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The Violinist's Thumb
- And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
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Publisher's summary
From New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean come more incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA.
In The Disappearing Spoon, best-selling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In The Violinist's Thumb, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA.
There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking. They can even allow some people, because of the exceptional flexibility of their thumbs and fingers, to become truly singular violinists.
Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future.
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Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all. Covering a year’s worth of introductory general chemistry at the college level, plus intriguing topics that are rarely discussed in the classroom, this amazingly comprehensive course requires nothing more advanced than high-school math. Your guide is Professor Ron B. Davis, Jr., a research chemist and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University.
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Great Professor, Hard to Follow.
- By Jen on 05-14-19
By: Ron B. Davis, and others
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Letters from an Astrophysicist
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- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Vikas Adam, Piper Goodeve, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
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Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world’s largest online followings with his fascinating, widely accessible insights into science and our universe. Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by unveiling his candid correspondence with people across the globe who have sought him out in search of answers. In this hand-picked collection of 100 letters, Tyson draws upon cosmic perspectives to address a vast array of questions about science, faith, philosophy, life, and of course, Pluto.
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Dear Neil...
- By Tina G. on 10-14-19
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Ranger Confidential
- Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Julia Motyka
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
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The real stories behind the scenery of America’s national parks. For 12 years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.
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Depressing from Cover to Cover
- By Drew (@drewsant) on 04-13-15
By: Andrea Lankford
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Welcome to the Universe
- An Astrophysical Tour
- By: Michael A. Strauss, J. Richard Gott, Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
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Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all - from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.
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All About What We Know About the Universe - ALL
- By J.B. on 02-17-17
By: Michael A. Strauss, and others
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Naked Statistics
- Stripping the Dread from the Data
- By: Charles Wheelan
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
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From batting averages and political polls to game shows and medical research, the real-world application of statistics continues to grow by leaps and bounds. How can we catch schools that cheat on standardized tests? How does Netflix know which movies you'll like? What is causing the rising incidence of autism? As best-selling author Charles Wheelan shows us in Naked Statistics, the right data and a few well-chosen statistical tools can help us answer these questions and more.
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Starts well then becomes non-Audible
- By Michael on 09-07-13
By: Charles Wheelan
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Mycophilia
- Revelations From the Weird World of Mushrooms
- By: Eugenia Bone
- Narrated by: Aimee Jolson
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
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In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century.
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Absolutely awful, insufferable, racist author
- By Rs 🦇 on 11-25-19
By: Eugenia Bone
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Great Book, Great Narration, But...
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Very enjoyable until the ridiculous conclusion
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FANTASTIC! & What’s up with all these naysayers (negative reviewers)?!
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Awesome
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Detailed but not overly Technical
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Great Book, Great Narration, But...
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Very enjoyable until the ridiculous conclusion
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FANTASTIC! & What’s up with all these naysayers (negative reviewers)?!
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The Song of the Cell
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From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
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Beyond Words Wonderful
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Gulp
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Best-selling author Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside. Roach takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: The questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts?
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Funtastic Voyage
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Author Ben Goldacre exposes the epidemic of pseudoscience and gives listeners the tools they need to distinguish good science from nonsense.
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The Brits Pull No Punches On Fake Medicine!!
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bunch of little articles
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The Perfectionists
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The New York Times best-selling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement - precision - in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future.
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Somewhat less than perfect
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Napoleon's Buttons is the fascinating account of 17 groups of molecules that have greatly influenced the course of history. These molecules provided the impetus for early exploration, and made possible the voyages of discovery that ensued. The molecules resulted in grand feats of engineering and spurred advances in medicine and law; they determined what we now eat, drink, and wear. A change as small as the position of an atom can lead to enormous alterations in the properties of a substance.
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Wish one of the authors would have read this book
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The study of sexual physiology has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic.
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Every great drink starts with a plant. Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley. Gin was born from a conifer shrub when medieval physicians boiled juniper berries with wine to treat stomach pain. The Drunken Botanist uncovers the surprising botanical history and fascinating science and chemistry of over 150 plants, flowers, trees, and fruits (and even a few fungi).
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No more cheap tequila!
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The Poisoner's Handbook
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In The Poisoner's Handbook, Blum draws from highly original research to track the fascinating, perilous days when a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.
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Fascinating book marred by production errors
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The Laws of Medicine
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Brimming with fascinating historical details and modern medical wonders, this important audiobook is a fascinating glimpse into the struggles and "eureka!" moments that people outside of the medical profession rarely see. Written with Dr. Mukherjee's signature eloquence and passionate prose, The Laws of Medicine is a critical book not just for those in the medical profession but for everyone who is moved to better understand how their health and well-being are being treated.
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Insightful, sincere and succinct. Not Mukherjee's best.
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Fuzz
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What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.
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The footnotes
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Dr. Mutter's Marvels
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Imagine undergoing an operation without anesthesia performed by a surgeon who refuses to sterilize his tools - or even wash his hands. This was the world of medicine when Thomas Dent Mütter began his trailblazing career as a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia during the middle of the 19th century. Although he died at just 48, Mütter was an audacious medical innovator who pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed, which clashed spectacularly with the sentiments of his time.
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Morbidly wonderful
- By serine on 04-08-16
What listeners say about The Violinist's Thumb
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Keith Boniface
- 10-26-22
Story of our genes - with depth!
This was my second Kean book, so I like the genre. You will walk away with a much deeper understanding of your genetics and my only fault with the book is that it sometimes goes into so much depth that I get lost - as a listener to the book instead of reading. Kean tries to bring the personal story behind the work of scientists - a clever way of us understanding the topic better. The narrator does a very good job - kept me on until the end.
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- nancyshrode
- 08-27-12
sort of like reading text book
Although there are some interesting facts, this is about as interesting as reading a text book
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2 people found this helpful
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- Brain
- 12-21-17
Very good
2nd best Sam Kean book- just a hair or two behind The Disappearing Spoon. Definitely worth a listen if, like me, you're into painless education on highly technical, cutting-edge Popular Science
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- James Stallings
- 04-19-18
Amazing story, learned some science
This is the 3rd book of his I've listen too. Disappearing spoon and Caesar's last breath being the others. Kean can build a narrative that takes you on a crazy journey that blends science and history. In this one we explore DNA and evolution through the people that brought it to life. I loved the ride, and can't wait to listen to his other books.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-20-20
Awesome!
Sam just has a way of making science so fascinating. Rebus were a cool bonus..
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-23-19
Well written and fascinating
All of Sam Kean’s books are both well written and incredibly interesting. I recommend anything he has written if you are interested in science, medicine, good writing and good storytelling.
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- Twest83
- 03-12-19
Excellent Engaging Storyline about Genetics!
Imagination takes over this curiously and irresistible read on the genetic evolution of living things pre-human and post-human. From one cell creatures to invading viruses, the author takes you on an adventure thru every aspect that makes up life including genetic coding, the divisive diabolical ways of germs, virus and disease, as well as the miraculous ways DNA as well as RNA magically heal, restore, and replace things that have gone arrie in a multi-cell creature and its cause for concern in it's future offspring. I must say my favorite part has been the incredible stories of individuals and how the author makes them come alive in his passionate descriptions with a hint of smart ass thrown in. I laughed and absorbed incredible information as soon as the words lept into my car stereo speakers! A MUST READ or if you prefer like I did, A MUST LISTEN!
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- K. A. R.
- 06-13-23
Always learn something
Sam Kean has a good grasp of several different areas relating to science. That, along with a good sense of humor, makes all of his books a joy to read.
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- Sparkly
- 10-06-12
One word - 'humanzee'!
A delightful and humorous, if disturbing, exploration of genetics for the general public. I'd say it is up there with Bill Bryson's works. It is just the right level of technical for me. (By that, I mean it is technical, but with no prerequisites.) Each chapter is a separate essay, but the collection builds with some strategy towards overall impact, which I appreciated. The author adds a personal context as well, by getting his genome tested, and I enjoyed that. We have overt genetic issues in my family, and the "crap shoot" element of it is a harsh reality that I was glad to see included in this book, to personalize it.
The book is filled with information that is the best of semi-sensational science. For example, we have another creature interwoven into our every cell, that is somewhat creepy! The Y chromosome has peculiar behaviors that keep making it smaller, but it seems somehow never to disappear altogether. I find that provocative. All the other primates have 48 chromosomes, we only have 46. Hmmm. Toxoplasmosis changes behavior - I knew about that in rodents, but it is fascinating to think about how that works with humans. (And, the aforementioned attempts to create a 'humanzee,' quite disturbing.)
The narrator takes great delight in sharing these stories, and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance.
The best of popular science, for me, includes this 'wow' factor. I love being reminded of how interesting our world is, and how many more mysteries there are to solve. I have no doubt it won't be for everybody - but I liked it quite a bit.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-17-20
More DNA fundementals than stories
I loved The Disappearing Spoon, so I jumped into this book & his other on psychology (the name of which escapes me). While his psychology book was frustrating, for lack of a decent narrorator & for what little Kean put to paper on the subject, this book was simply disappointing. The Disappearing Spoon had so many stories & threads so well weaved together, by the end of the book they complemented eachother perfectly. This book spent a long, long time simply explaining DNA, and not near so much on the human drama caused or surrounding it like The Disappearing Spoon.
I think there are a few key factors to my disappointment, the horrible narration not withstanding - the dude reading the book still doesn't understand how to read without repeating the same sentence pacing over and over. First, we know little about how an entire chromosome interacts with itself, let alone all genes humans possess. Second, the need to explain DNA fundamentals to reach a broad audience, which are quite complicated. Third, the average scientist's modern professionalism getting in the way of good stories, which is the source of most we know about genes. All of these handicap the book before it's even written.
I think this and his book on psychology needed to wait another decade, minimum, for at least Kean to get practice writing books & more data to come out before they were written. Sad to see this book not get off the ground quite right.
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