---
title: "The Joy of Science"
chunk: 1/1
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_of_Science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:20:06.453004+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The Joy of Science is a popular video and audio course series, consisting of 60 lectures, each 30 minutes long, presented by Robert Hazen of the George Mason University and the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The course, first introduced in 2001, is part of The Great Courses series, and is produced and distributed by The Teaching Company, located in Chantilly, Virginia, in the United States.


== Background ==

As the Clarence B. Robinson Professor at George Mason University, Robert Hazen developed innovative courses to promote scientific literacy in both scientists and non-scientists. In a collaboration with physicist James Trefil, he wrote three undergraduate textbooks: The Sciences: An Integrated Approach (1993), The Physical Sciences: An Integrated Approach (1995), and Physics Matters: An Introduction to Conceptual Physics (2004). Hazen used these as the basis for a 60-lecture video and audio course called The Joy of Science.


== Description ==


== See also ==


== References ==


== Further reading ==
Akerlof, Karen (3 March 2008). "Professor Searches for the Genesis of Biological Systems in the Earth's Depths". The Mason Gazette. George Mason University. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
Bradley, D. C. (23 December 2014). "Mineral evolution and Earth history". American Mineralogist. 100 (1): 4–5. Bibcode:2015AmMin.100....4B. doi:10.2138/am-2015-5101.
Fry, I. (26 May 2006). "Search for Life's Beginnings". Science. 312 (5777): 1140–1141. doi:10.1126/science.1127301.
Linda Mathews (31 March 1996). "Adult Education; No Tests and You Can Hit Rewind". The New York Times.
Kendra Nordin (28 January 2003). "From the college lecture hall to your headphones". The Christian Science Monitor.


== External links ==
The Joy of Science/GuideBook
Dr. Robert Hazen (Carnegie Science Center; May 2018)
Minerals and the Origins of Life (Robert Hazen; NASA; video; 60m; April 2014).
Art of the Wikipedia Nature Timelines