"Carbon is everywhere: in the paper of this book and the blood of our bodies. It's with us from beginning to end, present in our baby clothes and coffin alike. We live on a carbon planet, and we are carbon life. No other element is so central to our well-being; yet, when missing or misaligned, carbon atoms can also bring about disease and even death. At once ubiquitous and mysterious, carbon holds the answers to some of humanity's biggest questions. Where did Earth come from? What will ultimately become of it--and of us? With poetic storytelling, earth scientist Robert M. Hazen explores the universe to discover the past, present, and future of life's most essential element."

• Silence
• Movement I: Earth: carbon, the element of crystals
• Movement II: Air: carbon, the element of cycles
• Movement III: Fire: carbon, the element of stuff
• Movement IV: Water: carbon, the element of life