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Need more awe in your life? Join Dan Levitt, author of What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner, as he offers a whirlwind tour of how the particles that exploded in the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago came together to create you.    

Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth’s deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you’ve got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, and enough iron to forge a 3-inch nail. But how did these elements combine to make us human? 

Levitt will discuss our atoms’ long strange journey from the Big Bang and the creation of stars through the assembly of Planet Earth, it’s most profound changes, the emergence of life, and the arrival of creatures like us. Along the way, he’ll explore the remarkable stories of scientists whose discoveries helped reveal our atoms’ epic journey—like Georges Lemaitre, who proved Einstein wrong, and Cecilia Payne, who discovered what stars were made of. Their breakthroughs were often fueled by fierce rivalries, moments of insight, and strokes of pure luck. The scientists unlocked the mystery of our existence: how a quadrillion atoms made of particles from the Big Bang now animate every cell in your body.              

About the author: Dan Levitt spent over 25 years writing, producing, and directing award-winning documentaries for National Geographic, Discovery, Science, History, PBS, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His films have covered everything from the discoveries of Galileo and Einstein to the scientific search for alien life. Dan’s writing has appeared in New Scientist and CNN.com. He began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, teaching physics and biology.

This program is made possible by the generous donors to the Cary Library Foundation.