Review by Choice Review
Fresh from six years covering technology, science, and energy for Time magazine, Roston has written his first book--a winner and a keeper. He begins by outlining the nuclear reactions that form carbon inside large stars. Although schoolchildren commonly understand that carbon is the skeletal element that holds biomass together and climate change researchers know that the Earth's carbon cycle plays a major role as a greenhouse gas, Roston sees carbon's abundance and widespread distribution as an important starting point that creates an opportunity for the synthesis of organic molecules and the creation of life itself. Roston's assertion that carbon is generated by the nuclear fusion of three helium nuclei is strongly supported by eminent scientists such as Fred Hoyle, who was at Caltech in the 1950s. Hoyle disproved elements of George Gamow's big bang hypothesis in 1953 by demonstrating that the birthplace of the element carbon is the interior of stars that reach temperatures of 100 million K (kelvin). The nuclear fusion origin of carbon is convincing and understandable, though later chapters addressing evolution, cyanobacteria, photosynthesis, and organic molecules require patience and some chemical knowledge. However, the final chapter becomes a convincing, easy read and offers a pathway to sustainable living. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. R. M. Ferguson emeritus, Eastern Connecticut State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Carbon atoms lead active lives, as Roston's investigation into their ubiquitous presence attests. Created by nuclear fusion in stars, strewn through space by supernovas, and collecting on earth as a critical element of life, carbon also exercises a variety of roles in technology. Its natural and artificial guises inspire Roston to balance chapters on carbon's function in each realm, for example in defense (carbon in shells and Kevlar) or in combustion (carbon in metabolism and in fossil fuels). Such versatility derives from the carbon atom's atomic structure and chemical behavior, the scientific elucidation of which engages Roston's capacious curiosity, as it has that of the physicists, geologists, molecular biologists, and chemical engineers whose discoveries he describes. A science journalist, Roston mediates technicalities well for a general-interest reader, impressing in particular how carbon cycles geo- and biochemically through earth's natural processes, and how the current increase of carbon dioxide is accelerating the atmospheric cycle. If atomic number 6 could ever write its autobiography, the result might resemble Roston's engaging presentation.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Roston, a former Time writer on technology and energy, positively revels in the chance to dig deep into the ubiquitous, life-enabling carbon. He begins his first book with the science of this element: how the element first appeared when stars burned helium into carbon; how, before there was life on earth, plate tectonics drove the planet's carbon flow through the atmosphere, land and oceans; and how the development of the earliest organisms reshaped the carbon cycle. Turning to humans' use of carbon and consequent speeding up the carbon cycle, Roston is a whirlwind, explaining carbon's role in the formation of everything from DNA to Kevlar bulletproof vests and, finally, carbon's role in the earth's climate. This is what Roston cares passionately about, and the sum of the parts of his energetic explanations of carbon's uniqueness brings, for dedicated and attentive readers, a crystal-clear understanding of the global warming process. Roston never scrimps on explaining even complicated chemical processes, and the result is a convincing argument that the earth is at a crossroad, the time for denial has passed and the time for smart, innovative solutions has arrived. 20 b&w illus. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
With this book, Roston, a former technology reporter for Time magazine, gives readers a substantial context to the sound bytes concerning climate change--the carbon cycle, the carbon footprint, carbon emissions, global warming--that are flung at us with little explanation. The first half traces carbon's history from the beginning of the universe, the Big Bang, and the nucleosynthesis (the formation of the elements) through the life cycle of stars, and then covers the development of life and dynamics of the "natural" carbon cycle of Earth. The second section spans the last 150 years and delves into the impact of humans on the climate in creating what Roston calls the "industrial carbon cycle." Without using a great deal of scientific jargon, Roston leads us patiently and clearly through this complex issue. Recommended for public and academic libraries.--Margaret F. Dominy, Drexel Univ. Lib., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A high-level entry in the single-element history genre from Time magazine technology writer Roston. Both human life and civilization depend on carbon, the author avers. We may be mostly water, but by dry weight we're mostly carbon. Carbon cycling through the atmosphere, oceans and land influences life, and life influences carbon cycling. Roston begins with the Big Bang and in Part I, "The Natural," ranges over topics from the origins of life to body heat. Part II, "The Unnatural," covers the past 150 years, during which industry and an expanding population have created an industrial carbon cycle. Primitive organisms appeared soon after the earth cooled four billion years ago. Soon after came photosynthesis, which uses the sun's energy, water and carbon dioxide to produce complex carbon compounds and oxygen. This eventually generated enough oxygen to influence the carbon cycle, which means it influenced weather. Most atmospheric carbon (i.e., carbon dioxide) is produced by volcanoes and the weathering of rock; it disappears into oceans and deep into the earth. Carbon dioxide from living things exerted only a modest influence on this cycle until the 19th century, when human ingenuity began reversing photosynthesis on a massive scale: converting oxygen and carbon compounds (wood, coal, oil, gas) back into water and carbon dioxide. It's pouring into the atmosphere faster than oceans, land and shrinking forests can absorb it, and carbon dioxide acts as an insulator, allowing sunlight to heat the earth but preventing heat from radiating back into space. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has risen and fallen throughout earth's history, but no natural process can match today's spectacular outpouring. Readers searching for a systematic report on global warming should read Al Gore or Bill McKibben. Roston devotes several chapters to the subject, but he maintains a focus on carbon itself: its role in the formation of Earth, earthly life, human life and human industry. Lucid and occasionally disturbing. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
