Evolutions, Oren Harman
Evolutions, Oren Harman
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Evolutions
Fifteen Myths That Explain Our World

Author: Oren Harman

Narrator: Oren Harman

Unabridged: 5 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/05/2018


Synopsis

We don't think anymore, like the ancient Chinese did, that the world was hatched from an egg, or, like the Maori, that it came from the tearing apart of a love embrace. The Greeks told of a tempestuous Hera and a cunning Zeus, but we now use genes and natural selection to explain fear and desire, and physics to demystify the workings of the universe.

Evolutions brings to life the latest scientific thinking on the birth of the universe and the solar system, the journey from a single cell all the way to our human minds. Reawakening our sense of wonder and terror at the world around us and within us, Oren Harman uses modern science to create new and original mythologies. Here are the earth and the moon presenting a cosmological view of motherhood, a panicking mitochondrion introducing sex and death to the world, the loneliness of consciousness emerging from the memory of an octopus, and the birth of language in evolution summoning humankind's struggle with truth. Science may not solve our existential puzzles, but like the age-old legends, its magical discoveries can help us continue the never-ending search.

About Oren Harman

Oren Harman's book The Price of Altruism won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science and Technology and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He is a renowned professor of the history of science and the Chair of the Program in Science Technology and Society at Bar Ilan University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sergiy

I was extremely disappointed by this book. When I first received the arc from the publisher I was very excited for this. I am an avid reader of mythology. As you can see from my goodreads reviews, myths and legends from around the world comprise over 50% of my reading these days. I am also a physicis......more

Goodreads review by Ben

Got through it quickly because: 1) There's a global pandemic on so I can't go outside and 2) I ended up wanting to get it out of the way so I could move on. I'm afraid I have to side with all the previous reviews by people who love both science and mythology and say that I was very disappointed with th......more

Goodreads review by Brandi

It is an entertaining read. There isn't too much I can say about it that other reviewers haven't already mentioned (and quite eloquently, I might add), but I definitely enjoyed it. It was a nice change of pace from my usual fantasy genre and exceptionally well-written. I would not hesitate to read O......more