Technology & Engineering Audiobooks | Science & Technology

Southern Storm: The Tragedy of Flight 242

On the afternoon of April 4, 1977, Georgia housewife Sadie Burkhalter Hurst looked out her front door to see a frantic stranger running toward her, his clothes ablaze, and, behind him, the mangled fuselage of a passenger plane that had just crashed in her yard. The plane, a Southern Airways DC-9-31, had been carrying eighty-one passengers and four crew members en route to Atlanta when it entered a massive thunderstorm cell that turned into a dangerous cocktail of rain, hail, and lightning. Forced down onto a highway, the plane cut a swath of devastation through the small town of New Hope, breaking apart and killing bystanders on the ground before coming to rest in Hurst's front yard. Ultimately, only twenty-two people survived, and urgent questions immediately arose: What caused the pilots to fly into the storm instead of away from it? Could the crash have been prevented? Southern Storm addresses these issues and more, offering an insider's look at this disaster and the systemic overha uls that followed it.

Samme Chittum (Author), Keith Sellon-Wright (Narrator)

Audiobook

Start Your Farm: The Authoritative Guide to Becoming a Sustainable 21st Century Farm

Do you dream of starting your own farm but wonder where to begin? Or do you already have a farm but wish to become more sustainable to compete in today's market? Start Your Farm, the first comprehensive business guide of its kind, covers these essential questions and more: - Why be a farmer in the 21st century? Do you have what it takes? - What does sustainable really mean, and how can a small (as little as one acre) to midsize farm survive alongside commodity-scale agriculture? - How do you access education, land, and other needs with limited capital? - How can you reap an actual profit, including a return on land investment? - How do you build connections with employees, colleagues, and customers? - At the end of the day, how do you measure success? (Hint: Cash your lifestyle paycheck.) More than a practical guide, Start Your Farm is a hopeful call to action for anyone who aspires to grow wholesome, environmentally sustainable food for a living. Take it from Forrest Pritchard and Ellen Polishuk: Making this dream a reality is not for the faint of heart, but it's well within reach-and there's no greater satisfaction under the sun!

Ellen Polishuk, Forrest Pritchard (Author), Coleen Marlo, Stephen Bel Davies (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hit the Road, Jac!: Seven Years, Twenty Countries, No Plan

Following the breakdown of her marriage, 50-year-old Jacqui Furneaux set off on a seven-year, round-the-world adventure on a 500cc Royal Enfield Bullet. She travelled both solo and with company, covering 42,000 miles and 20 countries. This awe-inspiring and moving book about one woman's motorcycle adventures is for anyone still holding back from taking a risk and pursuing their dreams.

Jacqui Furneaux (Author), Jacqui Furneaux (Narrator)

Audiobook

Finding Your Way Without Map or Compass

During his remarkable lifetime, Harold Gatty became one of the world's great navigators (in 1931, he and Wiley Post flew around the world in a record-breaking eight days) and, to the benefit of posterity, recorded in this book much of his accumulated knowledge about pathfinding both on land and at sea. Applying methods used by primitive peoples and early explorers, the author shows how to determine location, study wind directions and reflections in the sky, even how to use the senses of smell and hearing to find your way in the wilderness, in a desert, in snow-covered areas, and on the ocean. By observing birds and other animals, weather patterns, vegetation, shifting sands, patterns of snow fields, and the positions of the sun, moon, and stars, would-be explorers can learn to estimate distances and find their way without having to rely on a map or a compass. The wealth of valuable data and advice in this volume-much of it unavailable elsewhere-makes it indispensable for hikers, bikers, scouts, sailors, and outdoorsmen-all those who might find themselves stranded or lost in an unfamiliar area. Through careful study of this book and its lessons, pathfinders can learn to interpret signs in the natural world to find their way in almost any kind of terrain.

Harold Gatty (Author), Eric Jason Martin, Eric Martin (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Art of Product Design: Changing How Things Get Made

Embrace Open Engineering and accelerate the design and manufacturing processes Product development is a team sport, but most companies don't practice it that way. Organizations should be drawing on the creativity of engaged customers and outsiders, but instead they rely on the same small group of internal "experts" for new ideas. Designers and engineers should be connecting with marketing, sales, customer support, suppliers, and most importantly, customers. The Art of Product Design explains the rise of "Open Engineering," a way of breaking down barriers and taking advantage of web-based communities, knowledge, and tools to accelerate the design and manufacturing processes. - Explains how to establish open flows of information inside and outside an organization, increasing the quality and frequency of input from different groups and stakeholders - Hardi Meybaum is the founder and CEO of GrabCad, the largest community of mechanical engineers and designers in the world Open Engineering is crowdsourcing, it's collaborating, it's sharing and connecting. And it's helping a growing number of companies create better products faster than they ever imagined. The Art of Product Design shows you how to harness its power for your company.

Hardi Meybaum (Author), Jack De Golia (Narrator)

Audiobook

The New Simple And Practical Solar Component Guide

Have you ever wanted to save money on electricity and become energy-independent? Do you want to protect your family from regular power outages and negligence of local utility? Do you want to get the most efficient, reliable, and cheap solar power system for your off-grid home, cabin, RV vehicle, or boat? The audiobook 'The New Simple and Practical Solar Component Guide' helps you accomplish this by understanding the essentials of building blocks of solar and harnessing solar power. Written by electronic engineers this easy-to-read-and-follow solar component guide demystifies all of the components of a solar power system in a way that anyone without a technical background can understand. This ground-breaking audio guide is useful for a broad audience: technically and non-technically inclined people, beginners and advanced in solar power, and professionals of engineering background. Based on a thousand hours of research and experience, the audiobook contains practical solar power information you cannot find and cannot apply by just searching the web. This audiobook will save you a lot of money and trouble for years to come! This indispensable audio guide provides you with a serious introduction and practical information to solar power coupled with action-oriented how-to tips and guidelines about selecting, combining, and sizing solar components as well. Every journey starts with the most important first steps and having a solid foundation about solar components is a prerequisite for getting an efficient, safe, and cost-effective solar power system. Without this essential knowledge, every attempt for designing and sizing a solar power system will be either fruitless or counterproductive. Grab the Audiobook Now!

Mse Dimi Avram, Mse Lacho Pop (Author), Russell Newton (Narrator)

Audiobook

History of Technology

History of technology, it is the history of how humans developed various tools and techniques. It is strongly related with history of humanity since humans are invented almost every invention let it be a tool, technology or foundation of some natural resources. Before continuing to history of technology, it is important to understand what technology actually is. Technology refers to set of multiple methods in order t perform a particular task. It can be as simple as a language or stone tool and also as complex as genetic engineering and information technology emerging since late 80s. Technology enables to acquire new knowledge that is applied to emerge and create new things. In one way or other, it also helps in many scientific endeavors helped mankind to reach / travel to places that were considered impossible to reach once. It also involves the study of nature with superb details which could be never possible without the use of multiple scientific instruments. History of technology is strongly related with history of science since almost every technology is evolved through various applications of science. It also possesses bonds with economic history since resources are involved in almost any technology. In technology, resources are used to produce improved resources that can be technological artifacts being used in daily life. Present society leaves great influence on technology. It affects the technology and also gets affected in return. Technological change is considered a force that ensures growth in economy and triggers development of power in terms of economy, politics and military as well.

Introbooks, Introbooks Team (Author), Andrea Giordani, Introbooks (Narrator)

Audiobook

AIQ: How artificial intelligence works and how we can harness its power for a better world

Random House presents the audiobook edition of AIQ by Nick Polson and James Scott, read by Nick Polson and Walter Dixon. Two leading data scientists offer an up-close and user-friendly look at artificial intelligence: what it is, how it works, where it came from and how to harness its power for a better world. Dozens of times per day, we all interact with intelligent machines that are constantly learning from the wealth of data now available to them. These machines, from smart phones to talking robots to self-driving cars, are remaking the world in the twenty first century in the same way that the Industrial Revolution remade the world in the nineteenth. AIQ is based on a simple premise: if you want to understand the modern world, then you have to know a little bit of the mathematical language spoken by intelligent machines. AIQ will teach you that language but in an unconventional way, anchored in stories rather than equations. You will meet a fascinating cast of historical characters who have a lot to teach you about data, probability and better thinking. Along the way, you'll see how these same ideas are playing out in the modern age of big data and intelligent machines, and how these technologies will soon help you to overcome some of your built-in cognitive weaknesses, giving you a chance to lead a happier, healthier, more fulfilled life. Includes a PDF download. 'There comes a time in the life of a subject when someone steps up and writes the book about it. AIQ explores the fascinating history of the ideas that drive this technology of the future and demystifies the core concepts behind it; the result is a positive and entertaining look at the great potential unlocked by marrying human creativity with powerful machines.' Steven D. Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics

James Scott, Nick Polson (Author), Nick Polson, Walter Dixon (Narrator)

Audiobook

Profitable Sales: A Contractor's Guide

Michael's 30+ years of experience in residential remodeling and specialty sales is shared in Profitable Sales, A Contractor's Guide. The information provided is valuable for both the construction-related business owner and their sales staff. In this book, you'll discover how to: determine if a lead is worth your time before you set the appointmentestablish ground rules with a potential client during the initial phone callhelp customers make selectionsknow when to walk awayaddress the three fears of every customersuccessfully ask the four questions you need answerednavigate through design agreements, letters of intent, and other documents that prevent you from wasting timelay the groundwork for a detailed contract with specific payment schedulesturn a cancellation into a positive eventfind, train, motivate and compensate sales staffA significant portion of the book is devoted to "What if?" scenarios. What if the customer wants you to fix something in their home during the appointment? What if they are distracted by the TV, by unruly kids, by neighbors who stop by? Michael discusses insurance calls, dealing with other professionals (attorneys, architects and designers, realtors, engineers, lenders) and issues that can arise after the contract is signed. The scenarios range from mildly humorous (arriving at a home to find homeowners inappropriately dressed) to frightening (homeowners handling firearms on a sales call). Sample forms are available as word processing (.rtf) or spreadsheet (.csv) files for use in your business. Michael Stone is the author of Markup & Profit; A Contractor's Guide Revisited, a top-selling business management book for the construction industry.

Michael C Stone (Author), Michael C Stone (Narrator)

Audiobook

Like A Thief In Broad Daylight: Power in the Era of Post-Humanity

Penguin presents the audiobook of Like A Thief In Broad Daylight by Slavoj iek read by Jamie East. In recent years, techno-scientific progress has started to utterly transform our world - changing it almost beyond recognition. In this extraordinary new book, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek turns to look at the brave new world of Big Tech, revealing how, with each new wave of innovation, we find ourselves moving closer and closer to a bizarrely literal realisation of Marx's prediction that 'all that is solid melts into air.' With the automation of work, the virtualisation of money, the dissipation of class communities and the rise of immaterial, intellectual labour, the global capitalist edifice is beginning to crumble, more quickly than ever before-and it is now on the verge of vanishing entirely. But what will come next? Against a backdrop of constant socio-technological upheaval, how could any kind of authentic change take place? In such a context, Zizek argues, there can be no great social triumph - because lasting revolution has already come into the scene, like a thief in broad daylight, stealing into sight right before our very eyes. What we must do now is wake up and see it. Urgent as ever, Like a Thief in Broad Daylight illuminates the new dangers as well as the radical possibilities thrown up by today's technological and scientific advances, and their electrifying implications for us all. iek is a thinker who regards nothing as outside his field: the result is deeply interesting and provocative - Guardian iek leaves no social or cultural phenomenon untheorized, and is master of the counterintuitive observation - New Yorker

Slavoj iek, Slavoj žižek (Author), Jamie East (Narrator)

Audiobook

Grease Junkie: A book of moving parts

Penguin presents the audiobook editon of Grease Junkie by Edd China. 'Think fast. Think big. Think the unthinkable!' As you'll discover in his incomparable memoir, inventor, mechanic, TV presenter and walking tall as the definition of the British eccentric, Edd China sees things differently. An unstoppable enthusiast from an early age, Edd had 35 ongoing car projects while he was at university, not counting the double-decker bus he was living in. Now he's a man with not only a runaround sofa, but also a road-legal office, shed, bed and bathroom. His first car was a more conventional 1303 Texas yellow Beetle, the start of an ongoing love affair with VW, even though it got him arrested for attempted armed robbery. A human volcano of ideas and the ingenuity to make them happen, Edd is exhilarating company. Join him on his wild, wheeled adventures; see inside his engineering heroics; go behind the scenes on Wheeler Dealers. Climb aboard his giant motorised shopping trolley, and let him take you into his parallel universe of possibility.

Edd China (Author), Edd China (Narrator)

Audiobook

Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World

The surprising science of hearing and the remarkable technologies that can help us hear better Our sense of hearing makes it easy to connect with the world and the people around us. The human system for processing sound is a biological marvel, an intricate assembly of delicate membranes, bones, receptor cells, and neurons. Yet many people take their ears for granted, abusing them with loud restaurants, rock concerts, and Q-tips. And then, eventually, most of us start to go deaf. Millions of Americans suffer from hearing loss. Faced with the cost and stigma of hearing aids, the natural human tendency is to do nothing and hope for the best, usually while pretending that nothing is wrong. In Volume Control, David Owen argues this inaction comes with a huge social cost. He demystifies the science of hearing while encouraging readers to get the treatment they need for hearing loss and protect the hearing they still have. Hearing aids are rapidly improving and becoming more versatile. Inexpensive high-tech substitutes are increasingly available, making it possible for more of us to boost our weakening ears without bankrupting ourselves. Relatively soon, physicians may be able to reverse losses that have always been considered irreversible. Even the insistent buzz of tinnitus may soon yield to relatively simple treatments and techniques. With wit and clarity, Owen explores the incredible possibilities of technologically assisted hearing. And he proves that ears, whether they're working or not, are endlessly interesting.

David Owen (Author), Fred Sanders (Narrator)

Audiobook

Technology & Engineering Audiobooks in Science & Technology