June, 2013

Through Time and Space

Posted on June 1, 2013 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Books, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: Comments Off on Through Time and Space

Summertime – the perfect excuse for travelling and going somewhere new. Go to infinity or eternity – and beyond – with 10 gems from our catalog.

Aristotle wrote one of the first “scientific” works On the Heavens, where he proves that the earth is a sphere. He also introduces his theory of gravity – all things fall towards the center of the universe – and talks about a new idea of one of his colleagues: atoms.

More than two millennia later, Alfred North Whitehead refers to him as well as to Einstein to show that The Concept of Nature is all encompassing time, space, and human perception.

A poet’s approach to time and eternity must certainly differ from a scientific one and can be found in the forth part of Emily Dickinson’s Poems: Series One.

Time passes like an eternity on the ship from Australia to England, so Tourmalin accepts the offer to put all this unused time into an account for later. When he is cashing Tourmalin’s Time Cheques, things get complicated in F. Anstey’sbook.

In a story by Andre Norton, the Russians can go back in time to unearth lost secrets. Hence, the Americans have to catch up and send Ross Murdock to Bronze Age, where he, as one of the Time Traders, has to face Russians, prehistoric men as well as aliens.

Sooner or later, we may be able to travel freely in time and settle anywhere we like – as long as we don’t interfere with history and thus become the target of a Police Operation. H. Beam Piper depicts one day in the life of a time cop.

Jason dinAlt doesn’t want to settle on Pyrrus, charmingly dubbed Deathworld. All he wants is to find out where the money went he just won in gambling, but even with his psionic skills, this does not prove to be easy in Harry Harrison’s novel.

Dorothy also finds herself stranded in a new world. Together with Ozma of Oz, she sets out to rescue the royal family of Ev from captivity. Find out about her new adventures in our dramatic reading of L. Frank Baum’s children classic.

In Henry Kuttner’s novel The Creature from Beyond Infinity arrives on Earth to colonise it and to make it a new home. But right now, a deadly plague threatens to wipe out humanity. Has he just arrived to witness the destruction of another planet?

Is Mars Habitable is not a new question. About 100 years ago, Alfred Russell Wallace published a book on this question where he sums up his research on the matter and comes to a negative conclusion.

Enjoy – and stretch your boundaries!

Tags:

Underneath

Posted on June 1, 2013 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Books, For Volunteers, News | Comments: Comments Off on Underneath

The summer is almost here, a perfect time to hunt for treasures. Go on a search for the things that are hidden from view with 10 gems from our catalog.

Very hidden from view is a young lady who, because of an accident, is now invisible, at times at least. The British government is eager to exploit Miss Pim’s Camouflage and sends her behind the German lines as the latest spy in WWI. Her adventures there are told by Lady Dorothy Tennant.

Vera and the Nihilists, an underground group in Russia, are plotting the assassination of the Czar. But not everyone is who he seems in the drama by Oscar Wilde, and things get complicated when Vera falls in love with the man she must kill.

Certainly the right man for you is William Still – if you are a fugitive slave seeking to escape to Canada. The Underground Railroad, which helped hundreds of people gain their freedom, is also the name of a three volume book, comprised of Still’s own diaries and records.

Sir Stephen King-Hall has penned the Diary of a U-Boat Commander, and he depicts the skipper of the Kaiser’s Navy as a great swashbuckling can-, have-, and know-it-all above and under the waves – until he starts to pursue the girlfriend of another man.

A view on the mysteries of the ocean that is not limited by the porthole of a U-boat is presented by R. Cadwallader Smith. He describes in great detail the incredible animals and plants that live Within the Deep – a short, but fascinating book.

On the Nature of Things is a six books long poem by Titus Lucretius Carus. He is not literally talking about nature though, but aims to explain the Philosophy of the Epicureans.

No explanations about his musings offers an Englishman who takes a weekend society gathering as excuse to observe and judge the other guests. He considers himself as a master of psychology – but is he really? Read The Sacred Fount by Henry James to find out.

Hugo Münsterberg would have known immediately whether the guy was a fraud or not. After all, he wrote one of the first books on Psychotherapy, explaining what it is and how to use it to unlock the secrets people hide unwillingly.

Only a simple microscope is needed to find the hidden Girl in the Golden Atom in the novel by Ray Cummings. After the tiny world is discovered, a chemist and his three friends will do anything to shrink themselves and meet the beautiful girl.

Equally fantastic is Niels Klim’s Journey Under the Ground. Baron Ludvig Holberg describes how Niels is exploring a Norwegian cave and is promptly transported to a new planet where he becomes friends with strange creatures…

Enjoy – and happy discoveries!

Tags:

Browse the catalog