The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet

I read this fascinating book for a book club we belong to, and I highly recommend it. Written to be accessible to the average reader (scientific terms aside), it is a crash course in geology, chemistry, astronomy, biology, cosmology, mineralogy, meteorology, paleontology, geophysics and other scientific disciplines. Hazen cites case after case where the "settled science" was overturned by new discoveries and new theories, saying, "It's a funny thing about conventional wisdom, though. Eventually, someone will challenge what everyone knows to be true, and once in a while something fairly interesting will be found." (p-87) He describes a theory he and colleagues were working on that went against the settled science: "Stanley Miller and his followers did what they could to squelch our conclusions and abort our research program. ... 'The vent hypothesis is a real loser,' Miller complained in a 1998 interview. 'I don't understand why we have to even discuss it.'" (P-136) Sounds like the way the efforts of any scientist who questions Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is treated today. Hazen and his colleagues theory is now the "settled science." He cites the "settled science" that the continents had never been together...until they had. And the "settled science" that there was almost no water on Mars...until there was. He notes that there have been six ice ages in the last three million years, and that both hot and cold cycles have ruled the Earth and will certainly come again. "Change is the central theme of Earth's story. The oceans and atmosphere, the surface and deep interior, the geosphere and biosphere--all aspects of our planet have changed incessantly over the aeons." (P-193) "As in the past, Earth will continue to be a planet of incessant flip-flop patterns of change. The climate will become warmer, then cooler, over and over again." He cites the hopefully-far-away certainty of a massive asteroid strike or a mega-volcano eruption, which if massive enough would exterminate the higher life forms--like us. (I have read elsewhere of the possible mega-eruption of the Yellowstone Caldara, which would release hundreds of tons of ash in the air, making much of the US uninhabitable, and doing the world no good. Apparently theses "super-eruptions" happen every 600,000 to 800,000 years. The last one was 630,000 years ago.) Though he couches his statements carefully, Hazen clearly believes that AGW is the "settled science." That may be sincerely held belief, or reflective that any academic who wishes to study the subject without being already firmly committed to an outcome demonstrating AGW will find that he is shunned, his research funding dried up, and tenure or promotion unlikely. Earlier he states that most of the carbon in the atmosphere is put there by volcanoes. Maybe we need an executive order against volcanoes. As the US has cut back in carbon, China and India have doubled down, building new coal-fired electric plants at a terrific rate. I personally think free, unbiased research should be allowed, but if GW is man made, what the US does, even destroying the middleclass and beggaring the poor, won't help. The Third World will sign agreements hoping for a cash transfer, but won't keep them when it is inconvenient. As John Kery said, "If all the industrial nations went down to zero emissions – remember what I just said, all the industrial emissions went down to zero emissions – it wouldn’t be enough, not when more than 65 percent of the world’s carbon pollution comes from the developing world." In my view, we not only need more research, but preparation for dealing with warming if it comes. But I remember the 70s, when a new ice age was the "settled science," and also all my professors telling me the "Population Bomb" was settled science and there would be mass famine in the US by the 1990, plus a depletion of all the important minerals. I decided not to have kids, and it was all as false as Al Gore's prediction of an ice-free arctic by the summer of 2013. Still, despite the obligatory PC Kowtow to AGW, required on pain of getting a job in the private sector of all academics today, I think Hazen is an honest scientist, and this book well-worth reading. Robert A. Hall Author: The Coming Collapse of the American Republic

This is not the book I thought it was when I bought it. I was expecting more of an evolutionary history of life on Earth. Probably a full 80-90% of this book is essentially a geological history of the planet, and I'm no geologist. To my surprise, however, I found every page of this wonderful book to be of far more interest than I could ever have imagined. It seems seven or eight fascinating new facts ― new to me, anyway ― jump off of every page. And this doesn’t even begin to get at the implications that arise as all those facts pile up higher and higher. Very easily, this book is extraordinary for putting geological time in its proper proportions. Most of us struggle with thinking about a few thousand years, much less millions and billions of years. I've never read another book that keeps all the temporal perspectives in such fine proportion. One minor nuisance is the dual manner of dating events in this book. Sometimes the author reports key events in millions of years ago; at other times, however, he starts the clock running forward at the origin of the planet. Sometimes therefore a little mental subtraction is required to keep events in their appropriate chronological order. One other issue perhaps is that Robert M Hazen's small book is from 2012: far less than an eye blink in geological time, but a long time indeed in science. I don't know whether an updated version is in the works. Regardless, this is one of the most fascinating and most well-written science books I've ever read. This one will change your perspective about . . . all kinds of things.

That the Earth has had a long history is indisputable, as the pages of that history are written in the very stone on which we build. The author is very adept at reading that history and retelling it in a manner easily understood by any potential reader. In a book of this size, and a topic of this complexity, it is inevitable that compromises have had to be made. I found the nature of the author's discussions to be a bit overly simplified, and over the course of the whole book somewhat repetitive. I think the author's target audience level would be described as the typical liberal arts college graduate who has had a smattering of science courses. I think the author succeeds well in writing for that audience. Those readers with a bit more science background would expect more from a volume titled as this one is. Nevertheless, by and large, the book is a good read, and well worth the price. One additional comment: I didn't have a print version of the book to compare with my Kindle edition, but I suspect the print edition has some illustrations in it. There are places in the text that seem to cry out, "Put an illustration here!" But... none are found. Now, it is possible that neither version has illustrations, but... I am doubtful this is the case.

Robert Hazem has lived through decades the development of knowledge of the Earth Sciences. In this book, he tells the history of earth intertwined with the stories of the scientists who made significant contributions to it, which gives the book special depth and flavor. His main focus is how life on Earth has shaped geology and earth itself. Explanations are frequently detailed and technical, which is satisfying for those who want to know how scientists arrive to their conclusions. His style is readable and captivating.

Pretty Amazing Story He starts off with the big bang, how the stars formed most of the elements, exploded and formed more elements. Then how the earth is formed from the swirls of space debris, and then how the moon was formed. The chapter on how the various types of rocks were formed was fascinating. I had to make sure my computer was on, so I could see pictures of all the rocks. I had no idea what quartz, basalt, granite, feldspar, mica and all the other rocks looked like. I also had to keep referring back to the periodic table. Would have been nice to have these pictures and some diagrams in the book. He then talks about how early Earth naturally produced the basic amino acids and lipids, possibly attaching to rocks and forming arrays and creating self duplicating rna molecules. The movement of the tectonic plates and movement of continents are discussed. He discusses the Great Oxygenation Event, in which bacteria learned to use sunlight for energy and filled the atmosphere with oxygen. Oxygen combined with iron in the atmosphere and formed the iron ores that are mined today. The Earth entered into a period of alternating cold and hot in which most of it, and maybe all, was frozen over. After this last series of events, the Earth developed into a more stable form in which life flourished. I really liked the book. I had my dictionary handy, because there were a lot of words I wasn't familiar with. There's a lot of information, so I had to read some chapters twice. Not the easiest read in the world, but am very glad I did. Perfect for those interested in geology, mineralogy or chemistry. Learned so many amazing new things.

I can't say enough good things about The Story of Earth. Even though I have a doctorate in biological science from decades ago, I found literally hundreds of ideas and facts I was totally unaware of. For example, I had no idea the moon was formed by "the Big Thwack" with proto-earth of a very early planet called "Thea", nor that the weathering of rock is a far bigger sequesterer of carbon dioxide than are all plants on earth. Nor that there is now a real debate about an abiogenic origin of the earth's petroleum resources. The author does a fantastic job of describing how the evolution of life on earth - going back billions of years, far earlier than the pre-Cambrian - is totally bound up with the evolution of minerals and geology of the planet. Us short-lived humans are actually lucky we are not around long enough to experience most of the repeated cataclysms (asteroid impacts, massive volcanic explosions, continental drift) that rock this planet from the distant past to the distant future. Absolutely fascinating book. (Note: The author could include a bibliography and a glossary on his website, for those who are interested). The only negative I found in the book was at the end he had a discourse about humans colonizing Mars or a moon of Jupiter if the Earth was becoming uninhabitable. I thought that was all absurdly far-fetched, considering the immense -- or most likely impossible -- technological difficulties and the unbelievable cost (like quintillions of dollars). Humans colonizing space is going to remain in the realm of science fiction, I am convinced. I'm afraid we are stuck with the fate of the 3rd planet from the sun, whatever that turns out to be.

Comprehensive review of the earliest Hadean history of the planet. The weak sun puzzle explained by a combination of dense greenhouse atmosphere and enhanced heat flow from interior. Insightful portrayal of the Hadean earth with a transition from chaotic vertical convection to the organization of horizontal gyres that lead to continental drift sometime after 3.5 billion years ago. Life may well have been present by 3.5 by but only existing as part of the slow oxidation process (surface rusting) and not creating any new chemistry at all. There is the suggestion that all of the five major extinction events of the Phanerazoic times are associated with massive volcanic eruptions – a continuing form of vertical convection where large bubbles of magma arise as plumes from pools of magma at the core-mantle boundary. The pulse of change is measured by the assembly and break-up of mega-continents at 2.7, 1.8, and 1.0 by. Creation of Rodinia at 1.0 leads to a period without such thick sediments since there are no basins. From the initial oxidation at 2.5, atmospheric O2 is low (2% or less) and seas are excruciatingly slow to oxidize, taking a full billion years to complete. Plus the oxidation is accomplished by a sulfate to sulfide reaction that leaves a chemical environment hostile to life with no way to metabolize N2. Hints of early microbe mat colonies of photosynthesizing algae where photons are used as an energy source but O2 not generated by these primitive reactions. New minerals are shown to appear in pulses that must be associated with certain phases of the content assembly and breakup cycle. The Boring Billion otherwise shows little sign of dramatic changes from a combination of negative climate feedback and limited presence of living organisms. Then the full oxidation occurs in the wild climate oscillations of the Iceball Earth stage. Here there is no specific explanation, just hints that the breakup of Rodinia after 800 mya resulted in a new positive feedback mechanism with massive algal blooms in new shallow seas, access to NH3 by available catalysts in oxidized oceans, and interaction with methane hydrates cycling in and out of super greenhouse conditions. This is my main reason for down-rating the book a bit because it is so "soft" on specific causes of this event. Phosphorus availability may also have been a factor, with major phosphate deposits dating from this time. Deep carbon may also be involved in the generation of methane as well as CO2. Compared to chondrites, earth’s crust is greatly depleted of C, so there may be deep mineral reservoirs. After Cambrian explosion the story is pretty much the standard course through paleontology we see in all of the older textbooks. The one specific insight is in the role of hard shells as a major part of diversification as an armor war erupts in myriads of new hard mineral defense structures for life forms. A little extra stress placed on the impact of land plants and their mycorrhizal roots on the creation of a soil–based ecosystem, and then on the third great oxidation event produced by the Coal Age. The last part is a series of nested projections into the future. Ultimate destruction by a solar red giant, evaporated oceans 2 by hence, novopangea by 250 my, mega impact within 50 my, megavolcano in the next 100 ky. Colonization of space the only option for long-term survival. Human impact on climate not likely worse than much larger changes in the past so life will survive, just maybe not us and some of our favorite fellow species.

Quick Review: The Story of Earth by Robert Hazen This book is a big-picture history of Earth that blends geology, chemistry, and biology into a single narrative. Instead of treating life as something that simply appeared on a finished planet, Hazen argues that Earth and life co-evolved, with each reshaping the other over billions of years. What it does well: • Connects multiple fields (geology, chemistry, biology) into a unified story • Explains complex ideas like mineral evolution and deep time in an accessible way • Offers a compelling framework for understanding Earth as a dynamic, evolving system • Challenges the reader to think in terms of systems, feedback loops, and long timescales What might be challenging: • Early chapters lean heavily on inorganic chemistry and mineral structures • The timescales can feel abstract and difficult to intuit • It’s more conceptual than narrative—less storytelling, more synthesis Who it’s for: • Readers interested in science beyond surface-level explanations • People who enjoy connecting ideas across disciplines • Anyone curious about how life and the planet shaped each other Who might struggle: • Readers looking for a fast-paced or story-driven book • Those uncomfortable with some chemistry or geologic terminology Bottom line: The Story of Earth is less about memorizing facts and more about changing how you see the world. If you’re willing to think across disciplines and wrestle with deep time, it’s a highly rewarding read.

I loved how the author bridged the knoelwdge of geology with knoeledge of evolving life, it felt more compkete than anything about earth's history I read before. Greatly commended!

『地球進化 46億年の物語』 ブルーバックス2014/5/21として翻訳が出版されている． 監修付きの訳本であるが，それほど専門的ではないので…．オリジナルの英語のペンギンブックス版には図が一つもない．訳は本屋で見たところ白黒だがイラスト付きである．それがいいのかどうかはわからない．というのは，GoogleやYouTubeできれいな画像は簡単に確認できし，著者もそう指摘しているからである． 原文は非常に読みやすいので英語の試験などにはもってこいだろう．星が一つ少ないのは，この本で書かれていることはすでにNational Geographicなどで紹介されてしまっていて，いまとなっては新味に欠けるかなというところである．そして，とことん数値がなくいわゆるdescriptiveな説明である．化学式もほとんど登場しない．かなりspeculativeなところが多いので，もっと違う学説もあるはずである．最近では，ダーク・マターが絶滅に関係している，つまり地球内部で反応が活発になり火山活動が盛んになったというような仮説まである．ある意味確証のない仮説に近い言説が，そうでないものと混合されて述べられている． とはいえ，地球とは全球凍結もすれば温暖化もする，プラスのフィードバックのかかりやすいシステムなのだということ，最近の5億年は植物のCO2吸収とO2の放出による生物と地質との共進化のシステムだということ，つまらない10億年といわれた世代も，実際は地質の絶え間ない変動があった興味深い10億年だったということも慧眼の研究者によって明らかにされてきたということ，これらが印象に残った．5億年以前にも生物はいたのだからもっと別のstoryもありうるのではないかとも思う．ともかく化石がないわけだからわからないはずだ．ということは，タイトルとしては，A Storyなのではないかとも思いたくなる．

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time

This book describes comprehensively the evolution of the earth, from the time of the big bang to the present, and in the final chapter there are short and long term forecasts of the future and what we can do to influence it (2 billion years on, whatever we do, the earth will be swallowed by an expanding sun). The writing style is highly readable. In particular, the chapters describing early continent formation by coalescence of multiple islands of granite floating in molten basalt, the formation of the moon after a cataclysmic collision between the earth and another planet, and theories of the emergence of life, are thoughtfully presented and informative. In the section on mineral formation the basic concepts are clearly explained, although some knowledge of elementary chemistry would help. Conditions at the earth’s surface at the different geological periods are vividly described, including, for instance, tidal movements of molten rocks moving backwards and forwards under the influence of the moon, and huge explosions following asteroid hits. The author emphasises the importance of the interface between geology and biology, describing how interactions between the rocks and the animals and plants that live here have shaped the world we know today. The book also includes some history of the discoveries and the relationships and conflicts of the scientists involved. I liked this book very much for both the completeness of the content and for its easy readability. I highly recommend it for anyone without previous knowledge wanting to learn about Earth’s formation and evolution.

I could not help myself with the title of my review. This book is actually mostly about rocks. But if you want to write about the history of our planet it will be a history about geology and much less about biology. Professor Hazen has tried to compress 4.5 billion years of history into a book of 300 pages. He has succeeded very well. He has written about our planet going through several stages of development and he manages to explain and link them together so you experience a 4.5 billion fast trip through history. Finding a similar book will not be easy since most books about pre-human history tends to focus on dinosaurs or other biological life in our past. Professor Hazen writes in an easy and clear way. He is interlinking the story with personal memories that helps creating a book that is not some dry academic textbook but instead a book that anyone with an interest in our past could pick up and enjoy. These are no illustrations in the book. It would have helped to have a few so that instead of explaining in text about continental drift you could just show us but in a typical modern way we are instead proposed to check out a Webb-site where we can see this in an animated way. Still if you read in bed those Webb-sites are probably not instantly available. The Book ends with his discussion about our future. It is mostly a very bleak one. I wish he could have been more optimistic but I am afraid he is right. This is a book well worth reading. I recommend it warmly.