Soonish

Author Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
Narrator Dr. Kelly Weinersmith, Joseph May
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Run Time 8 hours and 53 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Humour, Impact of science and technology on society, Inventions and inventors, Popular science, Scientific research.

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Soonish by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, read by Kelly Weinersmith and Joseph May.

What will the world of tomorrow be like? How does progress happen? And why don't we have a lunar colony already? In this witty and entertaining book, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith give us a snapshot of the transformative technologies that are coming next - from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters - and explain how they will change our world in astonishing ways. By weaving together their own research, interviews with pioneering scientists and Zach's trademark comics, the Weinersmiths investigate why these innovations are needed, how they would work, and what is standing in their way.

Critics Review

An unabashed nerd-out of a book, zinging from outer space to DNA, hardly pausing for breath … The gleeful geeking out makes for a great read – I couldn’t help chuckling or outright cracking up a number of times – while surreptitiously teaching some really important science. It’s a winning combination. The sheer breadth of topics covered is also amazing: Probably no other book in history has seriously described the science behind both tentacle construction robots and the human nasal cycle

Colin McCormick

Space elevators, gold asteroids, and fusion-powered toasters – who knew science could be so much fun? And who knew fun could be so scientific? Soonish is hilarious, provocative, and shamelessly informative

Tim Harford, author of 'Messy' and 'The Undercover Economist'

Playful, yet deep

Dr. George Church, Harvard University

I love this book so much I 3D printed myself a second heart so I could love it more

Dr. Phil Plait, astronomer, author, writer of the Bad Astronomy Blog

Kelly and Zach promised me a crystal ball, but what I got is both more insightful and far more entertaining than staring into a dumb glass orb. Soonish will make you laugh and – without you even realizing it – give you insight into the most ambitious technological feats of our time. You should read this book, sooner than soonish

Alexis Ohanian, Cofounder of Reddit

Basically, I think this book is a masterpiece, and something I wish I’d written myself

Scott Aaronson, David J. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin and author of 'Quantum Computing Since Democritus'

Compelling, accessible, and wryly funny … Popular-science writing has rarely been so whip-smart, captivating, or hilarious (albeit occasionally terrifying)

Booklist

A fascinating look at the most provocative and promising research going on today and how it could alter the way we work and live

Publishers Weekly

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