Carbon : the book of life / Paul Hawken.

Contents Carbon -- Elements -- Firmament -- Cell mates -- Eating starlight -- Sugar salad -- Bucky and bing -- Green beings -- Kindom -- Parlance -- Paper eyes -- Primeval -- Dark earth -- Untranslated world -- Conscious -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index.
Abstract Carbon is the only element that animates the entirety of the living world. Though comprising a tiny fraction of Earth's composition, our planet is lifeless without it. Yet it is maligned as the driver of climate change, scorned as an errant element blamed for the possible demise of civilization. Here, Paul Hawken looks at the flow of life through the lens of carbon. Embracing a panoramic view of carbon's omnipresence, he explores how this ubiquitous and essential element extends into every aperture of existence and shapes the entire fabric of life. Hawken charts a course across our planetary history, guiding us into the realms of plants, animals, insects, fungi, food, and farms to offer a new narrative for embracing carbon's life-giving power and its possibilities for the future of human endeavor.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Hawken, Paul. Carbon New York : Viking, [2025] 9780698173293
LCCN 2024036141
ISBN9780525427445 hardcover
ISBN0525427449 hardcover
ISBNelectronic book