Astronomy & Physics Audiobooks | Science & Technology

Out There: A Scientific Guide to Alien Life, Antimatter, and Human Space Travel (For the Cosmically

We've all asked ourselves the question. It's impossible to look up at the stars and NOT think about it: Are we alone in the universe? Books, movies and television shows proliferate that attempt to answer this question and explore it. In OUT THERE Space.com senior writer Dr. Michael Wall treats that question as merely the beginning, touching off a wild ride of exploration into the final frontier. He considers, for instance, the myriad of questions that would arise once we do discover life beyond Earth (an eventuality which, top NASA officials told Wall, is only drawing closer). What would the first aliens we meet look like? Would they be little green men or mere microbes? Would they be found on a planet in our own solar system or orbiting a star far, far away? Would they intend to harm us, and if so, how might they do it? And might they already have visited? OUT THERE is arranged in a simple question-and-answer format. The answers are delivered in Dr. Wall's informal but informative style, which mixes in a healthy dose of humor and pop culture to make big ideas easier to swallow. Dr. Wall covers questions far beyond alien life, venturing into astronomy, physics, and the practical realities of what long-term life might be like for we mere humans in outer space, such as the idea of lunar colonies, and even economic implications. Dr. Wall also shares the insights of some of the leading lights in space exploration today, and shows how the next space age might be brighter than ever.

Michael Wall (Author), Will Collyer (Narrator)

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Big Bang: Vom Urknall zum Bewusstsein

In diesem Hörbuch erzählen die angesehene Wissenschaftler die Geschichte vom Urknall bis zur Entstehung des menschlichen Bewusstseins: Der Astrophysiker Harald Lesch, der Paläontologe Friedemann Schrenk und der Hirnforscher Manfred Spitzer. Mit Witz und Charme und im lockeren Plauderton gehen sie darauf ein, wie und wann sich das Universum, die Sterne und die Erde gebildet haben. Wann im Laufe der Evolution Leben an sich sowie Pflanzen und Tiere entstanden sind. Warum es überhaupt Menschen gibt und wann diese ein großes Gehirn, Sprache und Bewusstsein entwickelt haben.

Friedemann Schrenk, Harald Lesch, Manfred Spitzer (Author), Friedemann Schrenk, Harald Lesch, Manfred Spitzer (Narrator)

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Safely to Earth: The Men and Women Who Brought the Astronauts Home

In this one-of-a-kind memoir, Jack Clemons-a former lead engineer in support of NASA-takes listeners behind the scenes and into the inner workings of the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs during their most exciting years. Discover the people, the events, and the risks involved in one of the most important parts of space missions: bringing the astronauts back home to Earth. Clemons joined Project Apollo in 1968, a young engineer inspired by science fiction and electrified by John F. Kennedy's challenge to the nation to put a man on the moon. He describes his experiences supporting the NASA engineering team at what is now the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he played a pivotal role in designing the reentry and landing procedures for Apollo astronauts. He went on to work on Skylab and the Space Shuttle program, eventually assuming leadership for the entire integrated software system on board the Space Shuttle. Through personal stories, Clemons introduces listeners to many of the unsung heroes of the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions-the people who worked side-by-side with NASA engineers supporting reentry and landing for each Apollo mission, and the software team who fashioned the computer programs that accompanied the crews on the Space Shuttle. Clemons worked closely with astronauts who relied on him and his fellow engineers for directions to their destination, guidance on how to get there, control of their fate during their journeys, and a safe return. He reveals problems, challenges, and near-disasters previously unknown to the public and offers candid opinions on the failures that led to the loss of fourteen astronauts in the Challenger and Columbia tragedies. Highlighting the staggering responsibility and the incredible technological challenges that Clemons and his colleagues took on in the race to reach the moon and explore the mysteries of space, this book is a fascinating insider's view of some of the greatest adventures of the twentieth century.

Jack Clemons (Author), Tom Perkins (Narrator)

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Brief Answers to the Big Questions

The world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the biggest questions facing humankind. Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues. Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe's greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet-including climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and the development of artificial intelligence-he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us. Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history. Featuring a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar playing Stephen Hawking, an introduction by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, and an afterword from Hawking's daughter, Lucy, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a brilliant last message to the world.

Stephen Hawking (Author), Ben Whishaw (Narrator)

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An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth That the Brain Produces Consciousness, and the I

Consciousness creates all material reality. Biological processes do not create consciousness. This conceptual breakthrough turns traditional scientific thinking upside down. In An End to Upside Down Thinking, Mark Gober traces his journey-he explores compelling scientific evidence from a diverse set of disciplines, ranging from psychic phenomena, to near-death experiences, to quantum physics and beyond. With cutting-edge thinkers like two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Ervin Laszlo, chief scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences Dr. Dean Radin, and New York Times bestselling author Larry Dossey, MD, supporting this thesis, this book will rock the scientific community and mainstream generalists interested in understanding the true nature of reality. Today's disarray around the globe can be linked, at its core, to a fundamental misunderstanding of our reality. This book aims to shift our collective outlook, reshaping our view of human potential and how we treat one another. The book's implications encourage much-needed revisions in science, technology, and medicine. General readers will find comfort in the implied worldview, which will impact their happiness and everyday decisions related to business, health, and politics. Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time meets Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now.

Mark Gober (Author), Mark Gober (Narrator)

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Einstein's Shadow: A Black Hole, a Band of Astronomers, and the Quest to See the Unseeable

Einstein’s Shadow follows a team of elite scientists on their historic mission to take the first picture of a black hole, putting Einstein’s theory of relativity to its ultimate test and helping to answer our deepest questions about space, time, the origins of the universe, and the nature of reality. Photographing a black hole sounds impossible, a contradiction in terms. But Shep Doeleman and a global coalition of scientists are on the cusp of doing just that. With exclusive access to the team, journalist Seth Fletcher spent five years following Shep and an extraordinary cast of characters as they assembled the Event Horizon Telescope, a virtual radio observatory the size of the Earth. He witnessed their struggles, setbacks, and breakthroughs, and along the way, he explored the latest thinking on the most profound questions about black holes. Do they represent a limit to our ability to understand reality? Or will they reveal the clues that lead to the long-sought Theory of Everything? Fletcher transforms astrophysics into something exciting, accessible, and immediate, taking us on an incredible adventure to better understand the complexity of our galaxy, the boundaries of human perception and knowledge, and how the messy human endeavor of science really works. Weaving a compelling narrative account of human ingenuity with excursions into cutting-edge science, Einstein’s Shadow is a tale of great minds on a mission to change the way we understand our universe—and our place in it. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Seth Fletcher (Author), Sean Pratt (Narrator)

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One of Ten Billion Earths: How We Learn About Our Planet's Past and Future From Distant Exoplanets

This book explores how the discoveries within the Solar System and of exoplanets far beyond it come together to help us understand the habitability of Earth, and how these findings guide the search for exoplanets that could support life. The author highlights how, within two decades of the discovery of the first planets outside the Solar System in the 1990s, scientists concluded that planets are so common that most stars are orbited by them. The lives of exoplanets and their stars are inextricably interwoven. Stars are the seeds around which planets form, and they provide light and warmth for as long as they shine. At the end of their lives, stars expel massive amounts of newly forged elements into deep space, and that ejected material is incorporated into subsequent generations of planets. How do we learn about these distant worlds? What does the exploration of other planets tell us about Earth? Can we find out what the distant future may have in store for us? What do we know about exoworlds and starbirth, and where do migrating hot Jupiters, polluted white dwarfs, and free-roaming nomad planets fit in? And what does all that have to do with the habitability of Earth, the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life, and the operation of the globe-spanning network of the sciences?

Karel Schrijver (Author), Steve Menasche (Narrator)

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The History of Physics: A Very Short Introduction

How does the physics we know today-a highly professionalized enterprise, inextricably linked to government and industry-link back to its origins as a liberal art in Ancient Greece? What is the path that leads from the old philosophy of nature and its concern with humankind's place in the universe to modern massive international projects that hunt down fundamental particles and industrial laboratories that manufacture marvels? This Very Short Introduction introduces us to Islamic astronomers and mathematicians calculating the size of the earth while their caliphs conquered much of it; to medieval scholar-theologians investigating light; to Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton, measuring, and trying to explain, the universe. We visit the "House of Wisdom" in ninth-century Baghdad; Europe's first universities; the courts of the Renaissance; the Scientific Revolution and the academies of the eighteenth century; and the increasingly specialized world of twentieth and twenty-first century science. Highlighting the shifting relationship between physics, philosophy, mathematics, and technology-and the implications for humankind's self-understanding-Heilbron explores the changing place and purpose of physics in the cultures and societies that have nurtured it over the centuries.

J.L. Heilbron (Author), Sean Runnette (Narrator)

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Galileo Unbound: A Path Across Life, the Universe and Everything

Galileo Unbound traces the journey that brought us from Galileo's law of free fall to today's geneticists measuring evolutionary drift, entangled quantum particles moving among many worlds, and our lives as trajectories traversing a health space with thousands of dimensions. Remarkably, common themes persist that predict the evolution of species as readily as the orbits of planets or the collapse of stars into black holes. This book tells the history of spaces of expanding dimension and increasing abstraction and how they continue today to give new insight into the physics of complex systems. Galileo published the first modern law of motion, the Law of Fall, laying the foundation upon which Newton built the first theory of dynamics. Early in the twentieth century, geometry became the cause of motion rather than the result when Einstein envisioned the fabric of space-time warped by mass and energy. Possibly more radical was Feynman's dilemma of quantum particles taking all paths at once-setting the stage for the modern fields of quantum field theory and quantum computing. Yet as concepts of motion have evolved, one thing has remained constant, the need to track ever more complex changes and to capture their essence, to find patterns in the chaos as we try to predict and control our world.

David D. Nolte (Author), Joel Richards (Narrator)

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Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe

How did a single "genesis event" create billions of galaxies, black holes, stars and planets? How did atoms assemble--here on earth, and perhaps on other worlds--into living beings intricate enough to ponder their origins? What fundamental laws govern our universe? This book describes new discoveries and offers remarkable insights into these fundamental questions. There are deep connections between stars and atoms, between the cosmos and the microworld. Just six numbers, imprinted in the "big bang," determine the essential features of our entire physical world. Moreover, cosmic evolution is astonishingly sensitive to the values of these numbers. If any one of them were "untuned," there could be no stars and no life. This realization offers a radically new perspective on our universe, our place in it, and the nature of physical laws.

Martin Rees (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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It Is Rocket Science: The Complete Series 1-3: A BBC Radio 4 comedy show

Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane star in this funny, off-beat but factual expedition through the universe, boldly going where no Radio 4 comedy show has gone before. "A pithy sweet programme ... with a joke stuffed script" Miranda Sawyer, The Observer "Beautiful...A gem" The Sunday Express "Informed, enthusiastic and funny" Daily Mail "A sort of stand up version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" The Times This "shamelessly nerdy...deeply silly" (Radio Times) space extravaganza features fewer close-ups of Professor Brian Cox looking cool in front of a rocket than Wonders of the Universe, but more weird, wonderful and occasionally woeful stories about the geniuses, Nazis and Satanists who plotted to propel humankind to the stars. Find out the many and varied ways to leave the planet as It Is Rocket Science! takes you on a "gleefully irreverent" (The Scotsman) whistle-stop comic tour of the Great Brains who put monkeys, ladies, dogs and gentlemen into orbit. Discover the daring Mercury 13 women - the astronauts and moonwalkers that never were, hear the adventures of Felix the French Space Cat, raise your eyebrows at the career trajectory of Wernher von Braun, from Nazi to Disney to NASA, meet the man who (metaphorically) connects rocket fuel to Aleister Crowley, explore your options in case an asteroid is heading directly your way, and discover some of the more surprising suggestions scientists have advanced for how to get in touch with life on other planets, from giant burning parallelograms in the Sahara to sending nude pictures into space.... "Factually accurate yet funny" (The Telegraph), the show won several major awards including The Association of British Science Writers' Royal Society Radio Prize. "Harnessing a sharp comedy sensibility to an arsenal of fascinating facts, she's a treat for anyone who matches a sense of humour with an inquiring mind" The Guardian [on Helen Keen]

Helen Keen, Miriam Underhill (Author), Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz, Susy Kane (Narrator)

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On the Future: Prospects for Humanity

A provocative and inspiring look at the future of humanity and science from world-renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomes-good and bad-are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees argues that humanity's prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow. The future of humanity is bound to the future of science and hinges on how successfully we harness technological advances to address our challenges. If we are to use science to solve our problems while avoiding its dystopian risks, we must think rationally, globally, collectively, and optimistically about the long term. Advances in biotechnology, cybertechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence-if pursued and applied wisely-could empower us to boost the developing and developed world and overcome the threats humanity faces on Earth, from climate change to nuclear war. At the same time, further advances in space science will allow humans to explore the solar system and beyond with robots and AI. But there is no "Plan B" for Earth-no viable alternative within reach if we do not care for our home planet. Rich with fascinating insights into cutting-edge science and technology, this accessible book will captivate anyone who wants to understand the critical issues that will define the future of humanity on Earth and beyond.

Martin Rees (Author), Martin Rees, Samuel West (Narrator)

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Astronomy & Physics Audiobooks in Science & Technology