PROJECT

History of Deep Carbon Science

Cambridge University Press, December 2019

Academic historian of science Simon Mitton is writing A History of Deep Carbon Science from Crust to Core. It will deliver the first history of deep carbon science, identifying and documenting the key discoveries, the impact of new knowledge, and the roles of deep carbon scientists and their institutions from the 1400s to the present. The book carefully documents the significant discoveries made in the last two centuries on the physics, chemistry, and dynamics of the solid Earth and its carbon content, providing a historic look at what is known about carbon in Earth’s interior and insights into those who helped advance understanding. 

Cambridge University Press will release this much anticipated book in the latter part of 2019.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Why carbon in Earth matters
Chapter 2 The origin of carbon in deep space
Chapter 3 Deliveries of cosmic carbon continue
Chapter 4 On the nature of Earth's interior
Chapter 5 Earth's interior revealed
Chapter 6 Thousands, millions or billions, the question of timing
Chapter 7 Physics and chemistry of deep Earth 
Chapter 8 Confronting the continental drift conundrum 
Chapter 9 The Mid-Atlantic Ridge and its rift valley
Chapter 10 Earth’s deep dynamics discovered
Chapter 11 Reversals of fortune
Chapter 12 Deep carbon cycles, reservoirs, and fluxes
Chapter 13 Carbon bearing phases in the mantle
Chapter 14 Diamond in the mantle
Chapter 15 Deep life
  Bibliographic notes
  References
  Index

About the Author

  • Simon Mitton, British Historian
    Simon Mitton Historian
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    Simon Mitton, British Historian
    Simon Mitton
    Historian

    Simon Mitton is the author or co-author of 15 science books, the majority of which are in the fields of astronomy and planetary science. His history of science books include Fred Hoyle: A life in science (Joseph Henry Press, NAS Washington 2005; re-issued by Cambridge University Press 2011); Heart of Darkness: Unraveling the mysteries of the invisible universe (Princeton University Press, 2013); and an edited collection Cambridge Scientific Minds (Cambridge University Press, 2002). Mitton is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Fellow of the Geological Society, London, and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.The International Astronomical Union named the Minor Planet 4027 “Mitton” as a joint award to Simon and Jacqueline Mitton for “the dissemination of astronomy” through their writing and editorial activities.

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