The Origin and Evolution of Earth

From the Big Bang to the Future of Human Existence

By: Robert M. Hazen, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Robert M. Hazen

Length: 25 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

This course chronicles the history of Earth and life on Earth from the point of view of the minerals that made it all happen. A major theme is how minerals and life coevolved, leading to the unprecedented mineral diversity on our world compared to the other planets in the solar system. Professor Hazen tells this epic story in 48 action-packed lectures that take you from the big bang to the formation of the solar system to the major milestones that marked the evolution of Earth and life. He also looks ahead at what to expect millions to billions of years in the future.

It's easy to think that the green Earth dominated by life that we experience today is just as it's always been. But Professor Hazen introduces you to a succession of starkly different Earths, starting with the black, basalt-covered planet of 4.5 billion years ago, and progressing through blue, gray, red, and white phases as Earth, minerals, and life developed in concert.

Major episodes covered in these lectures include the formation of the moon from the collision of a Mars-sized body with the early Earth; the Great Oxidation Event, which was sparked by the earliest photosynthetic life and is responsible for Earth's iron and other important mineral deposits; the formation of the first continents; the start of plate tectonics more than 3 billion years ago; the repeating cycles of supercontinent formation; the Cambrian explosion of life, resulting in the first animal shells, bones, and teeth; the great episodes of mass extinction, including the dinosaurs; and the rise of humans - along with much else.

Most impressively, Professor Hazen is a pioneer in the study of mineral evolution, which is a unique lens through which to view the development of Earth. He tells the story with authority and with a rare gift for making you see the world in a new, intriguing way.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2013 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2013 The Great Courses

best ever

The best lectures I've ever heard. Bar none. I have been astonished by this course.

absolutely brilliant

What did you love best about The Origin and Evolution of Earth?

I personally love to learn. This course helped me look at the world in a new way. If all professors were this awesome in college, then everyone would be Albert Einsteins. Thank you for a wonderful course. I will listen to this and my other Great Courses over and over!!!

One Nice Big Package

Where does The Origin and Evolution of Earth rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is among the best of the books I've through on science and history

What about Professor Robert M. Hazen’s performance did you like?

His enthusiasm is real, not a performance. He clearly knows so much more than he told us here yet his almost effervescent explanation makes us listen as though this is the most important lecture on earth. Maybe it is..

Any additional comments?

In the same sense as Gun Germs & Steel by Diamond, Hazen brings together several disciplines who had rarely talked with each other together. The end product is filled with AHA moments when things just sorta make sense, rather than a list of stuff to be memorized.

Wide-ranging and enthusiastically delivered

Professor Hazen obviously loves his subject and his enthusiasm is contagious. The lectures cover everything from the origins of elements themselves in the Big Bang and in supernovas, to rock formation on the Earth and the evolution of life and its influence on the globe. The number of details and terms sometimes gets a bit overwhelming and the lecturer sometimes trips over his words but overall it's a very worthwhile listen.

So good

This is by far the best audio book that I have listened to. The passion of the author, the information, the presentation etc. If anyone has any kind of interest in science this should be essential listening

Listening this Book you can feel the Planet

No one tells the tale of Earth so vividly from her beginnings, A tale written so evocative when Moon is born from a huge collision you can almost feel it..... This Book is filled with facts backed with years of research, observation and tests....
It's like instant education which will last a lifetime....Thank you for sharing with us.

Fascinating

It’s a pleasure, and a bit amusing, to listen to someone with Robert Hazen’s passion for the subject speaking of minerals almost as if they were alive—‘mineral species’ and ‘mineral evolution,’ for example. Both terms are technically correct, of course, yet we don’t typically think of minerals in that light. I bought this expecting it to be one more explication of ‘how the world began,’ though with Dr. Hazen’s particular views on the subject. It was far far more than that. I couldn’t possibly get all the details in one pass through the book, and expect to listen to it several times more.

very informative!

this book summarized all of conceivable history of our planet and life...well done Great Coarses!

enjoyed the lectures!

as a geologists I enjoyed these lectures very much! especially since mineralogy is one of my favorite topics in geology.

great for those interested in Earth and beyond

As a geologist this was great and think it would be appreciated by anyone with a desire to learn about the evolution of the earth, solar system, galaxy, and universe. The approach to Eath evolution via the story of mineral evolution was very fascinating. Sometimes the chemistry and biology was over my head but the overarching concepts were clearly explained. Many times throughout the book I was reminded of the awe and wonder of the natural world and why i love geology.