The atmospheric inventory of CO2 is determined by the partitioning of carbon between atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial and geologic reservoirs. What controls that partitioning on timescales from months to billions of years? What will be the fate of anthropogenic CO2 over several millenia? How are changes in the carbon cycle coupled to variations in climate? To address these and related questions we will explore simple models of fundamental chemical, physical and biological processes. We will analyze and interpret observed, global scale patterns and trends. Over the course of the class we will develop idealized mathematical and numerical models of the global carbon cycle with which to address the above questions. The numerical modeling component is designed to accommodate programmers of all levels of skill, including beginners.