapple with important ethical questions surrounding the study and manipulation of memory. Blending engaging storytelling with the latest science, the authors demonstrate how our continuous reconstruction of the past makes us who we are, helps us to interpret our experiences, and explains why no two trips down memory lane are ever quite the same."

Ciara Greene, Gillian Murphy (Author), Emily Schwing (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Social Genome: The New Science of Nature and Nurture

"A pioneering scientist presents a mind-expanding account of the sociogenomics revolution, which promises to upend everything we know about human development. Sociogenomics brings together advances in molecular genetics and traditional social and behavioral science. The key tool is the polygenic index, which allows us to analyze DNA to measure a child's genetic potential. Today, we can estimate a child's adult height, how far they will go in school, and their weight as an adult—all from a cheek swab, finger prick, or vial of saliva. Dalton Conley and other researchers are using this new science to shed light on the ways in which genes shape our world, influencing how each person both creates and responds to the environment around them. Conley reveals a world where children's DNA influences the nurture they extract from their parents; the genes of our schoolmates affect our likelihood of smoking as much as our own DNA does; and spouses' genes influence each other's moods and behaviors. The Social Genome presents a nuanced, powerful perspective on individual potential and social dynamics and raises critical ethical questions about how we will navigate a future where we have access to far more genetic information than ever before."

Dalton Conley (Author), Christopher Douyard (Narrator)

Audiobook

Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World

"In Ray Kurzweil's New York Times bestseller The Singularity is Near, the futurist and entrepreneur describes the Singularity, a likely future utterly different than anything we can imagine. The Singularity is triggered by the tremendous growth of human and computing intelligence that is an almost inevitable outcome of Moore's Law. Since the book's publication, the coming of the Singularity is now eagerly anticipated by many of the leading thinkers in Silicon Valley, from PayPal mastermind Peter Thiel to Google co-founder Larry Page. The formation of the Singularity University, and the huge popularity of the Singularity website kurzweilai.com, speak to the importance of this intellectual movement. But what about the average person? How will the Singularity affect our daily lives—our jobs, our families, and our wealth? Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World focuses on the implications of a future society faced with an abundance of human and artificial intelligence. James D. Miller, an economics professor and popular speaker on the Singularity, reveals how natural selection has been increasing human intelligence over the past few thousand years and speculates on how intelligence enhancements will shape civilization over the next forty years. Miller considers several possible scenarios in this coming singularity: - A merger of man and machine making society fantastically wealthy and nearly immortal - Competition with billions of cheap AIs drive human wages to almost nothing while making investors rich - Businesses rethink investment decisions to take into account an expected future period of intense creative destruction - Inequality drops worldwide as technologies mitigate the cognitive cost of living in impoverished environments - Drugs designed to fight Alzheimer's disease and keep soldiers alert on battlefields have the fortunate side effect of increasing all of their users' IQs, which, in turn, adds a percentage points to worldwide economic growth Singularity Rising offers predictions about the economic implications for a future of widely expanding intelligence and practical career and investment advice on flourishing on the way to the Singularity."

James D. Miller (Author), Jonathan Beville (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Other Big Bang: The Story of Sex and Its Human Legacy

"Sex shapes who we are as individuals and as a species. Where in the mists of time did something so important originate, and what does this history tell us about ourselves? Why do we have sex, and sexes, at all? In The Other Big Bang, the evolutionary and developmental biologist Eric S. Haag explores the two-billion-year history of sex, from the first organisms on Earth to contemporary humans. He delves into the deep history of sexual reproduction, from its origins as a fix for a mutational crisis to an essential feature of all complex life. Haag traces sexual differentiation from its earliest forms in microbes to its elaboration in animals, showing why sex differences in cells and organisms help species adapt, persist, and evolve. Humanity's clear sexual kinship with yeast and clams exists even as we evolved differences that distinguish us from other mammals, and even other apes. Bringing the story up to the present, Haag argues that the evolutionary history of human sexuality helps us better understand contemporary society. Our ancient male-female sexual system remains an important fact of life, even as we see increasingly diverse sexual orientations, gender expressions, and parenthood choices. Witty and inviting, The Other Big Bang offers a clear view of the evolutionary roots of human sexuality and their significance today."

Eric S. Haag (Author), Jonathan Yen (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Warum wir sterben: Die neue Wissenschaft des Alterns und die Suche nach dem ewigen Leben

"Werden wir bald für immer leben? Wir erleben eine Revolution in der Biologie: Unsterblichkeit, einst eine schwache Hoffnung, war noch nie so greifbar für uns. Der Nobelpreisträger für Chemie Venki Ramakrishnan berichtet über die jüngsten Durchbrüche in der wissenschaftlichen Forschung und verändert für immer unser Verständnis über das Altern, das Sterben und den Tod. Das Wissen um den Tod ist erschreckend – so sehr, dass wir die meiste Zeit unseres Lebens damit verbringen, den Gedanken daran zu verdrängen. Unsere Angst vor dem Sterben hat Religionen hervorgebracht, die Philosophie geprägt und die Wissenschaft vorangetrieben. Mittlerweile hat die Forschung viele neue Erkenntnisse über unser bisher unvermeidliches Ende gewonnen und weiß um die unglaubliche Möglichkeit, dass unser Tod irgendwann nicht mehr oder sehr viel später in unserem Leben eintreten könnte. Venki Ramakrishnan erzählt fesselnd von diesen Einsichten und erklärt, was der Tod ist und wie er aus langwierigen evolutionären Prozessen hervorging. Schließlich legt er dar, inwiefern sich unsere Biologie so anpassen könnte, dass Unsterblichkeit möglich ist – und stellt die gewichtige Frage, ob der Preis der Unsterblichkeit nicht zu hoch ist. Eine spannende Reise durch die Biologie des Todes."

Venki Ramakrishnan (Author), Klaus B. Wolf (Narrator)

Audiobook

Is Anyone Listening?: What Animals Are Saying to Each Other and to Us

"If you could pose one question to a dolphin, what would it be? And what might a dolphin ask you? For forty years, researcher and author Denise L. Herzing has investigated these and related questions of marine mammal communication. But the dolphins are not the only ones talking, and in this wide-ranging and accessible book, Herzing explores the astonishing realities of interspecies communication, a skill that humans currently lack. Is Anyone Listening? connects research on dolphin communication to findings from Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Dian Fossey on mountain gorillas, Cynthia Moss on African elephants, and others driving today's exploration of possible animal languages. As Herzing reveals, researchers are finding fascinating hints of language in nonhuman species, including linguistic structures, vowel equivalents, and complex repeated sequences. By looking at the many ways animals use and manipulate signals, we see that we've only just begun to appreciate the diversity of animal intelligence and the complicated and subtle aspects of animal communication. Considering dolphins and other nonhuman animals as colleagues instead of research subjects, Herzing asks us to meet animals as both speakers and listeners, as mutually curious beings, and to listen to what they are saying."

Denise L. Herzing (Author), Allyson Ryan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hematology: The Bloodline: Understanding Blood and Its Disorders

"Blood is one of the most vital components of the human body, performing essential functions that sustain life. It serves as the primary transport system, delivering oxygen and nutrients to tissues while removing waste products. Beyond its role in circulation, blood is integral to immunity, clotting, and maintaining homeostasis. Understanding its significance is crucial not only for medical professionals but for anyone interested in maintaining good health. One of the most fundamental roles of blood is oxygen transportation. Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, a protein that binds to oxygen in the lungs and carries it to cells throughout the body. Without this continuous supply of oxygen, tissues would quickly deteriorate, leading to organ failure and death. At the same time, blood carries carbon dioxide, a waste product of cellular metabolism, back to the lungs, where it is expelled from the body. This exchange ensures that cells function efficiently and that the body's pH levels remain balanced. Beyond oxygen transport, blood is responsible for distributing nutrients absorbed from the digestive system. Glucose, amino acids, lipids, and vitamins travel through the bloodstream to nourish organs and fuel metabolic processes. Additionally, blood removes waste products such as urea and lactic acid, transporting them to the kidneys and liver for detoxification and elimination. This regulatory role ensures that harmful substances do not accumulate to dangerous levels."

Mike Crawford (Author), Brigit Henderson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Kinesiology: The Science of Movement How We Use Our Bodies

"Kinesiology, the scientific study of human movement, is a multidisciplinary field that integrates principles from anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and neuroscience. It examines how the body moves, the forces that act upon it, and the underlying mechanisms that control movement. By understanding these principles, professionals in various fields, including physical therapy, sports science, and occupational therapy, can enhance human performance, prevent injuries, and improve rehabilitation strategies. The origins of kinesiology date back to ancient civilizations, where scholars like Aristotle and Galen first explored the mechanics of movement. However, the field gained prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries as scientific advancements allowed for a deeper understanding of biomechanics and motor control. Today, kinesiology encompasses a vast range of topics, from the microscopic study of muscle fibers to large-scale analyses of athletic performance. One of the core components of kinesiology is biomechanics, which applies the principles of physics and engineering to study how forces influence movement. Biomechanics helps explain how the body maintains balance, generates power, and absorbs impact. For example, analyzing the gait cycle of a runner can reveal inefficiencies that may lead to injuries. By optimizing movement patterns, biomechanics contributes to improving athletic performance and developing assistive technologies such as prosthetics and orthotics."

Mike Crawford (Author), Brigit Henderson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Myology: Muscles in Motion: The Science of Human Movement

"Myology is the scientific study of muscles, their structure, function, and role in movement. Muscles are fundamental to human life, enabling everything from basic motions such as breathing and walking to complex athletic performances. Without muscles, the human body would be incapable of movement, stability, or even essential functions such as circulation and digestion. Understanding myology provides valuable insight into how the body operates, adapts, and responds to physical demands. The importance of studying muscles extends beyond movement. Myology is crucial in various fields, including medicine, sports science, physical therapy, and rehabilitation. Muscle health affects overall well-being, influencing strength, endurance, posture, and even metabolic function. For athletes, understanding muscle mechanics helps optimize performance and prevent injuries. In the medical field, myology plays a key role in diagnosing and treating muscular disorders, ranging from simple strains to complex neuromuscular diseases. The study of muscles dates back thousands of years. Ancient Greek physicians, including Hippocrates and Galen, laid the groundwork for myology, describing muscle function in relation to human anatomy. Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings provided further insights into muscle structure and movement. As medical knowledge advanced, scientists discovered the microscopic components of muscles, leading to a deeper understanding of their biochemical and physiological properties. Today, modern technology, such as electromyography (EMG) and imaging techniques, allows researchers to study muscle function in greater detail than ever before."

Mike Crawford (Author), Brigit Henderson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mycology: Fungi and Their World

"Fungi occupy a unique and essential place in the natural world, forming a biological kingdom distinct from plants, animals, and bacteria. Unlike plants, fungi do not rely on photosynthesis to produce energy, and unlike animals, they do not consume food through ingestion. Instead, they absorb nutrients externally by secreting powerful enzymes that break down organic material. This ability allows fungi to play a crucial role in ecosystems, particularly as decomposers that recycle nutrients back into the environment. The evolutionary origins of fungi date back over a billion years, with evidence suggesting they share a distant common ancestor with animals. As they evolved, fungi developed an incredible range of adaptations, enabling them to survive in nearly every habitat on Earth. From the depths of the ocean to arid deserts, fungi have found ways to thrive in extreme conditions. Some species form vast underground networks, facilitating communication between plants, while others exist as microscopic spores floating invisibly through the air. Classifying fungi has been a longstanding challenge due to their vast diversity and complex life cycles. Scientists traditionally grouped fungi based on physical traits and reproductive strategies, but advances in molecular biology have refined their classification. The major phyla of the fungal kingdom include Basidiomycota, which encompasses familiar mushrooms, Ascomycota, which includes yeasts and molds, Zygomycota, known for fast-growing molds, and Glomeromycota, which form essential symbiotic relationships with plant roots. These diverse groups showcase the wide-ranging forms and functions of fungi in nature."

Mike Crawford (Author), Brigit Henderson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Vector-Borne Diseases: Illnesses That Ride on Nature’s Back (3 in 1)

"Vector-borne diseases represent one of the most complex and challenging frontiers of global health. These infections, transmitted through the bites of mosquitoes, ticks, and other arthropod vectors, affect hundreds of millions of people annually and have shaped human history, migration patterns, and societal development for millennia. This comprehensive exploration delves into three of the most significant vector-borne threats—Malaria, Dengue Fever, and Lyme Disease—illuminating the sophisticated biological mechanisms, ecological dynamics, and human factors that enable these pathogens to transcend the boundaries between wildlife ecosystems and human communities. The story of vector-borne diseases is fundamentally a narrative of ecological relationships, where microscopic parasites and pathogens have evolved remarkable strategies to navigate between arthropod vectors and human hosts. By examining the intricate life cycles, transmission dynamics, clinical manifestations, and global impact of these diseases, this book unveils the multifaceted challenges they present to modern medicine and public health. Readers will journey through diverse landscapes—from tropical regions where Anopheles mosquitoes transmit the ancient scourge of malaria to suburban forests where ticks harbor the bacteria causing Lyme disease—discovering how climate change, urbanization, and human behavior continue to reshape the epidemiological patterns of these persistent threats. Through scientific insight, historical context, and forward-looking analysis, we explore not only the biological complexity of these pathogens but also the innovative strategies being developed to control vectors, prevent transmission, and ultimately reduce the tremendous burden these diseases impose on human communities worldwide."

Lilly Richardsen (Author), Chloe Fendersen (Narrator)

Audiobook

Biology & Chemistry Audiobooks in Non-Fiction