Which is more important to you: knowing what causes the flu or being able to predict whether you'll get the flu? If it's the latter, then you're ready to embrace Big Data, a messy collection of mega-information that is filtered by government, business, and healthcare professionals for the purpose of finding correlations, rather than causality. In other words when you deal in Big Data, you give up caring about the why and focus on making predictions--from life-saving medical decisions (DNA analysts discover potential cancer markers) to banal marketing strategies (Wal-Mart learns that shoppers preparing for a hurricane purchase Pop Tarts). Narrator Jonathan Hogan provides a crisp, attentive reading that keeps the material focused and helps to make this a digestible primer for those interested in an important cultural trend.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781470365752
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
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: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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