These substances comprise a complex package of carbon chemistry, produced by biology and geophysics operating within a deep rhythm of variation and evolution originating far from our own epoch. The minerals and rare-earth elements that we exploit to build ingenious devices – extending our bodies and minds – are also a part of this rhythm, and are accessible only because of a great chain of circumstances, from planetary origins to plate tectonics and asteroid impacts.
令人惊叹的工具和值得注意的问题在拥有先进技术的人类文明中随处可见，所有这一切都起源于宇宙行星史。以油、气、煤为例。这些物质蕴含着纷繁芜杂的碳化学，源起于远离我们时代却有着深刻变异和进化节奏的生物学和地球物理。我们用来制作巧妙装置延展身心的矿物质和稀土元素也是这种节奏的组成部分，产生于从行星起源到板块构造及小行星影响等一系列独特环境。