Earth exists for only a third of the history of the universe; what happens before the planet forms; journeying back to the Big Bang; how fundamental forces and particles freeze out of a homogeneous state in the initial moments of cosmic evolution.

How simple atoms of hydrogen and helium make stars; how stars manufacture all other naturally occurring elements through processes including titanic supernova explosions; nucleosynthesis is responsible for the chemical richness behind Earth.

Tracing the origin of minerals; discovering a candidate for the first crystal forged in the cauldron of dying stars; following the processes that create other early minerals, which survive in their original form in microscopic presolar dust grains.

Unraveling the story told in "presolar" grains of dust; these are the earliest building blocks of the solar system; how scientists identify these microscopic particles; seeing how the field of cosmochemistry is revolutionizing the study of minerals.

Plunging into deep time; Professor Hazen teaches an analogy that orients one along this sea of ceaseless change; exploring the techniques that allow scientists to date rocks and other materials with precision.