| |
| |
| List of Figures | |
| |
| |
| Preface and Acknowledgments | |
| |
| |
| |
| Introduction to Big History | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| Studying the Past | |
| |
| |
| A Very Short History of Academic History | |
| |
| |
| A Short History of Big History | |
| |
| |
| A Historical Theory of Everything? | |
| |
| |
| |
| General Approach | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| Matter and Energy | |
| |
| |
| Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Energy Flows and the Emergence of Complexity | |
| |
| |
| The Goldilocks Principle | |
| |
| |
| |
| Cosmic Evolution: The Emergence of Simple Forms of Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| The Big Bang: No Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Recent Issues Concerning the Big Bang Scenario | |
| |
| |
| The Radiation Era: The Emergence of Complexity at the Smallest Scales | |
| |
| |
| The Matter Era: The Emergence of Complexity at Atomic and Molecular Scales | |
| |
| |
| Galaxy Formation: The Emergence of Complexity at Larger Scales | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Stars | |
| |
| |
| Stars as Nuclear Forges | |
| |
| |
| |
| Our Cosmic Neighborhood: The Emergence of Greater Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| The Galactic Habitable Zone | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Our Cosmic Neighborhood | |
| |
| |
| The Solar System Habitable Zone | |
| |
| |
| Major Characteristics of Earth | |
| |
| |
| Early Inner Planetary History | |
| |
| |
| Early Earth History | |
| |
| |
| Life Is Very Special | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Life | |
| |
| |
| |
| Life on Earth: The Widening Range of Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Life, Energy and Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Planetary Energy Flows and Life | |
| |
| |
| The Gaia Hypothesis | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Energy Harvesting from Outside | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of the Biological Food Web | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Multicellular Organisms | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Brains and Consciousness | |
| |
| |
| The Increase and Expansion of Biological Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Conquest of the Land | |
| |
| |
| Further Increasing Complexity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Early Human History: The Emergence of the Greatest Known Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| What Makes Humans Different | |
| |
| |
| Energy and Complexity | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Early Humans | |
| |
| |
| Improving Social Coordination | |
| |
| |
| Tool Making and Brain Growth | |
| |
| |
| Brains and Intestines | |
| |
| |
| Fire Control | |
| |
| |
| Migration | |
| |
| |
| The Rise of Modern Humans | |
| |
| |
| Early Religion | |
| |
| |
| |
| Recent Human History: The Development of the Greatest Known Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| The Agrarian Revolution | |
| |
| |
| The Developing Agrarian Regime | |
| |
| |
| Social Effects of the Agrarian Revolution | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Agrarian Religions | |
| |
| |
| Increasing Agricultural Complexity and Declining Untamed Complexity | |
| |
| |
| Early State Formation | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Big States | |
| |
| |
| The Emergence of Moral Religions | |
| |
| |
| Energy and Complexity in State Societies | |
| |
| |
| The First Wave of Globalization | |
| |
| |
| Industrialization: The Second Wave of Globalization | |
| |
| |
| Informatization: The Third Wave of Globalization | |
| |
| |
| Energy, Complexity and Goldilocks Circumstances | |
| |
| |
| |
| Facing the Future | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| A Very Short Overview of the Long Future of the Universe | |
| |
| |
| The Future of Earth and Life | |
| |
| |
| The Future of Humanity | |
| |
| |
| The Availability of Matter and Energy | |
| |
| |
| Exhaustion of Critical Resources and Growing Entropy | |
| |
| |
| Will Humans Migrate to Other Planets? | |
| |
| |
| Final Words | |
| |
| |
| Appendix: A Short Time Line of Big History | |
| |
| |
| Notes | |
| |
| |
| Bibliography | |
| |
| |
| Index | |