Origin story: a big history of everything

Christian's (history, Macquarie Univ.; Big History) fascinating, all-encompassing history of everything that has happened since the Big Bang includes his own projections of the near future. While most historians focus on specific instances, individuals, dates, or documents, Christian structures the work around eight defining thresholds that have driven human culture and progress. These include the original Big Bang, the sub-sequent development of stars and galaxies, the original formation of the fundamental elements that ultimately evolved into life as we know it, the formation of the biosphere, the evolution of humans, the impact of the agrarian society, and the current Anthropocene epoch. The author interlaces insights drawn from dozens of disciplines in the sciences, arts, and humanities, and the result is a unifying knowledge that knits the puzzle pieces of solid scholarship into a magnificent model of understanding of everything. His speculation on the possible future advances along with his sage advice and warnings should be a wake-up call for world leaders. Jamie Jackson's clean, smoothly paced diction helps listeners maintain focus. -VERDICT This macro-level history will appeal to fans of anthropology and history and erudite listeners of the works of Jacob Bronowski, Kenneth Clark, James Burke, Carl Sagan, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. ["An invigorating romp through time and space that brings fresh perspective to the science of human history": LJ 7/18 review of the Little, Brown hc.]-Dale Farris, Groves, TX © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Christian (history, Macquarie Univ.) delivers a surprisingly compact and accessible history of the universe that captures the complexity of our origins as both living organisms and modern humans. The first challenge, that of covering 13.8 billion years of history, is primarily accomplished in the book's first three parts, which divide history into a series of eight "thresholds," or key transition points that run from the Big Bang to the "Great Acceleration" of human invention in the late 20th century. The second challenge, of uniting these thresholds and justifying the "origin" project, is accomplished subtly throughout, but especially in the work's future-looking final part, which asks how we might come together to tackle foreseeable challenges to our species and planet. Christian suggests that will be the next chapter in the fascinating history of our modern origins. VERDICT An invigorating romp through time and space that brings fresh perspective to the science of human history. Highly recommended for general fans of science writing, human history, and of Christian's previous work with the Big History Project or the TED organization.—Robin Chin Roemer, Univ. of Washington Lib., Seattle