Science
Aldersey-Williams, Hugh. Periodic tales: the curious lives of theelements. 2011. TB 18555.
The elements have lives: personalities and attitudes, talents andshortcomings, stories rich with meaning. In this book you'll meet ironthat rains from the heavens and noble gases that light the way to vice.You'll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day lineyour coffin. You'll discover what connects the bones in your body with theWhitehouse in Washington, the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on yourdinner table.
Read by Matt Williamson, 13 hours 45 minutesTB 18555.
Aldrin, Buzz. Magnificent desolation: the long journey home from the moon. TB 21240.
Aldrin gives a harrowing first-person account ofthe Apollo 11 lunar landing that came within seconds of failure. He also opens up with remarkable candour about his morepersonal trials - and eventual triumphs - back on Earth.
2010. Read by John Chancer. 12 hours 35 minutes.
Bizony, Piers. How to build your own spaceship: the science of personalspace travel. 2009. TB 18282.
Private space flight has long been a science fiction dream. Today it is on the verge of realisation. Major entrepreneurs are investing in a new generation of lightweight, efficient spacecraft; start-up companies specialising in space tourism and spaceport development are burgeoning; and NASA and the American aviation authorities are altering decades-old legislation to make private space adventure possible. This book tells you how to join the space race.
Read by Rupert Holliday Evans, 6 hours 44 minutes. TB 18282.
Clynes, Tom. The boy who played with fusion: extreme science, extreme parenting, and how to make a star. 2015. TB22533.
By the age of 14, Wilson became theyoungest person in history to achievenuclear fusion. At the age of 17Wilson is winning internationalscience competitions with devicesdesigned to prevent terrorists fromshipping radioactive material into theUS. How could someone so young achieveso much, and what can Wilson's storyteach parents and teachers about howto support high-achieving children? Science journalist TomClynes follows Taylor Wilson'sextraordinary journey.
Read by Paul Birchard.11hours 16 minutes. TB22533.
Connelly, Charlie. Bring me sunshine: a windswept, rain-soaked, sun-kissed, snow-capped guide to our weather. 2012. TB 20269.
An entertaining and informative look at the weather, packed with weather-related science, weather trivia and amusing weather anecdotes.
Read by Charlie Connelly, 8 hours 49 minutes.TB 20269.
Cox, Brian. Why does E=MC[squared]? (and why should we care?). 2010. TB 18677.
Professor Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw consider the real meaning behind theiconic sequence of symbols that make up Einstein's most famous equation.
Read by Peter Crerar. 8 hours 36 minutes.
Cox, Brian. Wonders of the solar system. 2010. TB 18647.
This book introduces the readers to the planets and moons beyond ourworld, finding the biggest, most bizarre, most powerful natural phenomena.Using someof the most spectacular and extreme locations on Earth, the author willshow us Wonders never thought possible.
Read by Matt Williamson,6 hours 57minutes.TB 18647.
Cox, Brian. Wonders of the universe. 2011. TB 18646.
13.7 billion years old. 93 billion light years wide. It contains over 100billion galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars. Professor Cox usesthe evidence found in the natural world around us to explain its simpletruths. The same laws of light,gravity, time, matter and energy that govern us here on Earth are the sameas those applied in the Universe.
Read by Matt Williamson,7 hours 47 minutes. TB 18646.
Davies, P C W. God and the new physics. 1990. TB 17540.
How did the world begin and how will it end? These questions are not new; what is new, Paul Davies argues, is that science may now be on the verge of answering them. Here he explains how the recent far-reaching discoveries of the new physics are revolutionizing our view of the world and, in particular, throwing light on many of the questions formerly posed by religion. Science, Davies believes, has come of age, and can now offer a surer path to God than can religion.
Read by Adrian Grove, 12 hours 10 minutes.TB 17540.
Gleick, James. Isaac Newton. 2004. TB 19757.
This is a portrait of Isaac Newton, the man who changed our understanding of the universe and of science through his discoveries of the fundamental mechanics of the cosmos.
Read by Greg Wagland, 7 hours 4 minutes.TB 19757.
Goldacre, Ben. Bad science. 2009. TB 16965.
Dr Ben Goldacre is the author of the 'Bad Science' column in the Guardian and his book is about all the 'bad science' we are constantly bombarded with in the media and in advertising. At a time when science is used to prove everything and nothing, everyone has their own 'bad science' moments - from the useless pie-chart on the back of cereal packets to the use of the word 'visibly' in cosmetics ads. This book will help people to quantify their instincts - that a lot of the so-called 'science' which appears in the media and in advertising is just wrong or misleading.
Read by Adrian Grove, 13 hours 14minutes.TB 16965.
Grady, WayneThe bone museum: travels in the lost worlds of dinosaursand birds. 2000. TB 18227.
Wayne Grady, the science editor of Equinox, and Phil Currie, a Canadian palaeontologist, travel to Patagonia, China, and the Alberta Badlands. Living in tents, experiencing rain, mud, windstorms, disagreements, and the ultimate glimpse of bone, they try to find conclusive evidence in an ongoing debate: did dinosaurs go extinct, or evolve into birds of the modern world?
Read by Bernard Boland, 11 hours 22minutes.TB 18227.
Hamilton, James. Faraday: the life. 2009. TB 19716.
A biography of Michael Faraday, one of the giants of 19th century science and discoverer of electricity, who was at the centre of a scientific renaissance in London. This book is an exploration of his life, work and times.
Read by Bob Rolett, 18 hours 59 minutes. TB 19716.
Hart-Davis, Adam. The book of time: the secrets of time, how it works and how we measure it. 2011. TB 19719.
This is an illustrated guide to the biggest of the 'big ideas' by one of the UK's best loved scientists and historians. Time is explained in an accessible way that makes it the perfect guide for fans of popular science.
Read by Matt Williamson, 8 hours 20 minutes. TB 19719.
Hawking, S W. A briefer history of time. 2005. TB 18051.
A Briefer History of Time 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 have now been given entire chapters of their own, including relativity, curved space, and quantum theory.
Read byEric Davies, 4 hours 23minutes.TB 18051.
Hawking, S W. The universe in a nutshell. 2001. TB 18052.
"A brief history of time" introduced the fascinating world of theoretical physics to readers all over the world. Now, Hawking turns to the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his first book. He brings to us the cutting edge of theoretical physics, where truth is often stranger than fiction, and explains in layman's terms the principles that control our universe.
Read bySimon Prebble, 3 hours 29minutes.TB 18052.
McCrery, Nigel. Silent witnesses: a history of forensic science. 2013. TB 20928.
The history of forensic science over the lasttwo centuries, during which time a combination of remarkable intuition,painstaking observation and leaps in scientific knowledge have developedthis fascinating branch of detection.
Read by William Gaminara. 7 hours 32 minutes.TB 20928.
Miodownik, Mark. Stuff matters: the strange stories of the marvellous materials that shape our man-made world. 2014. TB21932.
The inner workings ofthe man-made world, the miracles ofcraft, design, engineering andingenuity that surround us every day are revealed by explaining the scienceand history of materials we takeentirely for granted, whileintroducing some of humankind's mostingenious and improbable inventions.
Read by Brian Fenton.7hours 33 minutes. TB21932.
Moore, Wendy. The knife man. 2006. TB 19853.
The extraordinary world of 18th-century anatomist John Hunter is unveiled, a pioneer in the then fledgling sciences of geology, biology and evolution, and his efforts to take surgery out of the realms of superstition and into the domain of science.
Read by Sherry Baines, 20 hours 4 minutes. TB 19853.
Ryan, Frank. The mysterious world of the humangenome.2015.TB22834.
Your genome defines you at the mostprofound level. That same genome ispresent in every one of theapproximately 100,000 billion cellsthat make you who you are as anindividual member of the human species. Frank Ryan leads us into a series ofremarkable revelations about our humanhistory, into the very distant past ofour ancestor's lives and theirprehistoric exploration of ourbeautiful planet, revealing the truesecrets to the human genome whichmakes each of us who we are.
Read by Matt Bates. 10 hours 25 minutes.TB22834.
Sacks, Oliver W. Uncle Tungsten: memories of a chemical boyhood. 2012. TB21609.
Oliver Sacks turnshis trained analytical eye on astartling new subject - himself. Theworld authority in his field, thisbook is an insight into the mind andbackground of one of the finest andmost accessible scientists today.
Read by Steve Hodson.13hours 41 minutes. TB21609.
Spufford, Francis
Backroom boys: the secret return of the British boffin. 2004. TB 19748.
The bittersweet story of how Britain lost its industrial tradition but got back something else - technologists whose work has kept Concorde flying, created the computer game, conquered the mobile-phone business and sent the Beagle 2 probe to burrow in the sands of Mars.
Read by Martin Reeve, 9 hours 57 minutes. TB 19748.
Nature
Abraham, Marc. Vet on call: my first year as an out-of-hours vet. 2011. TB 20068.
When his father sat him down and told him to make something of himself, young vet Marc Abraham decided to do it the hard way by setting up an emergency out of hours clinic.
Read by Nick Gylaw, 6 hours 58 minutes.TB 20068.
Ackerman, Diane. Cultivating delight: a natural history of my garden. 2001. TB 17872.
A celebration of the sensory pleasures of the garden, from deadheading flowers to studying slugs. Ackerman describes the unexpected drama, and the sanctuary, that her garden provides. Her hymn to the outdoors and the pleasure we take in it ranges from descriptions of nature's violence to loneliness, portrayed by clamouring male crickets in spring, to sheer wonderment.
Read by Ann Saunders, 11 hours 15 minutes. TB 17872.
Barkham, Patrick. Badgerlands: the twilight world of Britain's mostenigmatic animal. 2014.TB22296.
Britain is the home of the badger;there are more badgers per squarekilometre in this country than in anyother. Yet many of us have neverseen one alive and in the wild. Theyare nocturnal creatures who vanishinto their labyrinthine undergroundsetts at the first hint of a human.Here, Patrick Barkham follows in thefootsteps of his badger-lovinggrandmother, to meet the feeders,farmers and scientists who know theirway around Badgerlands: the mysteriousworld in which these distinctivelystriped creatures snuffle, dig andlive out their complex social lives.
Read by David Learner.10 hours 27 minutes.TB22296.
Buxton, Simon. The shamanic way of the bee: ancient wisdom and healing practices ofthe bee masters. 2006.TB405337.
Bee shamanism may well be the mostancient and enigmatic branch ofshamanism. Inthis ethnography and spiritual memoir,Simon Buxton, an elder of the Path ofPollen, reveals for the first time therichness of this traditionand its unique ceremonies.
Read by volunteers, 8 hours 32 minutes.TB405337.
Elder, Charlie. While flocks last: an armchair birdwatcher goes in searchof our most endangered species. 2009. TB 19315.
Armed with a field guide and a pair of binoculars, Charlie Elder travelsthe length and breadth of the British Isles to spot 40 bird species inserious decline. He looks at why their numbers have fallen, what effortsare being made to encourage their recoveries and meets experts andenthusiasts who are working to make a difference.
Read by Michael Tudor Barnes,9 hours 40 minutes. TB 19315.
Goulson, Dave. A sting in the tale.TB 20653.
Dave Goulson'sground-breaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee led him on a mission to protect our rarest bees and to reintroduce it to its native land.
2013. Read by Peter Crerar. 9 hours 11 minutes. TB 20653.
Graham-Jones, Oliver. Zoo tails. 2001. TB21797.
Oliver Graham-Jones became veterinary officer of London Zoo in 1950. A pioneer of many of thetechniques now used by vets around theworld, he was instrumental in buildingthe first animal hospital, and inmoving London Zoo away from itsVictorian past into the high-techworld of modern veterinary medicine.In Zoo Tails, he tells us about some of the animals he cared for, situations he faced, what itfelt like when he was faced with anescaped bear or an injured elephant.
Read by Bob Rollett.4hours 26 minutes. TB21797.
Hick, Gillian. Vet among the pigeons. 2010. TB 21142.
With a mixed base animal practice in Wicklow,Gillian also travels regularly to inner city Dublin to work in theBluecross animal welfare clinic. From six foot snakes to snufflinghedgehogs, Gillian encounters it all, along with the help of her ever-expanding young family.
Read byGrainne Gillis. 6 hours 19 minutes. TB 21142.
Holmes, Martha. Life: extraordinary animals, extreme behaviour. 2009.TB 17163.
A study of animal behaviour, exploring the key groups of animals that inhabit this planet and their survival strategies. By telling a series of stories and focusing on intimate details, the book draws us into the biggest story of all - the many different ways animals and plants cope with the challenges of life and, ultimately, the survival of their species.
Read by Thomas Eyre, 6 hours 9 minutes. TB 17163.
Jackman, Brian. The Marsh lions. 1982. TB 15520.
The story of a pride of wild lions living in Kenya's finest game reserve, The Maasai Mara Reserve - 700 square miles of high rolling plain, adjoining the Serengeti. The authors spent five years following and photographing the Marsh pride, recording the daily dramas of life and death on the African plains.
Read by Virginia McKenna, 1 hour 49 minutes.TB 15520.
King, Simon. Shetland diaries: otters, orcas, puffins and wonderful people. 2010. TB 17559.
Long before he set foot on the islands, Simon King fell in love withShetland. This extraordinary northern wilderness is home to otters and a vast seabird colony, but it was a chance encounter with a killer whale that compelled him to spend a year getting to know the place of his boyhood dreams. With his wife and young daughter, Simon experienced Shetland through the changing seasons and discovered the wildlife and the warmth of community in these islands battered by the North Sea.
Read by Mike Aherne, 7 hours 19 minutes. TB 17559.
Lister-Kaye, John. The White Island.1972.TB405360.
In the late 1960s Gavin Maxwell,movedto the lighthouse keepers' cottages onEileanBàn (White Island), an islandbetween the Isle of Skye and theScottish mainland. JohnLister-Kaye was invited by Gavin tocome to the White Island firstly, to help him write abook on British mammals, and secondlyto help convert the island into aprivate zoo for the birds and mammalsof the West Highlands. This bookdescribes in detail that venture.
Read by volunteers, 6 hours 22 minutes.TB405360.
Livingston, John A. Rogue primate: an exploration of humandomestication. 2001.Canadian Library Nonfiction. TB21988.
In the 1970s, environmentalist JohnLivingston began to find serious flawsin the conventional conservationargument. He began to challenge thebelief that the survival ofundomesticated plants and animals in aworld dominated by humans could beenabled through "resourceconservation" managed by humans. Heargues that our dependence on ideas --in effect, our own domestication --has cut us off from the natural world,and led us to believe that ourdomination over nature is itself"natural."
Read by Keith Melville. 10 hours 18 minutes.TB21988.
MacFarlane, Robert. The wild places. 2008. TB 20564.
"The Wild Places" is both an intellectual and a physical journey, and Macfarlane travels in time as well as space. He mixes history, memory and landscape in a strange and beautiful evocation of wildness and its vital importance.
Read by Peter Kenny. 9 hours 5 minutes. TB 20564.
Mottershead, June. Our zoo.2014.TB22994.
When George Mottershead moved to thevillage of Upton-by-Chester in 1930 torealise his dream of opening a zoowithout bars, his four-year-olddaughter June had no idea howextraordinary her life would become.Soon her best friend was a chimpanzeecalled Mary. Chester Zoo has sinceachieved worldwide renown. JuneMottershead chronicles the heartbreak,the humour, the trials and triumphs,above all the characters, both humanand animal, who shaped her childhood.
Read by Emily Pennant-Rea. 6 hours 19 minutes.TB22994.
O'Connor, Denis. Paw tracks at Owl Cottage. 2012. TB 21434.
When Denis O'Connor and his wifeCatherine return to Owl Cottage, onlyto find it in a dilapidated state,they decide to restore his former home. But the memory of Denis's beloved cat, Toby Jug, still lingers on. Onimpulse, he buys four Maine Coonkittens and names them Pablo, Carlos,Luis and Max.
Read by Gordon Griffin.6 hours 52 minutes.
Stott, Rebecca. Darwin's ghosts: in search of the first evolutionists. 2012. TB 19750.
An account of the collective daring of a few like-minded men who had the imagination to speculate on nature's ways and the courage to publish at a time when doing so, for political as well as religious reasons, was to risk everything.
Read by Teresa Quigley, 12 hours 36 minutes. TB 19750.
Sprackland, Jean. Strands: a year of discoveries on the beach. 2012. TB 19931.
A series of meditations prompted by walking on the wild estuarial beaches of Ainsdale Sands between Blackpool and Liverpool, 'Strands' is about what is lost and buried then discovered, about all the things you find on a beach, dead or alive, about flotsam and jetsam, about mutability and transformation.
Read by Sally Newton, 7 hours 9 minutes.TB 19931.
Svendsen, Elisabeth. A passion for donkeys. 1989. TB 19253.
A celebration of the donkey - its habits, its physical well-being, even its breeding. There is information on owning, caring for, training and, above all, loving these gentle animals. The author, who runs a donkey sanctuary in Devon, tells of the 4,000 donkeys that have enjoyed the peace of the sanctuary and of her worldwide travels on behalf of the donkey, and in particular her efforts to better the animal's lot in the Third World.
Read by MonicaKendall, 11 hours 22 minutes. TB 19253.
Wigan, Michael. The salmon.2013. TB 21080.