The Carbon Age How Life's Core Element Has Become Civilization's Greatest Threat

by Roston, Eric

• ISBN13: 9780802715579
• ISBN10: 0802715575
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-24
• Publisher: Walker Books

Summary

The story of carbonthe building block of life that is, ironically, humanity's great threat . It could be said that all of us are a little alienour bodies' carbon atoms first shot forth from supernovas billions of years ago and far, far away. Carbon has always been the ubiquitous architect and chemical scaffolding of life and civilization; indeed, all living things draw carbon from their environments to stay alive, and the great cycle by which carbon moves through organisms, ground, water, and atmosphere has long been a kind of global respiration system that helps keep Earth in balance. And yet, when we hear the word today, it is more often than not in a crisis context: carbon dioxide emissions have sped up the carbon cycle; chlorofluorocarbons are destroying the ozone layer and warming the planet; the volatile Middle East explodes atop its stores of volatile hydrocarbons; carbohydrates threaten obesity and diabetes. InThe Carbon Age, Eric Roston evokes this essential element, its journey illuminating history from the Big Bang to modern civilization. Charting the science of carbonhow it was formed, how it came to Earth and built uphe chronicles the often surprising ways mankind has used it over centuries, and the growing catastrophe of the industrial era, leading us to now attempt to wrestle the Earth's geochemical cycle back from the brink. Blending the latest science with original reporting, Roston makes us aware, as never before, of the seminal impact carbon has, and has had, on our lives.

Author Biography

Eric Roston covered technology, international trade, and energy issues at Time magazine for six years and contributed to Time’s special issue about September 11, which won a National Magazine Award in 2002. This is his first book. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and daughter.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Strange Case of Carbon	p. 1
The Natural
Out of the Frying Pan: Carbon After the Big Bang	p. 11
Dancers and the Dance: The Origins of Life	p. 26
The Flood: Molecular Fossils and the Great Greenhouse Collapse	p. 49
Inherent Brutality: Predators, Defenses, and the Ocean Carbon Cycle	p. 68
The Witness: CO[subscript 2] and a Tree of Life	p. 82
Body Heat: Running on Carbohydrates and Hydrocarbons	p. 98
The Unnatural
Greased Lightning: Carbon and the Car	p. 117
The Physical Restraint on Fantasy: The Art in Carbon Science	p. 132
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Antiballistic Carbon	p. 146
The Bell Jar: Humans and the Hundredfold Acceleration of the Carbon Cycle	p. 165
Instructions Not Included: The Potential of Biological Fuels	p. 191
The Adventures Ahead: Life With Carbon, Civilization Without?	p. 209
Acknowledgments	p. 227
Notes	p. 233
Bibliography	p. 253
Index	p. 295
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