-
The 4 Percent Universe
- Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
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Publisher's summary
Over the past few decades, a handful of scientists have been racing to explain a disturbing aspect of our universe: only four percent of it consists of the matter that makes up you, me, our books, and every star and planet. The rest is completely unknown.
Richard Panek tells the dramatic story of the quest to find this “dark” matter and an even more bizarre substance called “dark energy”. This is perhaps the greatest mystery in all of science, and solving it will bring fame, funding, and certainly a Nobel Prize. Based on in-depth reporting and interviews with the major players—from Berkeley’s feisty, excitable Saul Perlmutter and Harvard’s witty but exacting Robert Kirshner to the doyenne of astronomy, Vera Rubin—the book offers an intimate portrait of the bitter rivalries and fruitful collaborations, the eureka moments and blind alleys, that have fueled their search, redefined science, and reinvented the universe.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Our view of the cosmos is profoundly wrong, and Copernicus was only the beginning: not just Earth, but all common matter is a marginal part of existence. Panek’s fast-paced narrative, filled with original reporting and behind-the-scenes details, brings this epic story to life for the very first time.
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- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in 20th-century physics. This lively memoir, packed with firsthand accounts and historical anecdotes, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of science and an inspiring example for students considering scientific careers.
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Great for aspiring physicists
- By James S. on 10-06-18
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Einstein's Cosmos
- How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time: Great Discoveries
- By: Michio Kaku
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Confessions of an Alien Hunter
- A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- By: Seth Shostak
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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This engaging memoir reveals the true story of the Search for ExtraterrestrialIntelligence (SETI), and discloses what we may very soon discover. Chronicling the program’s history with insight and humor, SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak assures us that if there is sentient life in the universe, we are within decades of picking up its signal.
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Somewhat Disappointed...
- By Tim on 11-12-10
By: Seth Shostak
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The Second Kind of Impossible
- The Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter
- By: Paul J. Steinhardt
- Narrated by: Peter Larkin
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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When leading Princeton physicist Paul Steinhardt began working in the 1980s, scientists thought they knew all the conceivable forms of matter. The Second Kind of Impossible is the story of Steinhardt’s 35-year-long quest to challenge conventional wisdom. It begins with a curious geometric pattern that inspires two theoretical physicists to propose a radically new type of matter - one that raises the possibility of new materials with never-before-seen properties but that violates laws set in stone for centuries.
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In anticipation of low review marks...
- By James S. on 05-14-19
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Our Mathematical Universe
- My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy, and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist.
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Wow!
- By Michael on 02-02-14
By: Max Tegmark
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The Quantum Story
- A History in 40 Moments
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Mike Pollock
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Utterly beautiful. Profoundly disconcerting. Quantum theory is quite simply the most successful account of the physical universe ever devised. Its concepts underpin much of the 21st-century technology that we now take for granted. But at the same time it has completely undermined our ability to make sense of the world at its most fundamental level.
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who's the target reader?
- By Hannah on 09-17-11
By: Jim Baggott
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Spooky Action at a Distance
- The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time-and What It Means for Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Theories of Everything
- By: George Musser
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally stop to ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time. The phenomenon - the ability of one particle to affect another instantly across the vastness of space - appears to be almost magical.
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Rambling but Asks Good Questions
- By Michael on 12-19-15
By: George Musser
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Einstein and the Quantum
- The Quest of the Valiant Swabian
- By: A. Douglas Stone
- Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Einstein and the Quantum reveals for the first time the full significance of Albert Einstein's contributions to quantum theory. Einstein famously rejected quantum mechanics, observing that God does not play dice. But, in fact, he thought more about the nature of atoms, molecules, and the emission and absorption of light - the core of what we now know as quantum theory - than he did about relativity.
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educational and fun
- By Amjad on 12-04-13
By: A. Douglas Stone
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Paradox
- The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics
- By: Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout history, scientists have come up with theories and ideas that just don't seem to make sense. These we call paradoxes. The paradoxes Al-Khalili offers are drawn chiefly from physics and astronomy and represent those that have stumped some of the finest minds. With elegant explanations that bring the listener inside the mind of those who've developed them, Al-Khalili helps us to see that, in fact, paradoxes can be solved if seen from the right angle.
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Almost Useless
- By Michael on 06-19-19
By: Jim Al-Khalili
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About Time
- Cosmology, Time and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang
- By: Adam Frank
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
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.
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More fluff than science
- By Ivan the Reviewer on 04-15-13
By: Adam Frank
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The Age of Entanglement
- When Quantum Physics was Reborn
- By: Louisa Gilder
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Neither Fish Nor Fowl
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What happens when something is sucked into a black hole? Does it disappear? Three decades ago, a young physicist named Stephen Hawking claimed that it did - and in doing so, put at risk everything we know about the fundamental laws of the universe. Leonard Susskind and Gerard 't Hooft realized the threat and responded with a counterattack that changed the course of physics.
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Good, yet disappointing
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Quantum physics is notable for its brazen defiance of common sense. (Think of Schrödinger's Cat, famously both dead and alive.) An especially rigorous form of quantum contradiction occurs in experiments with entangled particles. Our common assumption is that objects have properties whether or not anyone is observing them, and the measurement of one can't affect the other. Quantum entanglement rejects this assumption, offering impeccable reasoning and irrefutable evidence of the opposite. Is quantum entanglement mystical, or just mystifying?
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An enjoyable deviation from standard Non-Fiction
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What listeners say about The 4 Percent Universe
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Matt B
- 11-07-11
Interesting History
I didn't realize this book was about the history of the discoveries leading to the theories involving the 4% universe, I was expecting more of the theories themselves. Still, it was very interesting learning about the people involved in the discoveries, especially when Saul Perlmutter recently won the Nobel Prize in Physics for the work described in this book. However, it did tend to drag a little at some points.
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6 people found this helpful
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- R. Thomas
- 03-04-15
Entertaining and interesting.
I enjoyed how the author did not take himself or the subject too seriously. It is a field of study that is exciting because there is so much that is unknown. That may be the one drawback to the book. If you are looking for a difinitive answer about dark matter and dark energy, you will be disappointed with the honest (and well explained) uncertainty on the subject.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Sena
- 10-08-20
Boring soap opera drama, not enough science
I actually only got four chapters in, so this might have eventually picked up and gotten interesting, I just couldn’t stand any more. The narrator was quite good, but the story itself just isn’t my cup of tea. It’s basically a human interest story with the discovery of the existence of dark matter as the background plot, not what I was looking for at all.
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- Brian C.
- 05-26-18
Very Interesting
Maybe as we have broken down the 4% into components in the future some may be able to breakdown dark matter and dark energy into it components. It is never simple like so many want to infer.
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- Krista
- 02-29-12
After the Big Bang, then what?
This was very good, but not GREAT. A worthwhile listen if you like to know about the people and the research and debate in physics/cosmology.
I enjoyed it, loved the narration and learn quite a bit in the process. Is this the best science that I have listened to? - No but only because this book is about the details of discovery, the people, places and papers that are a part of the history of scientific discover that tries to answer the essential questions of the universe. How did it begin, and what is happening now, and what will happen in the future? This book discusses what we currently can observe and explain about energy and matter in the context of the whole universe. It gives a little bit of insight how and where these scientists work.
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- Esteban
- 04-25-15
Interesting but sold under false advertisement
Interesting book for the non-cientific community but sold under false advertisement.
The book itself is easy to follow and has an enthrilling narrative of the fight the cosmologists have held for a while to become the first to discover the ultimate explanation behind the universe. It has a lot of interesting data and milestones, though.
What i did not like at all is that the whole book is more about the "race" with just a tiny portion towards the end actually talking about dark matter and energy themselves.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 08-07-14
COSMOLOGY
“The 4% Universe” is an exploration of dark matter and dark energy by creative writing academic Richard Panek. Panek has won science and non-fiction writing awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Perhaps because Panek is not a scientist, it seems “The 4% Universe” is more about Sciences' human drama than scientific understanding. For example, Panek’s explanation of candle power to determine the distance of Supernovas from earth lacks clarity because his focus is more about competition among scientists than definition and understanding of candle power and its cosmological significance; Panek writes more about names and actions of people than about 96% of the universe that awaits discovery.
Panek suggests science has not reached cosmology’s destination; because it is Science it never will, but it is on a road that leads to a better understanding of where life came from, how it exists, and maybe, how it ends.
Panek shows cosmology has evolved from astrology to physics. The study of the cosmos reveals a convergence of the miniscule with the unfathomably large.
Panek’s book is interesting but using the World Wide Web for additional information is needed to make the book worth its purchase price.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-14-23
Wonderful listen, can get long in parts
Overall a wonderful, brilliant coverage of a vast range of topics. At times the story jumps around so much one gets impatient to just get on with the progression. Brilliant narration.
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- Anthony
- 06-08-24
the completeness and detail of the discovery of the accelerating univers. also
The completeness and detail of the discovery of the accelerating univers. Also, the total humanness of astronomers and researchers.
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- michael
- 07-06-24
Detailed explanation of the subjects
I love the chapter on the detection of the CMB…the author shares with us how the CMB was detected at some point minute by minute…where does he get this information? It seems he does his research…GREAT narrator…I think I will listen to this many times just in case I missed something. This is the kind of information you want to know to pull out at some dull party and make you look like you actually know what you are talking about…
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