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Forces of Nature

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Forces of Nature

By: Professor Brian Cox, Andrew Cohen
Narrated by: Samuel West
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About this listen

 Sunday Times Bestseller

A breathtaking and beautiful exploration of our planet, this groundbreaking book accompanies the BBC One TV series, providing the deepest answers to the simplest questions.

How did life on Earth begin?
What is the nature of space and time?
What are the chances that we will discover life on other worlds?

Forces of Nature takes you from the mid-Atlantic ridge in Iceland, the volcanoes of Indonesia and the precipitous cliffs in Nepal, to the manatees off the coast of Florida and the northern lights of the Arctic, in search of the fundamental laws that govern our world.

These universal laws shape everything, from the structure of snowflakes to the elegant spirals of the galaxies. By seeking to understand the everyday world – the colours, structure, behaviour and history of our home – we can step beyond the everyday and approach the Universe beyond.

Think you know our planet?
Think again.

 Astronomy Astronomy & Space Science Cosmology Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Mathematics Black Hole Solar System Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

Praise for Professor Brian Cox:

‘Cox’s romantic, lyrical approach to astrophysics all adds up to an experience that feels less like homework and more like having a story told to you. A really good story, too.’ Guardian

‘He bridges the gap between our childish sense of wonder and a rather more professional grasp of the scale of things.’ Independent

‘If you didn’t utter a wow watching the TV, you will while reading the book.’ The Times

‘Engaging, ambitious and creative.’ Guardian

‘In this book of the acclaimed BBC2 TV series, Professor Cox shows us the cosmos as we have never seen it before – a place full of the most bizarre and powerful natural phenomena.’ Sunday Express

‘Will entertain and delight … what a priceless gift that would be.’ Independent on Sunday
All stars
Most relevant
everyone should listen to this... it's great! a celebration of the beautiful patterns and principles that lie in wait to be discovered by the curious. To understand the rainbow is not to unweave its beauty but to appreciate it more fully.

fantastic book

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Would you consider the audio edition of Forces of Nature to be better than the print version?

I have not seen the printed version. I really enjoyed listening to Dr Cox book. Maybe if there are some diagrams or the Mathematical equations written down in the book it would help sometimes but overal, having the adio version allows your mind to picture what he is talking about instead of focusing on the reading.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Forces of Nature?

It's a very technical book and that's precisely why I loved it.
Understanding why planets are shaped like a sphere and why some planets or galaxies are shaped like disks was very interestinig. More day t day concepts like a snow flake or the tides, are also great to cover.

What about Samuel West’s performance did you like?

I really enjoyed his pace, voice, tone. perfect to me

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

coming to explain basic day to day like the snow flakes or tides is brilliant.

Any additional comments?

I would not recommend this book if you do not have a mininmum of
1) scientific background
2) visual mind to picture what he is talking about when he refers to objects in movements, rotations, ...

Sciences for scientists

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A tour de force on the Forces of Nature! A really well written book, easily accessible to non-physicists! Samuel West is, as ever, fantastic narrator!
Professor Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen need to write more!

Modern understanding of our universe

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Enjoying the deeper insights into every day questions
Nothing is a straight forward as it may seem

Very interesting facts

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To listen to this you must have some kind of background in science otherwise it is near impossible to understand everything just by listening. I downloaded the book and read and listened at the same time and I have some scientific knowledge and a huge interest in the subject but still this is no easy piece. There are many diagrams, graphs and pictures in the book which are not available in the audiobook but which are essential. These could have been included here easily. So if you don’t have a lot of interest in science and some kind of scientific background I don’t think this book is for you. If you are interested, I would still not suggest the audiobook. the written book is much better. I can’t say anything bad about the narration though it was superb.

Engaging but difficult to follow

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