Carbon:Can't Live With It - Can't Live Without It
"I am, reluctantly, a self-confessed carbon chauvinist. Carbon is abundant in the Cosmos. It makes marvelously complex molecules, good for life... But I sometimes wonder. Could my fondness for these materials have something to do with the fact that I am made chiefly of them?"
—Carl Sagan
The story of carbon, the building block of life that is, ironically, humanity's greatest threat. It could be said that all of us are a little alien. Our bodies' carbon atoms first shot forth from supernovas billions of years ago and far, far away.
Let Eric Roston take you on life's journey with this essential element from the Big Bang to modern civilization.
How was it/were we formed? How did it/did we get here? How do we live together?
Eric Roston is a science writer in Washington, DC, and author of the just published book THE CARBON AGE: How Life's Core Element Has Become Civilization's Greatest Threat. The book, based on three years of research, traces the dynamic, fundamental science that unifies seemingly disparate parts of our experience: Climate, energy, health, industry--the fastest way to learn the most about the world is through the carbon atom.
Roston is Senior Associate in the Washington, DC, office of The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University.
Previously, Roston wrote for TIME, In September 2002, Roston became a part of TIME's Washington bureau. He traveled extensively with President George W. Bush and Senators John Kerry and John Edwards during the 2004 election campaign. Roston has been a guest on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBC, National Public Radio and various radio stations nationwide and abroad.
