David Christian

How is it possible for the disciplines of cosmology, geology, anthropology, biology, and history to fit together? These 48 lectures answer that question by weaving a single story from accounts of the past developed by a variety of scholarly disciplines. The result is a story stretching from the origins of the universe to the present day and beyond, in which human history is seen as part of the history of our Earth and biosphere, and the Earth's

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Why does the universe work the way it does? Why are stars so big? Why are humans so small? What does it mean to be human? Big History blends geology, biology, physics, anthropology, sociology, and so much more to tell one coherent story, taking us right back to our origins and exploring how a unique series of events led to and then impacted human existence: how everything came to be, where we fit in, and even where we are going. Graphics, artworks,...

In the last millennium, the pace of change accelerated sharply and decisively. Since then, humankind has experienced a number of astonishing changes.

In this episode, we examine the factors that contribute to the cycle of boom and crash referred to as the Malthusian cycle.

Here, study the first four (out of eight) major evolutionary transitions, embracing the first 3 billion years of the Earth's history, a period in which all living organisms consisted of single cells.

The previous two episodes describe factors that both stimulated and limited growth in the era of agrarian civilizations in Afro-Eurasia. Do these same features appear elsewhere?

Is it possible to tell a story of everything, from the Big Bang up to the present day? This episode introduces the unique aspects of this broad, multidisciplinary perspective on history.

This episode surveys the evolution of primates and great apes, and then traces the adaptive development of hominines, a group of bipedal primates that appeared in Africa 7 million years ago.

With this episode, we shift from the scale of the Universe to that of our solar system. Here we examine the processes by which planets and solar systems are created.

How has our increasing power over the natural world affected our relationship to planet Earth? Are we becoming a malignant presence within the biosphere?