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The Shortest History of Our Universe

The Unlikely Journey from the Big Bang to Us

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The Shortest History of Our Universe

By: David Baker, John Green - foreword
Narrated by: Keval Shah
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About this listen

A complete history of the universe, spanning 13.8 billion years in an ultra-accessible, uncommonly illuminating, exhilarating chronicle of key events

In this thrilling history, David Baker captures the longest possible time span—from the Big Bang to the present day—in an astonishingly concise retelling. His impressive timeline includes the "rise of complexity" in the cosmos and the creation of the first atoms; the origin of all galaxies, stars, and our solar system; and the evolution of life on Earth, from tiny single-celled organisms to human beings.

Weaving together insights across the sciences—including chemistry, physics, biology, archaeology, and anthropology—Baker answers the fundamental questions: How did time begin? Why does matter exist? What made life on Earth the way it is? He also argues that never before has life on Earth been forced to adjust to a changing climate so rapidly, nor has one species ever been responsible for such sudden change. Baker's grand view offers the clearest picture of what may come next—and the role we can still play in our planet's fate.

©2022 David Baker (P)2023 Tantor Astronomy & Space Science Cosmology Nature & Ecology Science World Thought-Provoking
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I was guided here by Simon "Fact Boy" Whistler but we all know he is nothing without his writers
Listened to this on 2 long train journeys and would recommend to all fact fans

Excellent history written in a great style

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The narrator is too slow. I found that listening at a faster speed of 1.15x was enough to make it sound like a normal narrator. The content of the book is brilliant, just hard to listen to due to the speed, hence listening to I faster .

Listen at 1.15 speed

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The book is very straightforward and factual. I enjoyed it because it described the universe's history (and Earth's in particular) in a simple, no nonsense style. I'd recommend it to young adults or people who didn't learn that in much detail at school. However, the narration is very terrible. Even if the odd joke is delivered in the most monotonous way. I struggled to keep listening to it, even though I was enjoying the book's content

Another audiobook ruined by a poor narrator

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get the Bill Bryson one, it's loads better much more engaging. this one just drags out stats.

dull

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