A fascinating exploration of life through the lens of carbon, the most versatile element on the planet, by New York Times bestselling author Paul Hawken.
Carbon animates the entirety of the living world. Though it comprises only a tiny fraction of Earth’s composition, our planet would be lifeless without it. From the intricate microscopic networks of fungi in the Earth’s soils to the tallest trees of the forests to every cell in every animal, the very fabric of life on Earth is shaped by carbon. Though it is much maligned as a driver of climate change, blamed for the possible demise of civilisation, that is only one part of its story.
In this stirring, hopeful and deeply humane book, Paul Hawken illuminates the omnipresence of this life-giving element and the possibilities it provides for the future of human endeavour, inviting us to see nature, carbon and ourselves as exquisitely intertwined and inseparably connected.
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‘Recently I asked a number of people what they thought of when I mentioned the word carbon. “Carbon credits” said one, though he didn’t know what they were. “Coal and charcoal”, said another. “Diamonds?” queried a third. Yes, and so much more. Paul Hawken, writing with his usual clear and often poetic style, explains that without carbon our planet would be a dead moonscape, devoid of life. Carbon, the Book of Life is absolutely fascinating, and I urge you to buy and read it.’
‘Carbon is an enormously hopeful book—hopeful about the creatures we live among and about our innate human capacities.’
‘Endlessly, endlessly fascinating!…There’s information, and then there’s wisdom—and this book is a compendium of the latter.’
‘Paul Hawken writes beautifully about the situation we face here on our planet. Using carbon, life’s central elements, as a major theme, his eloquence and point of view are insightful, powerful, and important.’
‘Imagine putting on a pair of glasses that suddenly revealed the world as a fabric woven of miracles. Carbon reads like an extended love poem about life’s most basic chemical. Here, carbon’s dance of life does not take sides; it is never right or wrong. In Paul Hawken’s telling, carbon might just be the sexiest element, “available, loyal, and fickle in its versatility”. In Hawken’s hands and in these pages, the chemistry is always right.’
‘Hawken takes his readers on an awe-inspiring adventure through forests, galaxies, and the soil microbiome, reminding us that balancing the carbon cycle is not an abstract question of atmospheric chemistry but the intimate everyday matter of healing relationships with our wondrous kin in this living world.’
‘Carbon has created what might be termed the first spiritual encyclopaedia of the earth highlighting and blue-printing the myriad umbilical connections between life and non-life, harmonising to make life on this planet the mysterious wonder that it is. That he manages the tour de force—using extraordinary amounts of empirically verifiable data to reveal how nearly every current proposal of “Planet Salvage” is a masquerade shifting power to the extractive and profit-seeking practices that created these problems in the first place—is nothing less than stunning. He demonstrates again and again, with myriad examples, how the earth, herself, is begging us to recreate the original balances we’ve destroyed. With that simple practice, the planet will recover without vast corporate schemes to pump liquid carbon into underground caverns or a “new generation” of nuclear power plants. If you don’t believe he’s pulled this off, poetically, balletically, and with intelligent rigour, read this book and try to prove me wrong.’
‘I work on climate solutions, electrification, and the decarbonisation of our energy economy because I had the privilege of being raised on reefs and rivers, farms and fields, mangroves, and bird hides…Carbon endows the climate and environment movement with beauty, magic, majesty, and wonder, not just a carbon budget.’
‘Carbon is mind bending—the book carbon deserves. In his paradigm-shifting Book of Life, Paul Hawken is a one-man “wisdom dome”—brimming over with insight, hope and, perhaps surprisingly, joy. For this dome to replicate and scale worldwide, Carbon must become a keystone text for tomorrow’s change makers and leaders.’
‘Carbon is astonishing. Read it, and you’ll never see, hear, feel or understand out world in the same way. Set aside the life-destroying orthodoxies of established science and economics. Embrace iconoclasm and Indigenous wisdom, as Paul Hawken tracks the dance and flow of carbon through the fullness of life on earth. And breathe in a different kind of hope through the innately regenerative and healing power of Nature.’
‘A book you’ll find yourself quoting and reading aloud to anyone who will listen. Hawken tells the beautiful story of carbon’s role in our world—as our lifeblood, our synthesis with all living things, our planet’s protector—with the grace and fluency of a deep, compassionate thinker. A masterful, urgent, powerful book.’
‘Paul Hawken’s Carbon is a profound exploration of the most essential element of life and its impact on the planet. This book is not just about the science of carbon; it’s a call to action and a vision for how we can shift our thinking to embrace a regenerative, life-affirming path. With a deep understanding of ecology, economics, and the interconnectedness of all living systems, Paul masterfully illustrates how carbon’s journey through our biosphere is both a warning and an opportunity. For anyone passionate about the health of our planet and our collective future, Carbon is an essential read that will inspire and empower you to become a steward of the earth and a champion for change.’
‘Carbon offers the heart and wisdom we need to live and love and repair our world in these wild times. Brilliant, scientific, poetic, warm and caring, visionary and tender, this is truly good medicine and nourishing food for our lives and the earth!’
‘Paul Hawken’s powerful new book mirrors the profound beauty that can save our world. Most books view carbon as a culprit. Hawken reminds us that carbon is the source of all planetary life. If you are looking for hope—for a way past climate denial and despair—Carbon is a must-read.’
‘Deep into Carbon: The Book of Life, I felt that Paul Hawken has created a perfect balance between HUGE planetary blessings and HUGE planetary threats. I’ve loved all of his books, but this one is a bible for survival I’m finding so desperately needed that the writing strikes me as beyond belief, transcendent, and dazzlingly poetic because Mother Earth and her miracle element, carbon itself, are dazzlingly poetic. This work left me bursting with fresh hope.’
‘The life-giving element carbon moves ceaselessly between the biosphere and the atmosphere. It can either unravel civilization or renew it. If one form of carbon, fossil fuel emissions, are not rapidly curtailed, our way of life will collapse. The must-read Carbon: The Book of Life describes how the climate crisis invites us to change our behavior, reject business as usual, and restore the health of our astonishing planet.’
‘Carbon is the invisible thread that binds all living things. With lyrical prose and deep insight, Hawken reframes our relationship to nature and charts a path toward planetary healing.’
‘Sustainability needs to go beyond its stories of doom and apocalypse vs salvation and winning. Hawken eloquently gives a deep reframing of our current predicament: either modern humans start to understand the flows and stocks of carbon, or we don’t. Seen through the lens of carbon, humanity’s future pathways become obvious and less divisive.’
‘An impassioned call for a return to traditional environmental stewardship… . Hawken sees reasons for hope that we will reverse our heedlessly destructive ways, even in the current political climate… . Profound cultural scope deepens Hawken’s exceptional science writing.’
‘Hawken gifts us a new way of seeing the element that created life, changing the optics of carbon forever.’
‘Carbon is a deep poetic immersion into the science of life on Earth, a love letter to the natural world, an urgent invitation to wake up and honour all living beings.’
‘Carbon is a masterpiece, a candle in the darkness and everyone must read it.’
‘Brought me—and old activist and atheist—back to wonder, even to reverence, at a whole new level. The poetry in [Hawken’s] prose has given me a new appreciation of how beauty is part of the healing, and how there will always be so much more to learn…This book is a good pause. It simply reminds the reader of what our work can be serving.’
