Audiobooks by Leonard Mlodinow

[German] - Der große Entwurf: Eine neue Erklärung des Universums

"Warum existieren wir? – Neue Antworten auf die letzten Fragen des Seins 'Um das Universum auf fundamentalster Ebene zu verstehen, müssen wir nicht nur wissen, wie sich das Universum verhält, sondern auch, warum. Warum gibt es etwas und nicht einfach nichts? Warum existieren wir? Warum dieses besondere System von Gesetzen und nicht irgendein anderes? Das ist die letztgültige Frage nach dem Leben, dem Universum und dem ganzen Rest. Wir werden versuchen, sie in diesem Buch zu beantworten.» Stephen Hawking"

Leonard Mlodinow, Stephen Hawking (Author), Ranga Yogeshwar (Narrator)

Audiobook

Emotional: The New Thinking About Feelings

"Brought to you by Penguin. We've been told we need to master our emotions and think rationally to succeed. But cutting-edge science shows that feelings are every bit as important to our success as thinking. You make hundreds of decisions every day, from what to eat for breakfast to how to influence people, and not one of them could be made without the essential component of emotion. It has long been held that thinking and feeling are separate and opposing forces in our behaviour. But as best-selling author Leonard Mlodinow tells us, extraordinary advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well-being as thinking. How can you connect better with others? How can you improve your relationship to frustration, fear, and anxiety? What can you do to live a happier life? The answers lie in understanding emotions. Taking us on a journey from the labs of pioneering scientists to real-world scenarios that have flirted with disaster, Mlodinow shows us how our emotions help, why they sometimes hurt, and what we can make of the difference. Cutting-edge research and deep insights into our evolution, biology, and neuroscience promise to help us understand our emotions better and maximize their benefits. Told with characteristic clarity and fascinating stories, Mlodinow's exploration of the new science of feelings is an essential guide to making the most of one of nature's greatest gifts to us. © Leonard Mlodinow 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022"

Leonard Mlodinow (Author), Dan John Miller (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stephen Hawking: A Memoir of Friendship and Physics

"Brought to you by Penguin. An icon of the last fifty years, Stephen Hawking seems to encapsulate genius: not since Albert Einstein has a scientific figure held such a place in our popular consciousness. In this enthralling memoir, writer and physicist Leonard Mlodinow tells the story of his friend and colleague, offering an intimate account of this giant of science. The two met in 2003, after Stephen asked Leonard if he would consider writing a book with him. As they spent years working on A Briefer History of Time followed by The Grand Design, they forged a deep connection and Leonard gained a greater understanding of Stephen's daily life and struggles -- as well as his compassion and humour. Together they obsessed over the perfect sentence, debated the physics, and occasionally punted on Cambridge's waterways with champagne and strawberries. In time, Leonard was able to finish Stephen's jokes, chide his sporadic mischief, and learn how the hardships of his illness helped forge that unique perspective on the universe. By weaving together their shared story with a clear-sighted portrayal of Hawking's scientific achievements, Mlodinow creates a beautiful portrait of Stephen Hawking as a brilliant, impish and generous man whose life was not only exceptional but also genuinely inspiring. © Leonard Mlodinow 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020"

Leonard Mlodinow (Author), Dan John Miller (Narrator)

Audiobook

Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Constantly Changing World

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Elastic written and read by Leonard Mlodinow. Includes a bonus PDF of graphs and diagrams. What do Pokémon Go and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein have in common? Why do some businesses survive, and others fail at the first sign of change? What gives the human brain the edge over computers? The answer: Elastic Thinking. It's an ability we all possess, and one that we can all learn to hone in order to succeed, at work and in our everyday lives. Here Mlodinow, whose own flexible thinking has taken him from physics professor to TV scriptwriter and bestselling author, takes us on a revelatory exploration of how elasticity works. He draws on cutting-edge neuroscience to show how, millennia ago, our brains developed an affinity for novelty, idea generation and exploration. He discovers how flexible thinking enabled some of the greatest artists, writers, musicians and innovators to create paradigm shifts. He investigates the organisations that have demonstrated an elastic ability to adapt to new technologies. And he shows you how you can test your brain power. By uncovering the secrets to flexing your own thinking, Elastic shows you how to adapt and thrive in an endlessly dynamic world."

Leonard Mlodinow (Author), Leonard Mlodinow (Narrator)

Audiobook

War of the Worldviews: Science vs Spirituality

"Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Hawking have had a major impact on the loud and popular debate between 'aggressive atheists' and religion. The huge sales of their bestselling books show just how much interest people have in their ideas. Now 'the rock star of the new spirituality', Deepak Chopra, is entering this debate, sparring with leading physicist, Professor Leonard Mlodinow (the co-author, with Stephen Hawking, of The Grand Design). In War of the Worldviews, Chopra argues that there is design in our universe and a deep intelligence behind life. Without defending organised religion, he debunks randomness as an explanation for how Nature evolves and shows how consciousness comes first and matter second. On the other side, Mlodinow argues the viewpoint of science, specifically what modern quantum physics can tell us about our world. In his view, physics, genetics and cosmology will shed far more light on the big questions than rethinking ancient spiritual concepts can ever do. A major work of our time, War of the Worlds will not only offer more food for thought for those fascinated by the two sides of this modern conundrum - it will also place Deepak Chopra firmly in the ring of some of the most remarkable, and bestselling, thinkers of our era"

Deepak Chopra, Leonard Mlodinow (Author), Deepak Chopra, Leonard Mlodinow (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Grand Design

"In the last thirty years of his life Albert Einstein searched for a unified theory - a theory which could describe all the forces of nature in a single framework. But the time was not right for such a discovery in Einstein's day. Neither was the time right when, in 1988, Professor Stephen Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time in which he took us on a journey through classical physics, Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum physics and string theory in order to explain the universe that we live in. He concluded, like Einstein, that science may soon arrive at the long sought after 'Theory of Everything'. In this ground-breaking new work, Professor Hawking and renowned science writer Leonard Mlodinow have drawn on forty years of Hawking's own research and a recent series of extraordinary astronomical observations and theoretical breakthroughs to reveal an original and controversial theory. They convincingly argue that scientific obsession with formulating a single new model may be misplaced, and that, instead, by synthesising existing theories we may discover the key to finally understanding the universe's deepest mysteries. Written with the clarity and lively style for which Hawking is famous, The Grand Design is an account of Hawking's quest to fuse these different strands of scientific theory. It examines the differences between past and future, explains the nature of reality and asks an all-important question: How far can we go in our search for understanding and knowledge?"

Leonard Mlodinow, Stephen Hawking (Author), Steve West (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

"In this irreverent and illuminating audiobook, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, chance, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious causes, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance. The rise and fall of your favorite movie star or the most reviled CEO—in fact, all our destinies—reflects chance as much as planning and innate abilities. Even Roger Maris, who beat Babe Ruth’s single season home run record, was in all likelihood not great, but just lucky. How could it have happened that a wine was given five out of five stars by one journal and called the worst wine of the decade by another? Wine ratings, school grades, political polls, and many other things in daily life are less reliable than we believe. By showing us the true nature of chance and revealing the psychological illusions that cause us to misjudge the world around us, Mlodinow gives fresh insight into what is really meaningful and how we can make decisions based on a deeper truth. From the classroom to the courtroom, from financial markets to supermarkets, from the doctor’s office to the Oval Office, Mlodinow’s insights will intrigue, awe, and inspire. Offering listeners not only a tour of randomness, chance and probability but also a new way of looking at the world, this original, unexpected journey reminds us that much in our lives is about as predictable as the steps of a stumbling man afresh from a night at a bar."

Leonard Mlodinow (Author), Sean Pratt (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Briefer History of Time

"Stephen Hawking's worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its author's engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he addresses is another: the nature of space and time, the role of God in creation, the history and future of the universe. But it is also true that in the years since its publication, readers have repeatedly told Professor Hawking of their great difficulty in understanding some of the book's most important concepts. This is the origin of and the reason for A Briefer History of Time: its author's wish to make its content accessible to readers - as well as to bring it up-to-date with the latest scientific observations and findings. Although this book is literally somewhat 'briefer', it actually expands on the great subjects of the original. Purely technical concepts, such as the mathematics of chaotic boundary conditions, are gone. Conversely, subjects of wide interest that were difficult to follow because they were interspersed throughout the book have now been given entire chapters of their own, including relativity, curved space, and quantum theory. This reorganization has allowed the authors to expand areas of special interest and recent progress, from the latest developments in string theory to exciting developments in the search for a complete, unified theory of all the forces of physics. Like prior editions of the book-but even more so - A Briefer History of Time will guide nonscientists everywhere in the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space. Thirty-eight full-colour illustrations enhance the text and make A Briefer History of Time an exhilarating addition in its own right to the literature of science."

Leonard Mlodinow, Stephen Hawking (Author), Erik Davies (Narrator)

Audiobook