This is the course guidebook that accompanies the 48 lecture “Great Course” of the same name.
It is essentially an abbreviated transcript of each lecture, a few pictures, and some related reading.
(I watched the lectures, which is what I am reviewing here, and am using the book simply as an aide-memoire.)
I found this mind-blowing.
I was expecting a geological story of the Earth,
but this was above and beyond.
I had previously had a mental image of the Earth forming,
then continents drifting around and pushing up mountains while life gets going,
and that was about it.
Now, I have a much clearer picture of a complexly dynamic Earth,
processing and reprocessing its minerals over billions of years,
and how those processes deeply affected the origin and evolution of life.
Added to that the fact that the majority of minerals on Earth
exist only because of the presence of life itself,
and my view of the role of geology has completely changed.
Hazen is possibly one of the most passionately enthusiastic lecturers
in all of the Great Courses I have watched (which is a lot).
He is not scared to delve into complex discussions of experimental processes,
tell anecdotes about some of the scientists involved,
and opine on the process of doing science.
He also provides one of the best embodied images of Deep Time I have come across,
in the form of walking along a beach,
where each pace is 100 years (a comprehensible time span),
showing just how far you have to walk (comprehensible, but long, distances)
to get to certain eras:
about 100m to the end of the last Ice Age;
650km – roughly London to Glasgow – to the dinosaurs;
50,000km – just more than once round the earth – to the formation of the planet.
And on top of all this is the telling of an amazingly deep and rich story of
a complex planet with a co-evolving geosphere and biosphere,
which brings home just how much life depends on,
is influenced by, and shapes, its inorganic geological substrate.
Highly recommended.
