Superlative: The Biology of Extremes Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Matthew D. LaPlante (Author), George Newbern (Narrator), Brilliance Audio (Publisher)

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Welcome to the biggest, fastest, deadliest science book you'll ever hear.

The world's largest land mammal could help us end cancer. The fastest bird is showing us how to solve a century-old engineering mystery. The oldest tree is giving us insights into climate change. The loudest whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms.

For a long time, scientists ignored superlative life forms as outliers. Increasingly, though, researchers are coming to see great value in studying plants and animals that exist on the outermost edges of the bell curve.

As it turns out, there’s a lot of value in paying close attention to the “oddballs” nature has to offer.

Go for a swim with a ghost shark, the slowest-evolving creature known to humankind, which is teaching us new ways to think about immunity. Get to know the axolotl, which has the longest-known genome and may hold the secret to cellular regeneration. Learn about Monorhaphis chuni, the oldest discovered animal, which is providing insights into the connection between our terrestrial and aquatic worlds.

Superlative is the story of extreme evolution, and what we can learn from it about ourselves, our planet, and the cosmos. It's a tale of crazy-fast cheetahs and super-strong beetles, of microbacteria and enormous plants, of whip-smart dolphins and killer snakes.

This book will inspire you to change the way you think about the world and your relationship to everything in it.

Listening Length

9 hours and 27 minutes
Author

Matthew D. LaPlante
Narrator

George Newbern
Audible release date

30 April 2019
Language

English
Publisher

Brilliance Audio
ASIN

B07PN5FB2L
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	9 hours and 27 minutes
Author	Matthew D. LaPlante
Narrator	George Newbern
Audible.com.au Release Date	30 April 2019
Publisher	Brilliance Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07PN5FB2L
Best Sellers Rank	37,617 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 74 in Biology (Audible Books & Originals) 77 in Animals 165 in Zoology (Books)

Customer reviews

5 star		66%
4 star		25%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star		7%
1 star		3%

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Foggygirl

Great read

Reviewed in Canada on 6 August 2019

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A fascinating and informative read about a variety of “oddballs” that nature has, wether it is the slowest evolving creature the ghost shark or the axolotl “the Wolverine” of the natural world able to regenerate amputated limbs.

MDW

Sophomoric Writing

Reviewed in the United States on 6 July 2019

Verified Purchase

I always consider the reviews prior to making a book purchase, and have changed my decision upon doing so. Assuming no stuffing of the ballot box is in play, I'm apparently the only one that found the writing to be so juvenile as to be irritating. The hyphenated-phrase-as-adjective technique is worn out from excessive use herein. Many word choices are beyond a casual style and are, well, juvenile.

The olfactory characteristics of the cheetah are discussed (circa pg 133). In reference there to, its "naval" capacity is mentioned. If not already frustrated with the writing, I would probably have found this gaffe to be humorous.

The science topics are interesting but poorly presented by the lousy writing of a journalism professor.

9 people found this helpful

Bama Fan

Good book!

Reviewed in the United States on 26 October 2019

Verified Purchase

This book provides a lot of information that relate to a broad spectrum of random topics as they relate to the extremes of different living organisms. There is information about elephants, dolphins, cheetahs but also information about plants, insects and a lot of other things as well. Some of the info I was aware of, but there were quite a few tidbits that I've never hears. It is very wide in its coverage, but not very deep on any one topic, which provides an overview for a superlative amount of examples. I'd recommend for the lay person or someone with a general interest in science.

One person found this helpful

Wang

BEST BOOK I have ever read

Reviewed in the United States on 2 June 2019

Verified Purchase

Find out why elephants have no cancer - and how research may apply to humans. Also, why we need to prevent extinctions and the losses of natural sources of information that may change our world or at least the way we look at it.

5 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Science for the Science-Averse

Reviewed in the United States on 29 May 2019

Verified Purchase

I'm not really a biology person, save for the occasional trip to the zoo. But this book is somehow...more fun than the zoo? That seems weird to admit, but it's true. "Superlative" is a fascinating read, full of the coolest tidbits and conveyed in such a low-key manner that you feel like you're sitting across the table from the author, drinking coffee and having the world's most interesting chat. On more than one occasion, I've caught myself repeating something that I read in the book in the midst of a conversation - suddenly, I've become a biology person. Curse you, Matthew LaPlante (and thanks).

3 people found this helpful

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Superlative: The Biology of Extremes Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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