author : Ben McFarland

In A World from Dust, Ben McFarland traces billions of years of evolution, beginning with math and ending with us. In this story, the periodic table helps us see new things. The world’s a stage built from geology, as oceans of water moved mountains and made chemical shields that protected ancient life. In this environment, the complexity of life was sequenced and shaped by a set of chemical rules. As cells became animals and ecosystems, colorful molecules caught the sun’s energy and oxygen was released. Oxygen was a key that changed the world and shifted the periodic table toward new elements and new possibilities in a predictable sequence. These events come alive in 40 original illustrations by print artist Gala Bent and medical illustrator Mary Anderson.

This is a book for anyone interested in the stories told by science. Rocks, elements, and life evolve as geology, chemistry, and biology are woven into a single narrative. McFarland connects the sciences with the arts, showing how history, painting, music, and literature inspire, and are inspired by, chemistry. Whatever your scientific background, you will find a new perspective on the old story of how the world came about.