Carl Sagan’s classic (1980) examination of the cosmos, released for the first time as an audiobook, combines accessible writing, poetic imagery, and awe-inspiring imaginings grounded in science. Narrator LeVar Burton’s intuitive pacing and tone guide listeners through discussions of landmark scientific discoveries, human culture and history, life on Earth, and our connections with the universe. Those familiar with Burton’s roles in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Reading Rainbow” will delight in his companionable narration. He employs slight accents when voicing notable scientists like Sir Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler. Additional narrators, Seth MacFarlane, Ann Druyan, and Neil Degrasse Tyson, round out this stellar production with warm and inviting readings of the introduction, foreword, and an essay, respectively. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Nearly all of us have a favorite teacher from our youth—someone who worked relentlessly to help you reach your potential, someone who opened your eyes to new possibilities, someone who shrink-rayed you and sent you careening into your classmate’s lower intestine. That last one will sound familiar to anyone who’s ever hopped aboard Ms. Frizzle’s Wild Ride, […]
Science has given us video games, microwave burritos, and self-driving cars. It is the backbone of modern civilization. Yet many of us shy away from anything resembling scientific education, reasoning that it’s too boring or too complex. That’s where the following ten books come in. Written by some of the smartest folks in the world, all […]
If you’re anything like I was, you were more concerned in school with the arts than the sciences, and definitely skipped physics your senior year. I floated through college, oblivious to quarks and celeritas. What did I need science for? It’s not like I was planning to work in a lab. Turns out I made […]
You might skip past the dedication in a book, ready to dig into the good stuff. But don’t forget there’s often writing worthy of your attention before the story even begins—and here’s your proof! The best dedications ever written: Haroun And The Sea Of Stories, by Salman Rushdie Zembla, Zenda, Xanadu: All our dream-worlds may come true. […]
In our digital age, information can take a meandering path. In this particular case, the advice website Motto (from the editors of Time Magazine) reposted an article originally appearing on Business Insider entitled “35 Books Everyone Should Read in Their Lifetime”. That list was gleaned from a Reddit poll that asked readers to name that one essential book. Why […]