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The Clockwork Universe
- Isaac Newton, The Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
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Publisher's summary
The Clockwork Universe is the story of a band of men who lived in a world of dirt and disease but pictured a universe that ran like a perfect machine. A meld of history and science, this book is a group portrait of some of the greatest minds who ever lived as they wrestled with natures most sweeping mysteries. The answers they uncovered still hold the key to how we understand the world.
At the end of the 17th century, an age of religious wars, plague, and the Great Fire of London when most people saw the world as falling apart, these earliest scientists saw a world of perfect order. They declared that, chaotic as it looked, the universe was in fact as intricate and perfectly regulated as a clock. This was the tail end of Shakespeare's century, when the natural and the supernatural still twined around each other. Disease was a punishment ordained by God, astronomy had not yet broken free from astrology, and the sky was filled with omens. It was a time when little was known and everything was new. These brilliant, ambitious, curious men believed in angels, alchemy, and the devil, and they also believed that the universe followed precise, mathematical laws, a contradiction that tormented them and changed the course of history. The Clockwork Universe is the fascinating and compelling story of the bewildered geniuses of the Royal Society, the men who made the modern world.
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From one of our most acclaimed science writers: a dramatic narrative of the discovery of the true nature and startling size of the universe, delving back past the moment of revelation to trace the decades of work--by a select group of scientists--that made it possible.
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Worth the Effort
- By Roy on 08-13-09
By: Marcia Bartusiak
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The Genesis of Science
- How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution
- By: James Hannam
- Narrated by: Rich Germaine
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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If you were taught that the Middle Ages were a time of intellectual stagnation, superstition, and ignorance, you were taught a myth that has been utterly refuted by modern scholarship. As a physicist and historian of science James Hannam shows in his brilliant new book, The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution, without the scholarship of the "barbaric" Middle Ages, modern science simply would not exist. The Middle Ages were a time of one intellectual triumph after another.
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Insightful!
- By John on 07-07-15
By: James Hannam
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The Discoverers
- A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
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- Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove
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Why didn't the Chinese discover America? Why were people so slow to learn the earth goes around the sun? How and why did we begin to think of "species" of plants and animals? How, when, and why did people begin digging in the earth to learn about the past? How did the study of economics begin? These are but a few of the fascinating questions answered by Dr. Boorstin, Librarian of Congress Emeritus.
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One of my Top 10 Fav. Books!
- By shannonnn on 05-09-05
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When Einstein Walked with Gödel
- Excursions to the Edge of Thought
- By: Jim Holt
- Narrated by: David Stifel
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Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot.
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A good overview of scientific theory
- By MJ Walters on 09-11-18
By: Jim Holt
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The Invention of Science
- A New History of the Scientific Revolution
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In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history. The Invention of Science goes back 500 years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently.
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A Good Read Spoiled
- By David A. Donnelly on 12-23-16
By: David Wootton
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The Age of Entanglement
- When Quantum Physics was Reborn
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A brilliantly original and richly illuminating exploration of entanglement, the seemingly telepathic communication between two separated particles - one of the fundamental concepts of quantum physics.
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Quite nice
- By Michael on 02-14-10
By: Louisa Gilder
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The Kingdom of Speech
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Tom Wolfe, whose legend began in journalism, takes us on an eye-opening journey that is sure to arouse widespread debate. The Kingdom of Speech is a captivating, paradigm-shifting argument that speech - not evolution - is responsible for humanity's complex societies and achievements.
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Takedown of a pseudointellectual bully!
- By Wayne on 09-01-16
By: Tom Wolfe
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Einstein's Cosmos
- How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time: Great Discoveries
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- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
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A dazzling tour of the universe as Einstein saw it. How did Albert Einstein come up with the theories that changed the way we look at the world? By thinking in pictures. Michio Kaku, leading theoretical physicist (a cofounder of string theory) and best-selling science storyteller, shows how Einstein used seemingly simple images to lead a revolution in science. With originality and expertise, Kaku uncovers the surprising beauty that lies at the heart of Einstein's cosmos
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Mix of science and the man
- By B. Ruple on 11-03-13
By: Michio Kaku
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Longitude
- The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
- By: Dava Sobel
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Neil Armstrong
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
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In 1714, England's Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone whose method of measuring longitude could be proven successful. The scientific establishment--from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton--had mapped the heavens in its certainty of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land. And the race was on....
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To hear Neil Armstongs Voice
- By Boots on 01-19-13
By: Dava Sobel
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The Science of Discworld
- A Novel
- By: Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen
- Narrated by: Michael Fenton Stevens, Stephen Briggs
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
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Not just another science audiobook and not just another Discworld novella, The Science of Discworld is a creative, mind-bending mash-up of fiction and fact, that offers a wizard’s-eye view of our world that will forever change how you look at the universe.
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Not the best Pratchett, but gets there in the end
- By Rachel on 07-30-14
By: Terry Pratchett, and others
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Repetitive and not that interesting
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A Good Read Spoiled
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Euclid's Window
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Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
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Wow!
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The Newton Papers
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When Isaac Newton died in 1727 without a will, he left behind a wealth of papers that, when examined, gave his followers and his family a deep sense of unease. Some of what they contained was wildly heretical and alchemically obsessed, hinting at a Newton altogether stranger and less palatable than the one enshrined in Westminster Abbey as the paragon of English rationality. These manuscripts had the potential to undermine not merely Newton's reputation, but that of the scientific method he embodied.
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Missed expectations after Dry's Waters of t World
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What listeners say about The Clockwork Universe
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Andrew
- 08-18-15
Very Enlightening
Any additional comments?
This book was very enlightening. There was so much in it that I didn't know or had never thought about. Since I'm currently taking Calculus II as part of my Computer Science degree, I found this book to be doubly interesting.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Audible Addict
- 01-14-14
Even Mathematicians have feuds ....
Who knew Math had personality?
Ok,I admit I am a history junkie, especially when the story is told in an interesting, factual way. If my math teachers in High School and College has shared some the history in this book as background material for algebra and calculus, I would have certainly paid more attention and would have found the subject much more interesting.
This story makes the numbers on the page come alive, and they tell a fascinating story- rivals, feuds, discoveries, court intrigue, intelligence, jealousy- its all there.
The story is factual and informative, the pace is good, the length is just about right, and the reader is solid. The narrator has a nice voice, a 'math' voice and tells the story with a tone that keeps you interested in learning what is behind the next corner, or the next decimal.
If you like factual history, this is a story for you. If you like to know things like how ideas evolved, the struggles early inventors and mathematicians faced in revealing details like the earth revolving around the sun, which went against current beliefs (ever feel like taking on a Pope?) then this is an audio you will enjoy.
Is the book worth a credit? Yes and I would listen to this story again at the right time. This is also an audio I would use with my family on a short road trip, to spark their interest in math, physics and astronomy.
One deal breaker for me in audios is language and sex. Authors who use excessive profanity, in my mind lack imagination and loose something in their story telling. Same with sex scenes that are overly descriptive and drawn out.
Nothing like that in this story, it will stimulate your mind and your imagination.
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1 person found this helpful
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- drewster
- 04-07-19
Mostly great, with some details flubbed
Great overview of the development of modern mathematics. The one part where things were a bit wrong was in the discussion of Zeno's paradox. The author confused themselves with respect to the exact nature of the paradox, and ended up making some incorrect statements, conflating the tasks vs distance aspect of Zeno's Dichotomy paradox.
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- Ian K O'Malley
- 09-20-19
indepth review of Newton and an age of discovery
The author does a wonderful job of explaining the discoveries that lead Newton to his incredible explanation of gravity and physics in general..
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- Sparky McGhee
- 02-04-13
Makes Newton and other enlightenment figures come
If you could sum up The Clockwork Universe in three words, what would they be?
Very good at placing Newton in ideological as well as scientific and historical context. Does a great job at explaining Newton's thought to the non-specialist and why it is still important.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Clockwork Universe?
Newton's fight with Hook and others was well narrated.
Which character – as performed by Alan Sklar – was your favorite?
N/A
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, but I did want more.
Any additional comments?
Money well spent on a really interesting and informative read.
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- J. Fuge
- 11-01-15
Newton for the layperson
This is a great way to pick up some real information and insight into the genius of 17th Century science.
Well read and artfully presented.
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- Jeb
- 03-21-17
Fascinating!
This is a great narrative of the discoveries of Isaac Newton and other 17th century scientists. It also gives wonderful insight into the culture and beliefs of the times and how these discoveries were received.
Fascinating!
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- Philip Blonde
- 04-19-16
Good book, a little repetitive at times.
a good in depth account of the period and it's mindset. good performance too. it gets a little repetitive at times when the author tried to illustrate the same facts over and over.
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- Bart
- 08-27-14
Good Beginning . . . What's next?
This is an interesting story from an important time in the development of modern science. I really appreciated the background and biographical information of the times and individuals involved. I guess that a sign of a good book is that it left me wanting more detail and depth in the origin of science as we know it. I'm now on that quest.
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- m
- 03-25-12
Amazingly interesting history lesson
If you could sum up The Clockwork Universe in three words, what would they be?
Scientific Revolution 101
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Clockwork Universe?
I loved hearing how the Royal Society was basically a group getting together to try scientific experiments as more of a social club than a laboratory. Looking back from the 21st century makes some of their experiments seem like high school pranks.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No.
Any additional comments?
Dolnick describes the Galileo, Kepler, Newton and several other great scientific minds as mere mortals with egos. He brings dimension to world issues they were facing during their lifetimes, like the Plague. He presents the moral challenges these men faced with tying teachings from the bible and natural laws together. He explains their social-economic backgrounds and how this influenced their research as well as their peers and rivals. And he does it in a way that is fresh and entertaining.
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