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AT ONLY around 300 pages long, The Story of Earth ought to be too short for its subject. But mineralogist Robert M. Hazen of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC does a wonderful job of condensing a mountain of technical information into a gripping, well-told story – without sacrificing any of the scientific uncertainties along the way.
Hazen caused a stir when he proposed that life was responsible for Earth’s incredibly rich diversity of minerals. By…
