Symphony in C

Carbon and the Evolution of (Almost) Everything

De: Robert M. Hazen

Narrado por: Paul Brion

An enchanting biography of the most resonant - and most necessary - chemical element on Earth. Carbon. It's in the fibers in your hair, the timbers in your walls, the food that you eat, and the air that you breathe. It's worth billions as a luxury and half a trillion as a necessity, but there are still mysteries yet to be solved about the element that can be both diamond and coal. Where does it come from, what does it do, and why, above all, does life need it?

With poetic storytelling, earth scientist Robert Hazen leads us on a global journey through the origin and evolution of life's most ubiquitous element. The story unfolds in four movements - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water - and transports us through 14 billion years of cosmic history.

From the archives of Harvard to the cliffs of Scotland and into the precious metal mines of Namibia, Symphony in C is a sweeping chronicle of carbon: the most essential element on Earth.

©2019 Robert M. Hazen (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Interesting

Learned a lot. Never thought about it. Little long. Wish it gave a good summary. Overall good book

Not great

The author gave a few good points but spent a lot of time repeating himself..

Dr. Hazen makes a Celebrity of Element 6

I am not a Chemist or Chemical Engineer. But I do like to mix up some elective learning to my education in Systems Engineering. An engineer to the core, I wish I could have majored in at least 3 engineering majors and One science major. I read stuff like this because I love it. This is not a text book, it is something much better.

This is an excellent, finely crafted book and the organization is brilliant. It covers where carbon comes from in star life cycles. Where carbon resides on Earth. From the earth Core and Mantle to the atmosphere. So you get astrophysics, planetary science, geology, chemistry, oceanic, and atmospheric science in one great book.

I found myself teaching my kids about carbon after reading the book and the kids (all little elementary age kids) asked, "Dad, why do you like Carbon so much?" It's all because this book is so cool and interesting. 5-Stars, Easy.

A survey of the presence of Carbon

this is a decent overview of many of the ways in which carbon interacts with our life and our planet. it's not a particularly engaging story but it does seem to be comprehensive in its scope. some have complained about the unimpressive narration, but I think this is more of a production issue then it is really the quality of the narrator.

this isn't at the top of my recommended list, but it is part of the fund of knowledge which keeps us up to date.

The Most Detailed Story of Geological Earth

I love everything this author writes and does especially The Great Courses...very informative and we'll written..I've learned more about our Earth than anything I learned in school..always fun to keep learning.