Â鶹´«Ã½

SCIENCE on tape is a fraught enterprise. Unlike novels, popular science books
tend to go in for extended explanations—miss a bit and you are lost. A
book translated straight to audio is all experienced at the same pace, and there
can be no hand-waving and no diagrams to help the listener follow. It needs an
engaging voice, one that will hold the attention over four hours or so. And,
inevitably, the listener will have to contend with the stray sounds encountered
while jogging, working out in the gym or (more likely in my case) just sitting
on the train.…