In this sweeping overview of recent research, an environmental neuroscientist explains how humans are wired to benefit from exposure to nature--or even to artificial elements that resemble it. Beyond boosting mood and happiness, spending peaceful moments outdoors, studies show, enhances physical health, emotional resilience, mental performance, and the quality of our attention. The author's lengthy personal stories and picturesque writing make this audiobook a colorful memoir as much as a science lesson. While the personal details may interfere with the audiobook's momentum for some listeners, narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins makes that less likely with his friendly, enthusiastic tone. In sum, Hopkins' vocal personality makes it difficult to be impatient with the author's stories and asides.
Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781797197685
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Dr. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who recounts his experiences searching for new medications in the Amazon rain forest. He makes an impassioned plea for the world to stop destroying this irreplaceable resource. Since the author reads his own work, we can rely on the pronunciation of some unusual botanical terms; however, his voice (presumably not trained for performance) lacks the enthusiasm and fascination the words suggest. Furthermore, with no chapter references and few pauses between sections, transitions, such as the change of location from Ecuador to Massachusetts, are awkward.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The more we know about the universe, the less certain it all seems.
In just under seven hours, this engaging and instructive audiobook answers, as best as anyone can, all the questions listeners might have about particles and dark matter and the fate of the universe. Beginning with the Babylonians, Genevieve Swallow offers a well-paced narration of this history of scientific advances through the centuries. Much of this is familiar, but the narrative excels in scope and clarity, and Swallow’s performance brings ease and precision. From subatomic paradoxes to the first probes into space, Swallow is a steadying presence for a heady tour of the awesome and the strange, the inconceivable and the barely imaginable.
The more we know about the universe, the less certain it all seems.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063476486
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: tomorrow
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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