Symphony in C: Carbon and the Evolution of (Almost) Everything

Robert M Hazen

Jun 2019 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Paul Brion

About this audiobook

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.

About the author

Robert M. Hazen is executive director of the Deep Carbon Observatory based at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Paul Brion has a passion for storytelling. He believes that audiobooks-our most current form of the oral tradition-are the purest of the interactive and co-creative arts. An autodidact with eclectic interests, he enjoys learning about a wide variety of subjects, as he has an avaricious hunger for knowledge.