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The Origin and Evolution of Earth: From the Big Bang to the Future of Human Existence

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Overview

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Explore the frontiers of science with this revolutionary course that rewrites the history of our planet as a single, compelling story involving the coevolution of rocks and life.

Syllabus

  • 01: Mineralogy and a New View of Earth
  • 02: Origin and Evolution of the Early Universe
  • 03: Origins of the Elements-Nucleosynthesis
  • 04: Ur-Minerals, First Crystals in the Cosmos
  • 05: Presolar Dust Grains-Chemistry Begins
  • 06: Coming to Grips with Deep Time
  • 07: The Birth of the Solar System
  • 08: The Early Solar System-Terrestrial Planets
  • 09: Hints from the Gas Giants and Their Moons
  • 10: Meteorites-The Oldest Objects You Can Hold
  • 11: Mineral Evolution, Go! Chondrite Meteorites
  • 12: Meteorite Types and Planetesimals
  • 13: Achondrites and Geochemical Affinities
  • 14: The Accretion and Differentiation of Earth
  • 15: How Did the Moon Form?
  • 16: The Big Thwack!
  • 17: The “Big Six” Elements of Early Earth
  • 18: The Black Earth-Peridotite to Basalt
  • 19: Origins of the Oceans
  • 20: Blue Earth and the Water Cycle
  • 21: Earth and Mars versus Mercury and the Moon
  • 22: Gray Earth-Clays and the Rise of Granite
  • 23: Earth's Mineralogy Takes Off-Pegmatites
  • 24: Moving Continents and the Rock Cycle
  • 25: Plate Tectonics Changes Everything
  • 26: Geochemistry to Biochemistry-Raw Materials
  • 27: Biomolecules-Select, Concentrate, Assemble
  • 28: Why Reproduction? World Enough and Time
  • 29: Eons, Eras, and Strategies of Early Life
  • 30: Red Earth-The Great Oxidation Event
  • 31: Earliest Microbial and Molecular Fossils?
  • 32: Microbial Mats and Which Minerals Can Form
  • 33: Earth's Greatest Mineral Explosion
  • 34: The Boring Billion? Cratons and Continents
  • 35: The Supercontinent Cycle
  • 36: Feedback Loops and Tipping Points
  • 37: Snowball Earth and Hothouse Earth
  • 38: The Second Great Oxidation Event
  • 39: Deep Carbon-Deep Life, Fuels, and Methane
  • 40: Biominerals and Early Animals
  • 41: Between Rodinia and Pangaea-Plants on Land
  • 42: Life Speeds Up-Oxygen and Climate Swings
  • 43: From the “Great Dying” to Dinosaurs
  • 44: Impact! From Dinosaurs to Mammals
  • 45: Humans and the Anthropocene Epoch
  • 46: The Next 5 Billion Years
  • 47: The Nearer Future
  • 48: Coevolution of Geosphere and Biosphere
  • By This Professor

Taught by

Robert M. Hazen

Reviews

4.6 rating at The Great Courses Plus based on 122 ratings

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