# great science/history audiobooks

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-science-history-audiobooks/529928>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 22, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-science-history-audiobooks/529928 "2010-02-22T00:35:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Yersenia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e495f1/32.png) [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-science-history-audiobooks/529928/1 "2010-02-22T00:35:13Z")

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So, I have a 1 hour commute to work everyday and, for most of the way, the radio stations are terrible. Anyone have great rec.s for great science/history/mythology audiobooks?

Here’s what I listened so far:

The war that killed Achilles by Caroline Alexander  
In defense of food (from the Omnivore’s dilemma guy)  
Before the dawn by Nicholas Wade (great insights into human evolution)

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-science-history-audiobooks/529928/2 "2010-02-22T02:09:15Z")

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Here are ones I’ve listened to on my long commutes

Science:

**Chaos** by James Gleick

**The Day the Universe Changed** and **Connections** by James Burke. The great thing is, he talks so fast, it feels as if you’re getting twice as much. The text, I should note, is taken from the companion volume to the PBS serieses, and is abridged.

History:

**Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History** by Richard Shenkman. Read by Gary Owens (from **Laugh-In**!!) The only problem is that Owen sounds as if he never looked at the text before, and doesn’t quite believe it all.

**Don’t Know Much About History** by Kenneth Davis

**Truman** , **Mornings on Horseback** , **The Path Between the Seas** , and **John Adams** , all by David McCulloch. The nice thing about the Truman bio is that the text is enhanced by some audio recordings of Harry Truman, and the closing credits are read over him playing the piano!

Myth:

**The Iliad** and **The Odyssey** , both translated by Robert Fagels, the former read by Derek Jacobi and the latter by Ian McKellan. The only problem is that, while the Odyssey is unabridged, the Iliad is woefully shortened.

**The Hero with a Thousand Faces** by Joseph Campbell, read by Ralph Blum, but with substantial portions that are recordings of Campbell himself lecturing.

**The Epic of Gilgamesh** , **Beowulf** , and **Tales from the Arabian Nights** – all Penguin audio editions, taken from the Penguin Books.

I have plenty of other audiobooks in these categories, but these are my faves.

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**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-science-history-audiobooks/529928/3 "2010-02-22T02:15:24Z")

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Look into lectures from The Teaching Company. There have been a few threads about them here with lots of recommendations.