Robert Hazen, Symphony in C, 2019 ✓

Le livre porte sur tous les aspects de cet élément relativement abondant dans l’Univers et surtout particulier par sa capacité à se lier en chaînes, parfois très longues. Le carbone joue un rôle fondamental dans le vivant. Ce qui est moins connu, c’est qu’il est présent ailleurs, non seulement dans les combustibles fossiles, mais aussi dans les roches carbonées. L’auteur passe en revue toutes les facettes de cet élément remarquable ; étant minéralogiste, il est bien placé pour y ajouter les échanges généralement ignorés entre le carbone des profondeurs de la Terre et le carbone de surface.

En attendant d’en dire plus, je vous détaille la table des matières :

• Prologue ix
• Silence 1
• Movement I — Earth
  Carbon, the Element of Crystals → 3
  • Prelude — Before Earth → 5
    • The Invention of Atoms: Big Bang Carbon
    • Star Stuff
      • The Harvard Classification of Stars
      • Carbon in Stars
      • Helium Burning
      • Dispersing the Carbon
  • Exposition — Earth Emerges and Evolves → 21
    • The First Crystals in the Cosmos
    • On the Remarkable Diversity of Earth’s Carbon Minerals
      • Carbonate Minerals Reveal Earth’s History
      • James Hall and the Great Limestone Controversy
      • Earth’s Rarest Minerals
    • Big-Data Mineralogy
      • Mindat.org
      • Mineral Ecology
      • The Carbon Mineral Challenge
  • Development — Deep Earth Carbon → 53
    • Deep Carbon Mineralogy
      • X-Raying Crystals at Pressure
      • Higher Pressure
    • Deep Diamonds
      • The Largest Diamonds Are Different
      • Diamonds Record Secrets of Earth’s History
    • Carbon in the Core
    • The Deepest Mysteries
  • Recapitulation — Carbon Worlds → 75
    • Earth’s Mineralogy is Unique
    • “Earthlike” Planets
  • Coda — Unanswered Questions → 80
• Movement II — Air
  Carbon, the Element of Cycles → 81
  • Introduction — Before Air → 83
  • Arioso — The Origin of Earth’s Atmosphere → 86
    • Earth Receives Carbon from Space
    • Air — Starting Over
    • Clues about Earth’s Earliest Atmosphere
      • Clue #1 — The Faint Young Sun
      • Clue #2 — Geochemistry
      • Clue #3 — Meteorites from Earth
  • Intermezzo — The Deep Carbon Cycle → 95
    • What Goes Down?
    • What Happens to Carbon When It’s Down There?
      • Deep Water
      • Deep Earth Water Model
      • The Deep Methane Mystery
      • Lasers
    • What Comes Back Up?
      • Volcanic Carbon
      • Crust versus Mantle
      • Predicting Eruptions with Carbon
      • Diamond Hints
    • Carbon in Balance
  • Arioso, Da Capo — Atmospheric Change → 119
    • Truth
    • Consequences
    • Solutions
  • Coda — The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable → 127
• Movement III — Fire
  Carbon, the Element of Stuff → 133
  • Introduction — Material World → 135
    • Electron Rules
    • Flammable Carbon
    • Diverse Carbon
  • Scherzo — Useful Stuff → 142
    • Hot
    • Cold
    • Sticky
    • Slippery
  • Trio — Nano Stuff → 148
    • Novel
    • Hollow
    • Clever
  • Scherzo, Da Capo — Stories → 153
    • Polymerization (Strong)
      • Silky
      • Foamy
      • Mistaken
    • Depolymerization (Weak)
      • Degradable
      • Al Dente
      • Brittle (Opus 64, No. 5)
  • Coda — Music → 163
• Movement IV — Water
  Carbon, the Element of Life → 165
  • Introduction — The Primeval Earth → 167
  • Exposition — Origins of Life → 169
    • Life’s Origin — The Five Ws
      • Who and Why?
      • When?
      • Where?
      • What is Life?
    • Life’s Origins: The Chemical Ground Rules
      • Making Life: Why Carbon?
      • Making Life: What Can Carbon Do?
    • Strategies: Emergent Steps to Life
      • Step 1: The Emergence of Biomolecules
      • Did Life Originate at Deep Volcanic Vents?
      • Step 2: Selection and Concentration
      • Minerals and the Origin of Life
      • Information
      • Step 3: The Emergence of Self-Replicating Systems
    • Second Genesis: Life on Other Worlds
      • On the Combinatorial Richness of Earthlike Planets
  • Development — Life Evolving (Theme and Variations) → 201
    • Theme: Life Evolving
    • Variation 1: Microbes Eat Minerals
      • The Unexpected Abundance of Deep Subsurface Life
    • Variation 2: Life Learns to Use Sunlight for Energy
      • Smelly Life
      • Water Power
    • Variation 3: Big Life Emerges
      • Playing Well Together
      • Enigma Variations
    • Variation 4: Life Learns to Make Minerals
    • Variation 5: Life Establishes a Foothold on Land
      • Buried Biomass
    • Variation 6: We Make Our Mark
      • The Carbon Clock
      • Storytelling
  • Recapitulation — The Human Carbon Cycle → 238
    • Death and Carbon
  • Finale — Earth, Air, Fire, and Water → 244
• Acknowledgments → 247
• Notes → 251
• Index → 269