Carbon: The Book of Life

A journey into the vitalizing world of carbon, the most versatile element on the planet, by the New York Times bestselling author of Drawdown and Regeneration

Carbon is the only element in the universe with properties capable of animating every facet of the living world. Despite comprising a tiny fraction of Earth’s composition, our planet is lifeless without it. However, it has been maligned as a leading cause of climate change, reduced to an errant element and blamed as our civilization careens towards its own demise.

In Carbon, Paul Hawken looks at the flow of life through the lens of carbon. Taking a wide view of our world and carbon’s omnipresence, Hawken explores how this essential element extends into every corner of existence, shaping the very fabric of life itself. He charts a course across history, bringing us into the realm of plants, animals, insects, fungi, and more to tell a new story about how to harness the life-giving power and possibilities of carbon.

In this stirring, hopeful, and deeply humane book, Hawken illuminates the subtle connections between carbon and our collective human experience, and asks us to see nature, carbon, and ourselves as inextricably linked.