The Human Age
The World Shaped by Us
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Human Age
Buy for $24.70
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Barbara Caruso
-
By:
-
Diane Ackerman
About this listen
A beautifully written, insightful and urgent enquiry into man's relationship with nature and our impact on the planet.
Our relationship with nature has changed...radically, irreversibly, but by no means all for the bad. Our new epoch is laced with invention. Our mistakes are legion, but our talent is immeasurable.
In The Human Age, award-winning nature writer Diane Ackerman confronts the fact that the human race is now the single dominant force of change on the planet. Humans have 'subdued 75 percent of the land surface, concocted a wizardry of industrial and medical marvels, strung lights all across the darkness'. We now collect the DNA of vanishing species in a 'frozen ark', equip orangutans with iPads, create wearable technologies and synthetic species that might one day outsmart us. Ackerman takes us on an exciting journey to understand this bewildering new reality, introducing us to many of the people and ideas now creating - perhaps saving - the future.
The Human Age is a surprising, optimistic engagement with the dramatic transformations that have shaped and continue to alter our world, our relationship with nature and our prospects for the future. Diane Ackerman is one of our most lyrical, insightful and compelling writers on the natural world, and The Human Age is a landmark book.
©2014 Diane Ackerman (P)2014 Headline DigitalListeners also enjoyed...
-
Dawn Light
- Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day
- By: Diane Ackerman
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 9
In an eye-opening sequence of personal meditations through the cycle of seasons, Diane Ackerman awakens us to the world at dawn---drawing on sources as diverse as meteorology, world religion, etymology, art history, poetry, organic farming, and beekeeping.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
calm down
- By Leopard Little on 11-23-09
By: Diane Ackerman
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,977
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,377
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,369
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
The Sixth Extinction
- An Unnatural History
- By: Elizabeth Kolbert
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,525
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,829
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,796
A major audiobook about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lifts you out of the ordinary
- By Regina on 04-28-14
-
Climate Justice
- Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future
- By: Mary Robinson, Caitríona Palmer - with
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson's mission to bring together the fight against climate change and the global struggle for human rights has taken her all over the world. It also brought her to a heartening revelation: that that an irrepressible driving force in the battle for climate justice could be found at the grassroots level, mainly among women, many of them mothers and grandmothers like herself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An absolute must-read!
- By Ksquared31 on 01-15-23
By: Mary Robinson, and others
-
Rebuilding Earth
- Designing Ecoconscious Habitats for Humans
- By: Teresa Coady, Christiana Figueres - foreword, Elizabeth May - afterword
- Narrated by: Lisa Lindsley
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 8
It is estimated that the earth's population will expand to an unprecedented nine billion people over the next century. This explosion in population is predicted to place further stress on our environment, deplete our natural resources, and lead to increases in anxiety and depression due to overcrowding. In this visionary and uplifting audiobook, Teresa Coady offers listeners new hope. Rebuilding Earth is her blueprint for designing and building the cities, buildings, and homes of tomorrow, resulting in more conscious, sustainable, and humane living.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Insightful
- By Anonymous User on 05-15-22
By: Teresa Coady, and others
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
Dawn Light
- Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day
- By: Diane Ackerman
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 9
In an eye-opening sequence of personal meditations through the cycle of seasons, Diane Ackerman awakens us to the world at dawn---drawing on sources as diverse as meteorology, world religion, etymology, art history, poetry, organic farming, and beekeeping.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
calm down
- By Leopard Little on 11-23-09
By: Diane Ackerman
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,977
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,377
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,369
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
The Sixth Extinction
- An Unnatural History
- By: Elizabeth Kolbert
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,525
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,829
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,796
A major audiobook about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lifts you out of the ordinary
- By Regina on 04-28-14
-
Climate Justice
- Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future
- By: Mary Robinson, Caitríona Palmer - with
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson's mission to bring together the fight against climate change and the global struggle for human rights has taken her all over the world. It also brought her to a heartening revelation: that that an irrepressible driving force in the battle for climate justice could be found at the grassroots level, mainly among women, many of them mothers and grandmothers like herself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An absolute must-read!
- By Ksquared31 on 01-15-23
By: Mary Robinson, and others
-
Rebuilding Earth
- Designing Ecoconscious Habitats for Humans
- By: Teresa Coady, Christiana Figueres - foreword, Elizabeth May - afterword
- Narrated by: Lisa Lindsley
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 8
It is estimated that the earth's population will expand to an unprecedented nine billion people over the next century. This explosion in population is predicted to place further stress on our environment, deplete our natural resources, and lead to increases in anxiety and depression due to overcrowding. In this visionary and uplifting audiobook, Teresa Coady offers listeners new hope. Rebuilding Earth is her blueprint for designing and building the cities, buildings, and homes of tomorrow, resulting in more conscious, sustainable, and humane living.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Insightful
- By Anonymous User on 05-15-22
By: Teresa Coady, and others
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,423
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,476
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
An Immense World
- How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
- By: Ed Yong
- Narrated by: Ed Yong
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,764
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,476
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,468
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
If you’ve never read about the wonder of animal sensory capabilities this is for you
- By MediaBaron on 06-27-22
By: Ed Yong
-
Undeniable
- Evolution and the Science of Creation
- By: Bill Nye
- Narrated by: Bill Nye
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6,437
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,847
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,826
Sparked by a controversial debate in February 2014, Bill Nye has set off on an energetic campaign to spread awareness of evolution and the powerful way it shapes our lives. In Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, he explains why race does not really exist; evaluates the true promise and peril of genetically modified food; reveals how new species are born, in a dog kennel and in a London subway; takes a stroll through 4.5 billion years of time; and explores the new search for alien life, including aliens right here on Earth.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Leasurly read for those who don't want equations
- By AxeanaB on 02-05-15
By: Bill Nye
-
Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,748
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,525
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,517
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Soul Stirring
- By KatieBourgeois on 02-23-19
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,446
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,995
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,975
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Crossing Open Ground
- By: Barry Lopez
- Narrated by: Barry Lopez
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 48
Elegantly told against a haunting melodic backdrop, Crossing Open Ground's brilliant descriptions will sweep you into a new perspective - the land both gives us strength and molds our souls.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Poetry or prose or both.
- By yosemiteguide on 03-14-22
By: Barry Lopez
-
The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,688
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,498
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delightfully simplistic!
- By Adrian on 03-30-16
By: Thor Hanson
-
The Genius of Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Margaret Strom
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 601
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 522
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 517
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
What a disappointment!
- By S. Benedict on 07-05-16
-
The Treeline
- The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth
- By: Ben Rawlence
- Narrated by: Jamie Parker
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 52
For the last 50 years, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north. The Treeline takes us along this critical frontier of our warming planet from Norway to Siberia, Alaska to Greenland, to meet the scientists, residents, and trees confronting huge geological changes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A surprising find
- By BearheartRaven on 02-23-22
By: Ben Rawlence
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 378
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals
- A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 511
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 422
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 423
We humans are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals. Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Book
- By Peter Jensen on 09-08-22
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Wild Things, Wild Places
- Adventurous Tales of Wildlife and Conservation on Planet Earth
- By: Jane Alexander
- Narrated by: Jane Alexander
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20
A moving, inspiring, personal look at the vastly changing world of wildlife on planet earth as a result of human incursion, and the crucial work of animal and bird preservation across the globe being done by scientists, field biologists, zoologists, environmentalists, and conservationists.
By: Jane Alexander
Related to this topic
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
Feathers
- The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 150
Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Science and Fun
- By Chris Reich on 12-28-14
By: Thor Hanson
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 378
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
Superlative
- The Biology of Extremes
- By: Matthew D. LaPlante
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
The world's largest land mammal could help us end cancer. The fastest bird is showing us how to solve a century-old engineering mystery. The oldest tree is giving us insights into climate change. The loudest whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms. For a long time, scientists ignored superlative life forms as outliers. Increasingly, though, researchers are coming to see great value in studying plants and animals that exist on the outermost edges of the bell curve.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating survey of amazing biology
- By Nerd's-eye view on 12-06-19
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,446
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,995
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,975
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Gods, Wasps and Stranglers
- The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees
- By: Mike Shanahan
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers, rain forest royalty, more precious than gold. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Gods, Wasps and Stranglers tells their amazing story. Fig trees fed our prehuman ancestors, influenced diverse cultures, and played key roles in the dawn of civilization.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible research in a wonderful story
- By Alonsa Guevara on 11-24-22
By: Mike Shanahan
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
Feathers
- The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 150
Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Science and Fun
- By Chris Reich on 12-28-14
By: Thor Hanson
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 378
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
Superlative
- The Biology of Extremes
- By: Matthew D. LaPlante
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
The world's largest land mammal could help us end cancer. The fastest bird is showing us how to solve a century-old engineering mystery. The oldest tree is giving us insights into climate change. The loudest whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms. For a long time, scientists ignored superlative life forms as outliers. Increasingly, though, researchers are coming to see great value in studying plants and animals that exist on the outermost edges of the bell curve.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating survey of amazing biology
- By Nerd's-eye view on 12-06-19
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,446
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,995
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,975
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Gods, Wasps and Stranglers
- The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees
- By: Mike Shanahan
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers, rain forest royalty, more precious than gold. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Gods, Wasps and Stranglers tells their amazing story. Fig trees fed our prehuman ancestors, influenced diverse cultures, and played key roles in the dawn of civilization.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible research in a wonderful story
- By Alonsa Guevara on 11-24-22
By: Mike Shanahan
-
Biomimicry
- Innovation Inspired by Nature
- By: Janine M. Benyus
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Biomimicry is rapidly transforming life on earth. Biomimics study nature's most successful ideas over the past 3.5 million years, and adapt them for human use. The results are revolutionizing how materials are invented and how we compute, heal ourselves, repair the environment, and feed the world. Janine Benyus takes listeners into the lab and in the field with maverick thinkers as they: discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they're sick; learn how to create by watching spiders weave fibers; and many more examples.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dated but good
- By stephen taylor on 09-05-21
By: Janine M. Benyus
-
The Thing with Feathers
- The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and has been little understood. As we learn more about the secrets of bird life, we are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, relationships, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself. The Thing with Feathers explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, and other mysteries.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting book, terrible reader
- By MGM123 on 03-16-18
By: Noah Strycker
-
The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,688
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,498
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delightfully simplistic!
- By Adrian on 03-30-16
By: Thor Hanson
-
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
- By: Elisabeth Tova Bailey
- Narrated by: Renee Raudman
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 331
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 287
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 289
Elisabeth Tova Bailey tells the intimate and inspiring story of her year-long encounter with a snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, she becomes an astute and amused observer of the snail's surprising nocturnal adventures as it lives in a flowerpot on her nightstand. Intrigued by the snail’s clear decision making abilities, hydraulic locomotion, mysterious courtship, and molluscan anatomy, Bailey takes the listener deep into the life of this tiny amazing animal. With wit and grace, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating recounts a remarkable journey of human and gastropod survival and resilience, and shows how the natural world illuminates our own human existence. Winner of the William Saroyan International Prize for Nonfiction, the John Burrough Medal Award for Natural History, and a National Outdoor Book Award. If you enjoyed Wesley the Owl, The Guest Cat, and Marley & Me, you'll enjoy this unique interspecies audiobook listen.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is an unexpected wonder. The quiet virtues of the snail reflect the quiet voyage of the author.
- By Frances on 08-03-15
-
The Book of General Ignorance
- By: John Mitchinson, John Lloyd
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 428
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 322
Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British best seller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more, The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It’ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting.
- By A. Hawkbird on 12-07-08
By: John Mitchinson, and others
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,423
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,476
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
The Cabaret of Plants
- Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination
- By: Richard Mabey
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
A rich, sweeping, and compelling work of botanical history, The Cabaret of Plants explores dozens of plant species that for millennia have challenged our imaginations, awoken our wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty, and belief. Going back to the beginnings of human history, Richard Mabey shows how flowers, trees, and plants have been central to human experience not just as sources of food and medicine but as objects of worship, actors in creation myths, and symbols of war and peace, life and death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Can't wait to listen to again!
- By hyacinthgirl on 12-27-16
By: Richard Mabey
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 657
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 562
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 559
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
Parasite Rex
- Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures
- By: Carl Zimmer
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and the darkest shadows of science. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer takes listeners on a fantastic voyage into the secret universe of these extraordinary life forms that are not only among the most highly evolved on Earth, but make up the majority of life's diversity. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the parasite-riddled war zone of southern Sudan, Zimmer introduces an array of amazing creatures that invade their hosts, prey on them from within, and control their behavior.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and Horrible
- By David A on 10-09-18
By: Carl Zimmer
-
Intelligence in Nature
- An Inquiry into Knowledge
- By: Jeremy Narby
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 209
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 180
Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the Shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, in one of his most extraordinary journeys, Narby travels the globe - from the Amazon Basin to the Far East - to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers understand about the intelligence present in all forms of life. Intelligence in Nature presents overwhelming illustrative evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity alone.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Favorite part was untrue :(
- By Al A'scgh on 08-13-18
By: Jeremy Narby
-
Wild Ones
- A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America
- By: Jon Mooallem
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 255
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 223
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
Half of all species could disappear by the end of the century, and scientists now concede that most of America’s endangered animals will survive only if conservationists keep rigging the world around them in their favor. So Jon Mooallem ventures into the field, often taking his daughter with him, to move beyond childlike fascination and make those creatures feel more real. Wild Ones is a tour through our environmental moment and the eccentric cultural history of people and wild animals in America that inflects it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The line between conservation and domestication...
- By Bonny on 04-02-14
By: Jon Mooallem
-
How to Read Nature
- An Expert's Guide to Discovering the Outdoors You've Never Noticed
- By: Tristan Gooley
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 3 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 101
Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides to shut down their senses and stumble through each day in an oblivious bubble, and yet some people end up having much richer experiences than others. In this guidebook, natural navigator Tristan Gooley strives to reawaken our senses to help us understand and deepen our personal experience of nature. His message is to connect - however we can and to whatever draws us in.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A fool sees not the same tree a wise man sees
- By Mark A Bleakley on 08-07-18
By: Tristan Gooley