The Power of Mysteries, Alan Lightman
The Power of Mysteries, Alan Lightman
List: $1.99 | Sale: $1.40
Club: $0.99

The Power of Mysteries
A "This I Believe" Essay

Author: Alan Lightman, Jay Allison, Dan Gediman

Narrator: Alan Lightman

Unabridged: 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/03/2006


Synopsis

Astrophysicist and novelist Alan Lightman explains how the unknown fuels human creativity in "The Power of Mysteries," his contribution to NPR's This I Believe series.

This I Believe is a National Public Radio program that features Americans, from the famous to the unknown, completing the thought that begins with the series title. The pieces that make up the program compel listeners to re-think not only what and how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Featuring a star-studded list of contributors that includes John McCain, Isabel Allende, and Colin Powell, as well as pieces from the original 1950's series including Helen Keller and Jackie Robinson, the This I Believe collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer, a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, and a man who serves on the state of Rhode Island's parole board. The result is a stirring, funny and always provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of Americans whose beliefs, and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them, reveal the American spirit at its best.

This short audio essay is an excerpt from the audiobook edition of the This I Believe anthology.

Author Bio

Alan Lightman is a physicist, novelist, and essayist. He was educated at Princeton University and at the California Institute of Technology, where he received a PhD in theoretical physics. Lightman is the author of five novels, including the international bestseller Einstein’s Dreams, two collections of essays, a book-­length narrative poem, and several books on science. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Granta, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books, among other publications.

Reviews