Brilliant

very educational and informative listening, would highly recommend this book to anyone with an inquisitive mind.

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Great except for one thing

My only point of contention is using the IAT for "racism" there is research that shows it doesn't measure that or link it to actual behaviour in real life. Everything else is great though.

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entertaining

Great factual and well delivered. highly recommended read for anyone interested in the science and less on the bull$%#%ht

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thought provoking

Really engaging topics, that offer logical and well structured arguments. Very well cast narrator as well.

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Topical science themes

Popular science writing, but with a bit of meat.

In fifteen chapters the author/narrator covers a wide variety of contemporary issues, some all too relevant this year (vaccination in a COVID world). By asking general questions, he covers the history of such subjects, how they have developed and where they are both now and are going in the future.

The cost of medicines, diets, depression, drugs, euthanasia, but also some questions that resonate: why aren’t you in jail? Why are you working a b******t job? A full lifetime of questions, that cover the environment, bodies, society, moral issues.

I did find the author’s focus on Irish figures a little distracting and not broad enough, though of course we all have our own country and area of interest. But the variety of subjects was excellent, I enjoyed the format of general questions then getting down to the science. Covering the background as well as relevant modern issues for each question worked to give a full picture.

The author makes an engaging narrator and even gives us a personal perspective when some issues come close to the bone for him.

I really enjoyed listening to this. Some great details I didn’t know, with regards to history of drugs for example. This wasn’t academic enough to put readers/listeners off, it’s accessible and with a touch of lightness about it, while covering a range of important topics that might send you seeking out more in-depth information.

A good starting point for someone interested in scientific concepts but who doesn’t feel confident about difficult-looking volumes.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

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4 people found this helpful

Good book- terrible audio. requires many reinstall

Good book but the audio is awful and I had to reinstall several times. this was flagged by other reviewers but the publisher has not fixed it

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One of the most interesting books ever

Prof O’Neills way with words and his down to earth dialogue make this an entertaining book about such a diverse range of subjects that make it interesting to everybody. He has obviously extensively researched the facts and studies of some of the most interesting topics of modern life and presented them in a highly entertaining and informative method. I could listen to this over and over. In fact I’m going to download the kindle version now so that I can hope to gain more recollection of the facts for those high stool debates. Very well narrated also however I would have preferred if the professor did the narration himself.

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5 people found this helpful

Full of facinating insights

another 5 star book from Luke, difficult science explained effortlessly, very interesting book and topical

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1 person found this helpful

Heard it all before really

I felt like I knew much about what the book discussed. It was kind of a cursory overview of key topics. Not much insight or depth beyond that. Did not enjoy the voice actor.

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Great content, easily followed

I really enjoyed the content and flow of this. Nothing was too difficult to follow for a non scientific person! My only challenge was understanding the performance and had to replay several pieces. It almost sounded like the performer had cotton wool balls in his mouth at times!? Or maybe it was just my lazy ear!?

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