Robert M. Hazen

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....

Science ranges from the study of the universe itself to the smallest particles of matter contained within it - and everything in between....

This course chronicles the history of Earth and life on Earth from the point of view of the minerals that made it all happen....

Four billion years ago, the infant Earth was a seething cauldron of erupting volcanoes, raining meteors, and hot noxious gases, totally devoid of life....

Knowledge of the basic ideas and principles of science is fundamental to cultural literacy. But most books on science are often too obscure or too specialized to do the general listener much good....