Astronomy & Physics Audiobooks | Science & Technology

The author of the highly acclaimed Founding Gardeners now gives us an enlightening chronicle of the first truly international scientific endeavor-the eighteenth-century quest to observe the transit of Venus and measure the solar system. On June 6, 1761, the world paused to observe a momentous occasion: the first transit of Venus between the earth and the sun in more than a century. Through that observation, astronomers could calculate the size of the solar system-but only if they could compile data from many different points of the globe, all recorded during the short period of the transit. Overcoming incredible odds and political strife, astronomers from Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and the American colonies set up observatories in remote corners of the world, only to have their efforts thwarted by unpredictable weather and warring armies. Fortunately, transits of Venus occur in pairs: eight years later, the scientists would have another opportunity to succeed. Chasing Venus brings to life the personalities of the eighteenth-century astronomers who embarked upon this complex and essential scientific venture, painting a vivid portrait of the collaborations, the rivalries, and the volatile international politics that hindered them at every turn. In the end, what they accomplished would change our conception of the universe and would forever alter the nature of scientific research.

Andrea Wulf (Author), Robin Sachs (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Logic of Microspace

The Logic of Microspace is three books in one. The technologies underlying small space were the subject of Rick's widely acclaimed first book, Micro Space Craft, which sold out its first printing by word of mouth. This highly understandable, entertaining book, called the only comedic page-turner ever written about aerospace engineering, has been thoroughly updated and is the first book within The Logic of Microspace. The second book within this trilogy-inside-one-cover brings the same understandable, humorous, fast-reading and informative style of the technical sections to a complementary book on minimum size and cost mission management and the philosophical and often surprising psychological underpinnings of minimum-cost space missions. The third part of the Logic of Microspace is a dramatic novella, possibly the first in any aerospace text, describing several alluring opportunities for benefiting humanity and the space industry via low-cost satellites and space missions.

Rick Fleeter (Author), Cindy Lucas (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe

The second half of the twentieth century witnessed a scientific gold rush as physicists raced to chart the inner workings of the atom. The stakes were high: the questions were big, and there were Nobel Prizes and everlasting glory to be won. Many mysteries of the atom came unraveled, but one remained intractable—what Frank Close calls the "Infinity Puzzle." The problem was simple to describe. Although clearly very powerful, quantum field theory—the great achievement of the 1930s—was making one utterly ridiculous prediction: that certain events had an infinite probability of occurring. The solution is known as renormalization, which enables theory to match what we see in the real world. It has been a powerful approach, conquering three of the four fundamental forces of nature, and giving rise to the concept of the Higgs boson, the now much-sought particle that may be what gives structure to the universe. The Infinity Puzzle charts the birth and life of the idea, and the scientists, both household names and unsung heroes, who realized it. Based on numerous firsthand interviews and extensive research, The Infinity Puzzle captures an era of great mystery and greater discovery. Even if the Higgs boson is never found, renormalization—the pursuit of an orderly universe—has led to one of the richest and most productive intellectual periods in human history. With a physicist's expertise and a historian's care, Close describes the personalities and the competition, the dead ends and the sudden insights, in a story that will reverberate through the ages.

Frank Close (Author), Jonathan Cowley (Narrator)

Audiobook

Urknall, Weltall und das Leben: Vom Nichts bis heute Morgen

Das Universum verstehen? Vielleicht ist das zu hoch gegriffen - aber eines können Harald Lesch und Josef M. Gaßner versprechen: Sie erklären die Geheimnisse des Kosmos so verständlich wie nur möglich, ziehen dabei alle Register bis an die Grenzen ihrer eigenen Vorstellungskraft. Von Hefeteig und Honig wird ebenso die Rede sein wie von Higgsfeld und Phasenübergang. Aber keine Sorge - erst nachdem sämtliche notwendigen Begriffe erklärt wurden, beginnt die Expedition an den Rand der Erkenntnis. Woher wissen wir das alles überhaupt? Wie konnte Alles aus dem Nichts entstehen? Was war vor dem Urknall? Warum gibt es Sterne und Galaxien? Wie ist das Leben entstanden? War's das jetzt?

Harald Lesch, Josef M. Gaßner (Author), Harald Lesch, Josef M. Gaßner (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing

Where did the universe come from? What was there before it? What will the future bring? And finally, why is there something rather than nothing? Krauss answers to these and other timeless questions in a wildly popular lecture on YouTube have attracted almost a million viewers. The last of these questions in particular has been at the center of religious and philosophical debates about the existence of God, and its the supposed counterargument to anyone who questions the need for God. Scientists have, however, historically focused on more pressing issues such as figuring out how the universe actually functions, which could help us to improve our quality of life. In this cosmological story that rivets as it enlightens, pioneering theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss explains groundbreaking scientific advances that turn the most basic philosophical questions on their head. One of the few prominent scientists to have actively crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss reveals that modern science is indeed addressing the question of why there is something rather than nothingwith surprising and fascinating results. The beautiful experimental observations and mind-bending theories are all described accessibly, and they suggest that not only can something arise from nothing, something will always arise from nothing. With his characteristic wry humor and clear explanations, Krauss takes us back to the beginning of the beginning, presenting recent evidence for how our universe evolved and the implications for how it will end. It will provoke, challenge, and delight readers as it looks at the most basic underpinnings of existence in a whole new way. And this knowledge that our universe will be quite different in the future has profound consequences and directly affects how we live in the present. As Richard Dawkins described it, this could potentially be the most important scientific book with implications for supernaturalism since Darwin. Afterword by Richard Dawkins, Simon Vance. Nothing is not nothing. Nothing is something. Thats how a cosmos can be spawned from the void a profound idea conveyed in A Universe from Nothing that unsettles some yet enlightens others. Meanwhile, its just another day on the job for physicist Lawrence Krauss. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, American Museum of Natural History

Lawrence M. Krauss (Author), Lawrence M. Krauss, Simon Vance, Simon Vance (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mysterious Universe: Supernovae, Dark Energy, and Black Holes

The universe is rapidly expanding. Of that much scientists are certain. But how fast? And with what implications regarding the fate of the universe? Ellen Jackson and Nic Bishop follow Dr. Alex Fillippenko and his High-Z Supernova Search Team to Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, where they will study space phenomena and look for supernovae, dying stars that explode with the power of billions of hydrogen bombs. Dr. Fillippenko looks for black holes--areas in space with such a strong gravitational pull that no matter or energy can escape from them--with his robotic telescope. And they study the effects of dark energy, the mysterious force that scientists believe is pushing the universe apart, causing its constant and accelerating expansion.

Ellen Jackson (Author), Brian Keeler (Narrator)

Audiobook

About Time: Cosmology, Time and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang

The Big Bang is all but dead, and we do not yet know what will replace it. Our universe's "beginning" is at an end. What does this have to do with us here on Earth? Our lives are about to be dramatically shaken again—as altered as they were with the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet. In About Time, Adam Frank explains how the texture of our lives changes along with our understanding of the universe's origin. Since we awoke to self-consciousness fifty thousand years ago, our lived experience of time—from hunting and gathering to the development of agriculture to the industrial revolution to the invention of Outlook calendars—has been transformed and rebuilt many times. But the latest theories in cosmology—time with no beginning, parallel universes, eternal inflation—are about to send us in a new direction. Time is both our grandest and most intimate conception of the universe. Many books tell the story, recounting the progress of scientific cosmology. Frank tells the story of humanity's deepest question—when and how did everything begin?—alongside the story of how human beings have experienced time. He looks at the way our engagement with the world—our inventions, our habits and more—has allowed us to discover the nature of the universe and how those discoveries, in turn, inform our daily experience. This astounding book will change the way we think about time and how it affects our lives.

Adam Frank (Author), David Drummond (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Magic of Reality: How we know what's really true

What are things made of? What is the sun? Why is there night and day, winter and summer? Why do bad things happen? Are we alone? Throughout history people all over the world have invented stories to answer profound questions such as these. Have you heard the tale of how the sun hatched out of an emu's egg? Or what about the great catfish that carries the world on its back? Has anyone ever told you that earthquakes are caused by a sneezing giant? These fantastical myths are fun - but what is the real answer to such questions? The Magic of Reality, with its explanations of space, time, evolution and more, will inspire and amaze listeners of all ages - young adults, adults, children, octogenarians.This book presents the real story of the world around us, taking us on an enthralling journey through scientific reality, and showing that it has an awe-inspiring beauty and thrilling magic which far exceed those of the ancient myths. We encounter rainbows, earthquakes, tsunamis, shooting stars, plants, animals, and an intriguing cast of characters in this extraordinary scientific voyage of discovery. Richard Dawkins has created a dazzling celebration of our planet that will entertain and inform for years to come. Read by Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward. Also available in hardback, fully illustrated by Dave McKean.

Richard Dawkins (Author), Lalla Ward, Richard Dawkins (Narrator)

Audiobook

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond

Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America's manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA's Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race. He helped to launch Alan Shepard and John Glenn, then assumed the flight director's role in the Gemini program, which he guided to fruition. With his teammates, he accepted the challenge to carry out President John F. Kennedy's commitment to land a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. Kranz was flight director for both Apollo 11, the mission in which Neil Armstrong fulfilled President Kennedy's pledge, and Apollo 13. He headed the Tiger Team that had to figure out how to bring the three Apollo 13 astronauts safely back to Earth. (In the film Apollo 13, Kranz was played by the actor Ed Harris, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.) In Failure Is Not an Option, Gene Kranz recounts these thrilling historic events and offers new information about the famous flights. What appeared as nearly flawless missions to the moon were, in fact, a series of hair-raising near misses. When the space technology failed, as it sometimes did, the controllers' only recourse was to rely on their skills and those of their teammates. Kranz takes us inside Mission Control and introduces us to some of the whiz kids—still in their twenties, only a few years out of college—who had to figure it all out as they went along, creating a great and daring enterprise. He reveals behind-the-scenes details to demonstrate the leadership, discipline, trust, and teamwork that made the space program a success. Finally, Kranz reflects on what has happened to the space program and offers his own bold suggestions about what we ought to be doing in space now. This is a fascinating firsthand account written by a veteran mission controller of one of America's greatest achievements.

Gene Kranz (Author), Danny Campbell (Narrator)

Audiobook

FBI Report on Unidentified Flying Objects

In 1947, a rash of sightings of Unexplained Flying Objects (UFOs) swept America. Although the newly formed U.S. Air Force was the primary investigator of these sightings, the FBI received many reports and worked for a time with the Air Force to investigate these matters. This release, declassified and made public in response to a U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, details the FBI's role in investigating UFO reports between 1947 and 1954.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (Author), Roger Melin (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World

A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe. They have unlimited scope and power to cause change, and the quest to improve them is the basic regulating principle not only of science but of all successful human endeavor. This stream of ever improving explanations has infinite reach, according to Deutsch: we are subject only to the laws of physics, and they impose no upper boundary to what we can eventually understand, control, and achieve. In his previous book, The Fabric of Reality, Deutsch describe the four deepest strands of existing knowledge-the theories of evolution, quantum physics, knowledge, and computation-arguing jointly they reveal a unified fabric of reality. In this new book, he applies that worldview to a wide range of issues and unsolved problems, from creativity and free will to the origin and future of the human species. Filled with startling new conclusions about human choice, optimism, scientific explanation, and the evolution of culture, The Beginning of Infinity is a groundbreaking audio book that will become a classic of its kind.

David Deutsch (Author), Walter Dixon (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sex on the Moon

Thad Roberts, a fellow in a prestigious NASA program had an idea-a romantic, albeit crazy, idea. He wanted to give his girlfriend the moon. Literally. Thad convinced his girlfriend and another female accomplice, both NASA interns, to break into an impregnable laboratory at NASA's headquarters-past security checkpoints, an electronically-locked door with cipher security codes and camera-lined hallways-and help him steal the most precious objects in the world:the moon rocks. But what does one do with an item so valuable that it's illegaleven to own? And was Thad Roberts-undeniably gifted, picked for one of the most competitive scientific posts imaginable, a possible astronaut-really what he seemed? Mezrich has pored over thousands of pages of court records, FBI transcripts, and NASA documents, and has interviewed most of the participants in the crime to reconstruct the madcap story of genius, love, and duplicity all centered around an Ocean's Eleven style heist that reads like a Hollywood thrill-ride.

Ben Mezrich (Author), Casey Affleck (Narrator)

Audiobook

Astronomy & Physics Audiobooks in Science & Technology