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Great Scientific Ideas That Changed the World
- Narrated by: Steven L. Goldman
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
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Publisher's summary
What is the greatest scientific idea of all? Because science has so dramatically altered how we live and how we think about ourselves, the answer may well be the very idea of science itself, because - just like science's most important achievements - it, too, needed to be thought about, perfected, and invented. This 36-lecture series explores the ideas that have helped form the foundation of modern life - when society has been willing to pursue them. The lectures interpret the term "scientific idea" broadly, to include the ideas that made science possible at all, as well as the ideas that make it so immensely powerful. The result will be new insights into how science shapes society, as well as the way in which society, in turn, affects the directions taken by science.
You'll learn that there is no sharp distinction between ideas that are classified as scientific and those that are classified as philosophical or mathematical, or even between scientific ideas and political, religious, or aesthetic ideas. And how for 200 years, it has been the interaction of science and technology with society that has been the primary driver of social and cultural change, first in the West, then globally, and at an accelerating rate, affecting social and personal values and relationships; social, political, and economic institutions; and cultural values and activities in ways beyond anything our great-grandparents (or sometimes even parents) would recognize.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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How do today's most successful tech companies - Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla - design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently from the vast majority of tech companies. In Inspired, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides listeners with a master class in how to structure and staff a vibrant and successful product organization and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love.
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Great book, terrible audio wanted to ask a refund
- By Srikanth Ramanujam on 11-15-18
By: Marty Cagan
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Cosmic Queries
- StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going
- By: James Trefil, Lindsey N. Walker - editor, Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In this illuminating audiobook, Tyson and coauthor James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia - How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone? - and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories.
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Not worth it
- By Daniel Earl on 03-15-21
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Reentry
- SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets That Launched a Second Space Age
- By: Eric Berger
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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From launchpad explosions to a pernicious cricket infestation to the demanding management style of Musk himself, the rise of SpaceX was beset with challenges and far from inevitable. Find out how the startup beat the odds and flew high enough to outpace their rivals... and where they're going next.
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Appreciated the engineering details
- By Will on 10-19-24
By: Eric Berger
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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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Gut
- The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
- By: Giulia Enders
- Narrated by: Katy Sobey
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Our gut is almost as important to us as our brain, yet we know very little about how it works. Gut: The Inside Story is an entertaining, informative tour of the digestive system from the moment we raise a tasty morsel to our lips until the moment our body surrenders the remnants to the toilet bowl. No topic is too lowly for the author's wonder and admiration, from the careful choreography of breaking wind to the precise internal communication required for a cleansing vomit.
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Doctors opinion
- By KevinMcVeigh on 03-02-17
By: Giulia Enders
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What listeners say about Great Scientific Ideas That Changed the World
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-15-17
Least favorite Great Courses set thus far
This is not the best Great Courses, though I could be overly critical. This unit could be half as long & tedious if it cut units on language or writing or progress; he argues these all interweave to make sense as to why they were included, but I find even that idea equally half baked.
Additionally, often times I found myself asking "Wait, what? I didn't know that, where is that published?" but with no details ever provided. That's a criticism of many Great Courses lectures overall, not necessarily specific to this one.
It was still illuminating in many ways, but combine the above with the relative dryness and stammering of the lecturer, and it all adds up so a "so-so" course in my opinion.
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- John Struggledork
- 02-27-17
Outstanding audio book would recommend
Great narration interesting content well layed out. Would listen to again, worth the long duration.
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- Christian Zagarskas
- 03-30-16
Another excellent narration by Goldman
The quality of the information matched with the eloquence of Goldman's speech patterns makes for an unforgettable experience.
This is an audiobook that every human being should be required to listen to before interacting with the world... every single one.
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2 people found this helpful
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- D. Gowin
- 04-01-16
Ok, but not one of the better courses
Given the breadth of material this course covers I was expecting more insights into why a particular scientific ideas presented changed to world. Perhaps the course would be more interesting with a more capable and engaging presenter. I found the incessant pauses as well as references to future lectures annoying and made to discussion difficult to follow. In short, interesting material but boring presentation.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Dan
- 07-25-17
Awesome
This course was terrific. You kind of go away with the sense that professor Goldman knows everything and I mean in a good way.
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- Neil Brightwell
- 05-11-15
Absorbing
Great erudition, rapidly presented. Will need several revisits to fully absorb its wide ranging content. Would love access to the written transcript for more detailed study.
Neil Brightwell
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8 people found this helpful
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- m pacer
- 04-10-16
Interesting, sometimes naive, but always interesting.
The material was excellent.
I feel like some of the interpretation went too far.
But overall worth listening to.
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- Mike Morgan
- 05-16-16
This opens a door, but will you walk through it?
Professor Goldman’s collegiate vocabulary, as well as his scientific, technological, and historic knowledge, and the manner he emphasizes certain important themes result in a very enjoyable set of lectures that kept me company over the course of a few weeks’ worth of commutes.
Professor Goldman’s work here, the fruit of obvious years' scholarship, cannot be compared to anything I’ve ever read or heard from any other author or professor.
The scientific literacy of Professor Goldman is deep in most areas and unbelievably broad. It is obvious that his not merely summarizing the summaries of science he has read elsewhere, but has delved deeply and thought about the implications of many specialized areas of science, and also how to explain the ramifications to an audience who may not be technical. I highly recommend this book for any student pursuing a BS, MS, or Ph.D. in the sciences--you will obtain a valuable perspective as your knowledge becomes more focuses on one specialty. Even if you are from the liberal arts, this great course will provide a more technical yet not overly technical perspective than you might find in another course.
While professor Goldman is technically a humanities/philosophy professor, his understanding of not only the philosophy of science, but the scientific methods, as well as scientific milestones throughout history and their significance, is much deeper than you might expect.
Very even handed in his narrative, professor Goldman does not shy away from the occasional controversy, for example, within science, and also sometimes between science and culture or science and religion. He does present all sides of the argument, without taking sides.
Lastly, while not explicitly, nor even implicitly as far as I could discern, an area of focus of this course, the role of western civilization in the development of science and technology is presented in a non-political manner. This course is neither politically correct, nor politically incorrect--it merely covers the topic at hand in an even handed and non-controversial manner.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Mike
- 04-07-17
picked up towards the second half
the first 3rd of the book is brutally slow and boring. the remainder was top notch
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2 people found this helpful
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- Sam
- 07-05-17
Not for me.
Great speaker but boring topics at times with little to learn and grasp onto. Was wanting to learn more about the scientific topics but received more of a history lesson on view points and the thought processes behind the ideas.
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2 people found this helpful