7 - Carbon

Living Eternons

1 Life Everywhere
2 Particles
3 Atoms
4 Molecules
5 Emergence
6 Clays
7 Carbon
8 Macromolecules
9 RNA and DNA
10 Viruses
11 Protocells
12 Cells
13 Plants
14 Animals
15 Humans
16 Lamarkism
17 Darwinism
18 Eternism

7 - Carbon: Perfect Form

Silicon is a versatile Eternon atom that easily bonds with others because of its distinct outer shell of electrons. Still today, more than a quarter of the Earth’s crust, the ground on which we stand, is composed of silicon atoms. Silicon-based structures, however, showed early their limitations. They were too simple and too regular for the development of more advanced and more conscious structures. But another Eternon creation would allow spectacular progress: the carbon atom.

The philosopher Plato believed in the cosmic power of a few perfect geometric forms. No doubt, his Leading Eternon had infused into his mind an atomic harmony that his eyes could not see. For Plato, the most perfect of all solids was the tetrahedron, a pyramid in which the four sides are equal triangles.

Carbon is a tetrahedron. Its "hooks," or bonds, are spaced out as the summits of a perfect pyramid. This is the most efficient and economical three-dimensional layout for joining atoms. In addition, carbon having the same ideal number of outer electrons as silicon, its atoms easily join with one another and with those of most other elements.

Carbon, the perfectly symmetrical atom, is an intriguing and mystical Eternon. It may be coal, the darkest mineral and symbol of occult energies. But it may also be diamond, the purest crystal and symbol of universal enlightenment.

Above all, on our planet, carbon is the backbone of all the great molecules of life: amino acids, proteins and nucleic acids.

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