Ignorer la navigation
Origin Story
Book

Origin Story

A Big History of Everything

Little, Brown US, 2018
First Edition: 2018 plus...


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Scientific
  • Hot Topic

Recommendation

Macquarie University history professor David Christian tells the saga of humanity in context – an ambitious, impressive undertaking – though people don’t appear until Chapter 7, after an overview of the universe. Christian tells a contextualized history, starting with the big bang. Scientific purists may dislike the agency he awards certain principles or objects, and his ambition is huge. But, his informed, insightful, useful history gives new perspectives on old stories and a lens for understanding contemporary society. Readers will revel in his vast knowledge and remarkably accessible style. 

Take-Aways

  • Most histories omit too much. To understand human history, you must understand the history of the universe.
  • The universe reaches new “thresholds” when new qualities emerge. The big bang marked Threshold 1 some 13.8 billion years ago.
  • Stars and galaxies emerged in Threshold 2, followed by planets, new elements and molecules at Threshold 3.

About the Author

David Christian, DPhil, is director of the Big History Institute and distinguished professor of history at Macquarie University in Sydney. He was founding president of the International Big History Association and co-founded (with Bill Gates) the Big History Project. His 18-minute 2011 TED Talk on the history of the universe has been viewed nearly one billion times.


More on this topic

Learners who read this summary also read

Related Channels