- Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present

by Cynthia Stokes Brown

Paperback, 2008

Status

Available

Call number

909

Genres

Collection

Wishlist

Publication

New Press (2008), 304 pages

Description

"This exciting saga crosses space and time to illustrate how humans, born of stardust, were shaped--and how they in turn shaped the world we know today." --Publishers Weekly This book offers "world history on a grand scale"--pulling back for a wider view and putting the relatively brief time span of human history in context. After all, our five thousand years of recorded civilization account for only about one millionth of the lifetime of our planet (Kirkus Reviews). Big History interweaves different disciplines of knowledge, drawing on both the natural sciences and the human sciences, to offer an all-encompassing account of history on Earth. This new edition is more relevant than ever before, as we increasingly grapple with accelerating rates of change and, ultimately, the legacy we will bequeath to future generations. Here is a path-breaking portrait of our world, from the birth of the universe from a single point the size of an atom to life on a twenty-first-century planet inhabited by seven billion people.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member batcheller

Vast subject, covering the formation of the earth and solar system, gradual development of life and animal species, and finally the evolution of man. The book attempts to cover the history of mankind, but can only highlight major developments and peoples in this limited space. Nonetheless, the

coverage is good, although in audio format, I did not think the narrator, Teri Clark Linden, was as polished as many other professionals. I'd also say that if you're running out of time or patience by the time you hit the last chapter, you can omit it without missing anything.

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LibraryThing member waitingtoderail

This is a fine introduction to the subject of big history, a sort of broad view of the universe, Earth, and humanity. There should have been some better fact-checking - the claim on page 7 that the cosmic microwave background is "3 degrees Celsius, just as predicted by the Big Bang," is

embarrassing (It's just under 3 degrees KELVIN, the equivalent of 270 degrees BELOW ZERO Celsius). Such an egregious error so early on makes it difficult to take anything in the book at face value.

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