Memoirs of a Carbon Atom

What if a single carbon atom could tell the story of everything?

Meet Colin.

Born in the heart of a dying star and scattered by a supernova, Colin – a carbon atom – begins a 13.8-billion-year journey through space, rock, ocean and life itself.

He drifts through interstellar clouds. He falls to a violent young Earth. He dissolves in primordial seas and becomes part of the earliest living cells. He is locked in limestone, released by volcanoes, breathed out by dinosaurs, frozen in ice ages, and eventually caught up in the industrial world of humans burning fossil fuels.

Through one atom’s travels, Memoirs of a Carbon Atom tells the epic story of our planet:

– The birth of the Solar System
– Snowball Earth and mass extinctions
– The rise of oxygen and complex life
– The age of dinosaurs and their sudden end
– Ice ages, tectonic upheaval, and shifting climates
– The modern carbon cycle and the fossil-fuel era

This is popular science made personal. Complex ideas – plate tectonics, photosynthesis, greenhouse climates and planetary feedbacks – are woven into a clear, compelling narrative that makes deep time feel intimate and alive.

At its core, this is the story of the carbon cycle – the vast planetary system linking atmosphere, ocean, rock and life. It reveals how climate has always changed, shaped by tectonics, orbital rhythms and evolution – and why today’s changes are remarkable for their speed.

Accessible, scientifically grounded and quietly thought-provoking, Memoirs of a Carbon Atom offers a new perspective on Earth’s history – told from the inside.

By the end, you may never look at a breath, a tree, a fossil – or a lump of coal – in quite the same way again.

Because somewhere within it is Colin.

And he has been here all along.