Symphony in C

February 1, 2019

Executive director of the Deep Carbon Observatory at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University, Hazen guides us through the origin and evolution of carbon, which forms more compounds than all other elements combined.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 11, 2019
In this clearly written study, Hazen, a George Mason University science professor, explores what is known about carbon’s impact on the universe’s 13.8-billion-year history, from the Big Bang and the formation of stars and planets to the origin and evolution of life. It is, he declares, the “most adaptable, most useful element of all.” Hazen demonstrates that carbon, unique among the elements for its versatility, is an essential subject for study both on a cosmic scale, for supplying the “most critical chemical link across the vastness of space and time,” and on Earth, for how human alterations to the global carbon cycle are causing significant climate change. Beyond the science, Hazen brings the process of scientific investigation to life. Whether he’s describing the way researchers measure the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by volcanoes, and the grave risks associated with such endeavors, or how animals first produced calcium carbonate shells for protection, Hazen conveys the delight he finds in the process of understanding the world around him. Even while demonstrating just how much humanity has learned about the “element of life,” his enthusiastic survey also shows the limits of existing knowledge and the potential for future discoveries in an exciting field.

March 15, 2019
An appealing popular-science account of carbon, the "giver of life."According to this lively, expert overview, although carbon is only the fourth most abundant element in the universe--and second in the human body--it is the key to everything. Hazen (The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet, 2012), executive director of the Deep Carbon Observatory at George Mason University, emphasizes that "carbon, by itself, and in chemical combinations with other atoms, provides unmatched cosmic novelty and unparalleled potential for cosmic evolution....As the basis for all biomolecules, no other element contributes so centrally to the well-being and sustainability of life on Earth, including our human species." The author divides the book into a symphony of four movements, each entitled with a classical element: earth, air, fire, and water. "Earth" begins with the universe itself. Carbon, essentially absent after the Big Bang, first appeared in the cores of massive stars, spreading across the universe when those stars died and exploded in supernovae. Our planet formed 4.5 billion years ago from dust and rocks in a protoplanetary disc rotating around the young sun. Extremely hot at first, as it cooled, heavy elements (mostly iron) sank, taking most of the carbon, but plenty remained in the "Air" as carbon dioxide engaged in the essential carbon cycle, shifting between atmosphere and ocean, plunging deep into the Earth and then emerging through volcanoes. Readers expecting to learn how massive amounts of extra carbon dioxide from the human burning of hydrocarbons are destabilizing the cycle will not be disappointed. In "Fire," Hazen, a smooth stylist, reminds us that carbon remains our major source of energy but also the source of almost everything we use, from shampoo to the soles of our shoes. "Water" is essential for life, at least on Earth. Scientists disagree on how life began, but few doubt that only carbon, with its supreme ability to link with other elements, makes it all possible.A skillful account of the central element in our lives.

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May 1, 2019
Upon finishing this narrowly focused but probing book, readers will look in the mirror and see?carbon, the chemical element most essential for life. As Hazen unfolds the dizzying versatility of Element 6, readers will marvel at how carbon atoms born in the heart of stars turn into Earth's carbonate minerals, plunge into the planet's core as carbides, and belch forth from volcanoes as carbon dioxide. Readers will track with greatest curiosity the choreography of the chemical dance uniting carbon atoms in the patterns found in the fuels, fertilizers, gems, and building materials that sustain human enterprises. The human species itself appears as the culmination of the evolution of carbon that Hazen traces back to organic compounds mysteriously emerging around deep-sea volcanic vents. Unfortunately, in the element that incubated the origins of life in the primal past, Hazen discerns a grave threat to its future, as human combustion of fossil fuels fills the atmosphere with carbon-laden greenhouse gases, perilously changing the globe's climate. Science that burrows into issues of profound interest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)